Katalon vs Karate
Side-by-side from the Top 11 ranking of The 11 Best API Testing Tools (2026). Last verified July 14, 2026.
The short answer
Katalon ranks higher on Top 11 (#6 vs #9) for Backend engineers, QA automation teams, and platform teams validating REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and SOAP APIs. One platform for API, web, and mobile test automation.
At a glance
| Katalon | Karate | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #6 / The 11 Best API Testing Tools (2026) | #9 / The 11 Best API Testing Tools (2026) |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 8 | 7.5 |
| Best for | Unified API, web, and mobile QA | Code-based BDD API test framework |
| Pricing | $$$ (Free tier, paid from ~$175/user/mo) | $$ (Open source free; Karate Labs tooling paid) |
| HQ | Atlanta, USA | San Francisco, USA |
| Founded | 2016 | 2017 |
Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.