Top 8 Free Cross-Browser Testing Tools and Services

This post is for Web developers and designers who struggle with testing their Websites across multiple browsers and platforms. A Website might render differently in different browsers and platforms and even in different versions of the same browser. Cross-browser refers to the ability of a Website or Web application to support all Web browsers in all platforms. Let´s hope that someday at least major browsers will standardize rendering Websites. If this ever happens, it will make testing across multiple browsers no longer a necessity. Until then, cross-browser testing is a vital step for any Web developer.

One way to test for cross-browser compatibility is to run a Website on several computers with different combinations of browsers and operating systems. This is fine if you have the hardware for it. But there is a better and more efficient way to do that by using a Web tool or a Web service. Wouldn´t be better to test how a Website renders across different browsers and platforms while you use only one computer?

There are many cross-browser compatibility testing tools available and it can get difficult to figure out the best ones. In this post, I have listed the best 8 free Web tools and services that do cross-browser testing.

For this post, I followed two criteria for choosing the best cross-browser compatibility tools:

  1. Free and NOT a Freemium.
  2. In my opinion, the best and most useful.

1. Browsershots

Browsershots - Check Browser Compatibility, cross platform browser testing tool.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. Browsershots is probably the most comprehensive free open-source online Web testing application available. It makes screenshots of your Web design in different operating systems and browsers. It provides developers a convenient way to test their Website´s browser compatibility in one place. When you submit your Web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your Website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them for your review.

2. Adobe BrowserLab

Adobe BrowserLab - cross-browser testing

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. Adobe BrowserLab is a free online cross-browser compatibility service that lets you test a number of browsers including various versions of Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer and Firefox. It helps ensure your Web content displays as intended and lets you preview Web pages across multiple browsers and operating systems, navigate links, and use diagnostic tools to optimize Websites efficiently.

Wikipedia Says:

  1. Adobe BrowserLab – Wikipedia

3. Lunascape Browser

Lunascape browser - the hybrid triple engine browser.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. Lunascape is a triple engine browser for Windows. It runs Trident, Gecko and Webkit, where you can see how your Website renders in all three different engines. Lunascape is very useful for Web developers and designers. I use it and I love it.

Wikipedia Says:

  1. Lunascape – Wikipedia

4. DebugBar IETester

My DebugBar IETester - Browser compatibility check tool for Internet Explorer versions from 5.5 to 10.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. DebugBar IETester is a free browser compatibility check tool for Windows that allows you to have the rendering and JavaScript engines of IE10 preview, IE9, IE8, IE7, IE6 and IE5.5 on Windows 7, Vista and XP. IETester needs to be installed locally on your computer.

5. Spoon Browsers

Browsers on Spoon.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. Spoon Browsers is an application emulation service. Spoon hosts virtualized applications of different versions of Web browsers of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera. These different versions of Web browsers are used by Web developers to test compatibility with older versions. Spoon formerly hosted multiple versions of Internet Explorer as well, but on November 2010 removed them on Microsoft´s request.

Wikipedia Says:

  1. Spoon (software) – Wikipedia

6. iPad Peek {for iPad}

iPad Peek allows you to check out the compatibility of your Website on iPad.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. iPad Peek is a Web based emulator that shows you how a Website renders on Apple´s iPad device. iPad Peek has limitations, most notably the embedded Flash videos will still render inside the emulator even though the real iPad does not support Flash. iPad Peek is a wrapper set to a fixed width and height. But, it does give you a good approximation of how your Website will look on the real iPad device. So you still want to test your Website on an actual iPad device if you can get a hold on one.

Similar Tool for iPad2

There is another similar Web emulator for iPad2.

  1. iPad2 Peek

7. dotMobi Emulator {for Mobile devices}

Test your Web site to see if it is ready for mobile customers.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. dotMobi mobile phone emulator “emulates” a real mobile phone Web browser. As the mobile Web becomes more and more important, you will also want to know how your Website looks on a mobile device. There are millions of people who use mobile devices to connect to the Internet. dotMobi emulator is limited to two different phone skins, Nokia N70 and Sony K750.

8. iPhoney {for iPhone}

iPhoney - gives you a pixel-accurate Web browsing environment, powered by Safari, that you can use when developing Websites for the iPhone.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. iPhoney is a downloadable application to your computer and useful for the developer working on iPhone applications. Want to know how your Website will look on iPhone? iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate Web browsing environment that you can use when developing Websites for the iPhone. It is a 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development.

9. SuperPreview {60 days Free Trial}

Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview - Cross Browser Testing.

Summary:

  1. Visit Website
  2. SuperPreview is not a Free software, but I am listing it here because I use it and I love it. SuperPreview is Microsoft´s stand-alone visual debugging tool and it is only compatible with Windows. It works with any browser installed on your system and comes with the IE6 rendering engine built in. The fact that it only works with your built-in browsers does make it faster but it also limits the number of browsers you can compare. With SuperPreview, you can ensure that your Websites work correctly in IE9 while also maintaining compatibility with earlier versions of IE. An online service beta is available for testing with Macintosh Safari. SuperPreview couples image renderings with DOM data, letting you highlight specific DOM elements within the image, and showing differences across browsers. It also provides element information to help you pinpoint the element causing the compatibility issue.

Wikipedia Says:

  1. Microsoft Expression Web

Virtual Desktop

If you want run multiple operating systems of Windows on your computer check out Windows Virtual PC.

Wikipedia Says:

  1. Windows Virtual PC

Your Turn to Talk

In this post I discussed 9 excellent resources to test cross-browser compatibility of your Website and I am confident that at least one will satisfy your needs. Regardless of what you choose, testing often during the development process can save you from a lot of headaches later.

How do you test cross-browser compatibility? If you think I missed others or you have something else to say, please share your opinion in the comments section. Your opinion matters, unless it is a Spam.

One more thing! If you are non-standard desktop Web user, I encourage you to use the Opera Mini Web browser designed primarily for mobile phones, smart phones and personal digital assistants. Unlike ordinary Web browsers, Opera Mini fetches all content through a proxy server that reformats and compresses Web pages into a format more suitable for small screens. Also the compression makes loading time two to three times faster.

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About the Author |
Boutros is a professional Drupal & WordPress developer, Web developer, Web designer, Software Engineer and Blogger. He strives for pixel perfect design, clean robust code, and user-friendly interface. If you have a project in mind and like his work, feel free to contact him. Connect with Boutros on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Visit Boutros AbiChedid Website.

3 Responses to “Top 8 Free Cross-Browser Testing Tools and Services”

  1. Deepak says:

    Thanks for the info’s! Your article actually helped me.

  2. Patricia says:

    This is very helpful. A web developer needs to make sure that all kinds of browser will be able to view the site properly. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Aubrey says:

    Very interesting points. Thanks!