The Best Mobile Testing Frameworks: A Complete Guide

Traditional mobile testing frameworks: we’ve carried on with them for a long time. They have been useful. No one is suggesting that Appium, XCUITest, and Espresso are bad.  

Technology has moved on, however. Can newer, AI-native solutions offer benefits that traditional frameworks are no longer in a position to match? 

The answer is ‘yes’. Here is a list of our top traditional mobile testing frameworks, and how Momentic makes testing easier, quicker, and better with AI tech. 

1. Best Overall Mobile Testing Framework: Momentic

Momentic is an AI-native mobile testing platform that allows you to write tests without code, cut maintenance workloads, and gain in-depth insights into your testing processes. 

Unlike many tools that focus on a single niche (e.g., UI automation only), Momentic provides a unified testing ecosystem that scales from small teams to enterprise automation. We work for the smallest and the largest, and scale with you as you grow. 

Key Features

Natural Language Test Creation

Describe what you want to test, and let AI do the rest. Hours of scripting saved! 

Selectors That Adapt To UI Changes

Intent-based, natural language locators automatically update when the DOM changes – flaky tests minimized. 

Agentic AI

Momentic's AI explores your app, finds critical user flows, generates tests, and keeps them up to date.

Cross-Platform Automation

Test Android, iOS, and hybrid apps via a single test suite. Write tests once and run them across multiple devices.

Test Orchestration

Automate test scheduling, parallel execution, and result aggregation with built-in orchestration tools.

Performance Monitoring and Analytics

Capture metrics like memory usage, CPU load, network performance, and crash logs during tests.

CI/CD Friendly

Seamlessly integrates with GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI, and more.

Why Momentic is a Standout Mobile Testing Framework

AI functionality is really going to save you time – agentic AI, intent-based locators, and natural language test creation are central to how Momentic works. Test creation is instantaneous. Test suites run in minutes instead of hours. You wipe out that time spent on debugging and spend it on something better. 

Best for: Growing teams that want to test faster and release quicker, and are happy to ‘black box’ some of their testing processes to do so. 

2. Best Mobile Testing Framework for Community: Appium

Appium has been a mainstay in the mobile testing world for years, especially for those looking for an open-source solution. This means it comes with an extensive developer community – you won’t have a problem finding people who know how to use it. 

Key Features

Cross-Platform Support

Automate testing for iOS and Android apps using the same API.

WebDriver Protocol

Drive tests using the standard WebDriver interface, which will be familiar to Selenium users and easy for your team to pick up. 

Language Flexibility

Write tests in multiple languages, including Java, Python, Ruby, JavaScript, and C#.

Support for Native, Hybrid, and Web Apps

Test a range of apps from a single platform.

The Overall Verdict

It’s flexible, free to use, and comes with an established user community. With this comes complexity of setup and a lack of advanced features (AI, performance monitoring) that really drive efficiency. 

Best for: Teams already working with Selenium/WebDriver looking to apply similar patterns to mobile testing without licensing costs.

3️. For React Native and JS Teams: Detox

Do you build your mobile apps with React Native? If so, Detox’s gray-box testing framework could be a useful companion. 

Key point about Detox: it runs tests synchronously with the app, reducing flakiness and improving reliability straight out of the box – so you get better results immediately. 

Key Features

Open Source

Time, but no budget? Configure Detox for free.

Designed for CI

Execute your E2E tests on CI platforms like Travis CI, CircleCI or Jenkins. 

Fast Feedback

Optimized for speed – tests run faster with fewer false positives.

Designed for React Native

Tight integration with React Native internals improves stability.

The Overall Verdict

If you’re a) a React Native shop and b) have the expertise to figure the config out for yourself, Detox offers value. As it requires a fair amount of knowledge about app internals to maximize benefits, this will likely suit organizations where engineers test their own code. 

Best for: React Native developers who want stable, fast end-to-end UI tests.

