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The news are out – the last remaining person and the co-founder of the Cucumber open source project was laid off by SmartBear, the company that acquired his business in 2019. The former employee had been involved in determining Cucumber’s future direction within SmartBear, and while he had anticipated an end-game, the sudden termination came as a surprise. Having lost access to his cucumber.io email address, he is unable to sign into several services and receive notifications.
Despite feeling a sense of responsibility and affection for the volunteer community that supports the Cucumber project, he acknowledges that SmartBear’s ambitions have grown since the acquisition, and the market for commercial tools aimed at the Cucumber audience may not be large enough for them. The future of the project remains uncertain without a significant commercial sponsor.
The co-founder plans to take time to consider his next career move, potentially exploring remote coaching opportunities for teams focused on ensemble programming, test-driven development, domain-driven design, and continuous delivery.
Cucumber isn’t the only open-source test automation tool facing challenges. Earlier this year, Tricentis announced the end of life for TestProject. After acquiring TestProject in August 2019, Tricentis invested in the platform but ultimately chose to concentrate on its SaaS-based, AI-powered test automation tool, Tricentis Testim. New TestProject accounts were disabled starting November 16, 2022, and all existing accounts were deactivated by the end of March 2023.
The sunsetting of both Cucumber and TestProject indicates a shift in the test automation industry, with companies increasingly focusing on consolidating their product offerings and prioritizing tools that offer more advanced features, such as SaaS-based, AI-powered solutions. This trend suggests that the market for open-source test automation tools may be facing challenges in terms of long-term viability and commercial support.
This development is not necessarily negative for companies, as AI-based tools like testRigor can actually reduce overall QA expenses. With testRigor, manual QA professionals can create end-to-end automated tests, regardless of their length or complexity, while spending minimal time on maintenance. This eliminates the common disconnect between manual and automation QA, accelerates the test creation process, and scales progressively until the desired test automation percentage is achieved.
If you’re unfamiliar with testRigor, we encourage you to explore the above page and use the ROI calculator to see why AI-based no-code test automation outperforms other methods.
If you’re considering a transition away from Cucumber, it’s never been easier. Since testRigor is a specification-driven tool, you can effortlessly import your existing Gherkin feature files and transform them into automated tests, removing the need to write Selenium tests or any code at all.
As you consider the benefits of AI-based test automation tools, don’t hesitate to schedule a demo with us to gain deeper insights and discover how these solutions can impact your organization positively. Embracing AI in your testing processes can lead to increased efficiency and cost savings. In today’s competitive job market, employees who fail to adapt and utilize AI in their work may face a higher risk of being outperformed by those who do. By staying ahead of the curve and exploring the advantages of AI, you can secure your position in the industry and drive your company’s success.
