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SoapUI

Open-source web service testing application

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
2 min read
Source updated August 16, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

SoapUI is an open-source web service testing application for Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and representational state transfers (REST). Its functionality covers web service inspection, invoking, development, simulation and mocking, functional testing, load and compliance testing. A commercial version, ReadyAPI (formerly SoapUI Pro), which mainly focuses on features designed to enhance productivity, was also developed by Eviware Software AB. In 2011, SmartBear Software acquired Eviware.

SoapUI was initially released to SourceForge in September 2005. It is free software, licensed under the terms of the European Union Public License. Since the initial release, SoapUI has been downloaded more than 2,000,000 times. It is built entirely on the Java platform, and uses Swing for the user interface. This means that SoapUI is cross-platform. Today, SoapUI also supports IDEA, Eclipse, and NetBeans.

SoapUI can test SOAP and REST web services, JMS, AMF, as well as make any HTTP(S) and JDBC calls.

01Features

SoapUI

Core features include web services:

  • inspection
  • invoking
  • development
  • simulation and mocking
  • functional, compliance and security testing

ReadyAPI

ReadyAPI is the commercial enterprise version. ReadyAPI adds a number of productivity enhancements to the SoapUI core, which are designed to ease many recurring tasks when working with SoapUI.

Feature Benefit Read more
WSDL coverage Analyze request/response messages to see how well a WSDL contract is being tested/mocked/used.
WSDL refactoring Automatically update requests/response/assertions when the underlying WSDL changes.
Composite projects Work together in a team on your Web service testing projects.
Requirements management Manage, import, and export project requirements and link them to test cases.
Form-based request editor To ease the editing and understanding of request messages for both technical and non-technical users.
Overview message viewer To get an overview of the corresponding response/mock-request/monitored message.
Tree-based request/response editor To ease the navigation and understanding of larger messages.
Table inspector To quickly give an overview of tabular message content.
Schema inspector To ease inspection and debugging of message content.
XML inspector To ease inspection and debugging of message content.
Doc inspector To ease understanding of message content.
DataSource TestStep To ease the creation of data-driven tests.
DataSink TestStep Eases collection of data to be used in subsequent tests or for external reporting.
DataGen TestStep To simplify comprehensive testing of complex interfaces.
Property transfer wizards To ease the creation of complex test cases / message flows.
XPath Assertion Wizards To ease the creation of XPath assertions for TestRequest and MockResponse steps.
XPath Wizards Eases creation of XPath expressions in many situations.
Integrated reporting To provide summaries of functional testing for tracking and governance.
Groovy script library Eases reuse and scripting of complex scenarios.
Tabbed desktop Eases desktop management with multiple editors.
API Discovery Ability to create SoapUI tests based on captured HTTP traffic that was generated from user actions (e.g. from browsing a website)

02Awards

SoapUI has been given a number of awards. These include:

  • Jolt Awards 2014: The Best Testing Tools
  • ATI Automation Honors, 2009
  • InfoWorld Best of Open Source Software Award, 2008
  • SOAWorld Readers' Choice Award, 2007
Watch videos about SoapUIExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “SoapUI”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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