There is no doubt that using open source and commercial tools together in our project will affect the cost of the project. Nowadays, open source tools become so user friendly and customizable that they can be used very effectively like commercial tools, up to some extent. We also agree that commercial tools are much more powerful and user friendly than the open source tools but when the budget of the project is low then we can opt for open source tools. In open source tools we have to customize the code as per our requirements and there is no support provided. Dealing with new technologies would become a challenging task using open source tools. On the other hand, commercial tools are expensive but provide support for new technologies as well. Organization should opt for the best possible tool depending upon the project cost and the complexity.
Though open source tools are cost effective, they come along with little to no support. If a tester knows coding, then he will evolve to shortcuts and work-a-rounds in order to get things done. If that tester leaves and the new tester does not know coding then it becomes very difficult to support the tool. The code for the tool will either have to be rewritten or an awful lot of time spent to interpret what the predecessor did.
On the other hand most commercial tools are expensive and constantly being updated as technologies and needs change. The commercial tools usually have an extended family of users who are willing to share their experiences. Though both open source and Commercial testing tools can be used together, however it is important to make your selection considering all the aspects.
On the other hand most commercial tools are expensive and constantly being updated as technologies and needs change. The commercial tools usually have an extended family of users who are willing to share their experiences. Though both open source and Commercial testing tools can be used together, however it is important to make your selection considering all the aspects.
Both open source and commercial testing tools has their own benefits. However, usually QA Team prefers commercials tools over open source tools as they are easily usable with little or less training. Also most popular commercials tools would have larger number of people within the knowledge base. But today the interest of the QA Team is shifting towards Open source tools as they reduced the dependencies on specific product/toolset and above all they are cost effective. Moreover as per my experience I believe both commercial and open source tools can be used together because mixture of both would ensure cost optimization and testing reliability.