4. Best Mobile Testing Framework for Android-Exclusive Teams: Espresso

If you’re an Android exclusive team, Google’s own UI testing framework should definitely be on your list. 

Espresso is designed for fast, reliable UI automation within the Android ecosystem. And, whilst it doesn’t offer much in the way of time-saving AI features itself, it integrates with plenty of solutions that can extend functionality here.  

Key Features

Native Android Automation

Deep access into Android UI elements.

Synchronized Actions

Automatically waits before performing actions to reduce flakiness.

Android Studio Integration

Seamless workflow with Android’s primary IDE.

Integrations

Integrates with a range of other solutions for dynamic waits (GPT Driver), AI test generation (TestSprite), and analytics (Lambda Test)

The Overall Verdict

Espresso produces stable UI tests for Android, and strong Google support is nothing to be sniffed at. Advanced feature gaps can be plugged by third-party integration. 

However, it’s worth asking whether you’re always going to be Android only before committing – becoming too reliant on it, then having to switch when you expand onto a different OS will be a significant time and resource drain. 

Best for: Android projects that need solid, native UI test automation without cross-platform requirements

5️. Best Mobile Testing Framework for iOS: XCUITest

XCUITest is to iOS what Espresso is to Android. If you build apps for use on Apple’s range of mobile products, you could do a lot worse than Apple’s official UI testing solution. 

XCUITest is tightly integrated into Xcode and provides reliable automation for iOS interfaces. Whilst – similar to Espresso – it offers little by way of advanced AI or analytics features out of the box, third-party solutions can be integrated with little effort

Key Features

Native iOS Automation

Runs directly using Apple frameworks for accuracy and speed.

Xcode Integration

Create tests via record-and-playback via integration with Xcode test navigator

Record and playback support via Xcode test navigator.

Swift/Objective-C Test Creation

Write tests natively in Apple languages.

Integrations

Integrates with a range of other solutions for dynamic waits (GPT Driver), AI test generation (TestSprite), and analytics (testRigor).

The Overall Verdict

XCUITest is stable, fast, and reliable – and Apple’s documentation is excellent. Equally, it’s code-heavy, and the time you spend getting used to it is potentially wasted the minute you step outside those iOS bounds. 

Best for: Teams exclusively building iOS applications with a focus on native test automation.

6. Best Mobile Testing Framework for Flutter Apps – Flutter Integration Tests

For engineers using Flutter to build cross-platform apps, Flutter provides its own testing tools that integrate into the framework. 

Specialist? Yes – and that’s what gives it its strengths for Flutter-fanatical teams.  

Key Features

First-Class Flutter Integration

Designed specifically for Flutter UI elements and widget testing.

Fast Integration Tests

Test real-world app flows in a native-like environment.

Support for Emulators and Real Devices

Works on both Android and iOS via Flutter build tools.

Range of integration options

Need AI functionality? Integrate with a choice of solutions to increase test efficiency. 

The Overall Verdict

If you know Flutter, you’re golden. It’s easy to use, and you’ll be able to write tests relatively quickly (though nowhere near as quickly as with an AI test creation tool). 

Best for: Flutter teams looking for a testing framework built specially for their needs, which won’t take long to brush up on. 

Momentic vs Traditional Mobile Testing Frameworks: Who Comes Out on Top? 

Would you choose: 

1. A code-heavy testing framework that you have to configure yourself, and rely on third-party integrations for the features that will really save you time and money? 
2. A solution that allows you to generate test scripts with no code, minimize test maintenance, and benefit from AI-led efficiency savings, straight out of the box?

We can take a guess at the answer – because why not opt for the tool that will allow you to test better, faster, and smarter?

Momentic offers low-code testing, AI-enhanced features, plus a suite of useful mobile testing features, including 1s emulator cold starts, 200ms cached interactions, and seamless context switching between native and WebViews.

Perhaps that’s why our customers have saved over 40 engineering hours per month and expanded to 80% coverage in just two days. 

Want to join them? Book a demo today to supercharge your mobile app testing process.