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Appium vs Maestro: open-source mobile automation tools compared

Metrics as of , from the GitHub or GitLab API of each repository. Refreshed monthly.

Summary

Appium: WebDriver-based automation framework for mobile, desktop and IoT apps, extended through platform drivers, client libraries and plugins.

Maestro: Framework for UI and end-to-end testing of Android, iOS and web apps using YAML flows.

Both are listed under Mobile automation. The table gives repository metrics from the GitHub API with their fetch date, then the documented facts used for every comparison in this category, each linked to the README or docs page it comes from. A cell reads "not documented" when the fact was not found in the project's documentation (2 of 14 fact cells here); that does not mean the feature is absent.

Side by side

Appium and Maestro: metrics and documented facts, in the fixed row order used for mobile automation comparisons.
FactAppiumMaestro
Stars21,996115,7521
Forks6,28919661
Contributors42211211
Last release2026-08-2412026-08-311
Last commit2026-09-2212026-09-181
Commits in 90 days2741971
LicenseApache-2.01Apache-2.01
Primary languageTypeScript1Kotlin1
Statusactive1active1
Languages for writing testsOfficial clients for Java, Python, Ruby and .NET C#; third-party clients for other languages source: READMEYAML flow files source: README
Mobile platformsiOS, Android, macOS, Windows and other platforms through drivers; native, hybrid, mobile web and desktop apps source: READMEAndroid, iOS and web on emulators, simulators, browsers and physical Android devices source: README
Test authoring formatCode, through WebDriver client libraries source: READMEYAML commands such as launchApp, tapOn, assertVisible; visual flow building in Maestro Studio source: README
Parallel or distributed executionParallel server processes and parallel driver sessions in one server process source: READMECLI sharding across connected devices (--shards, --shard-split, --shard-all) source: Docs: Maestro CLI commands and options
CI integrationnot documentednot found in the project's documentation as of Report formats for Jenkins, GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps source: Docs: Test reports and artifacts
Report formatsnot documentednot found in the project's documentation as of JUnit XML, HTML, HTML detailed (--format flag) source: Docs: Test reports and artifacts
Install methodnpm (npm i -g appium), then drivers with appium driver install source: READMEInstall script (curl -fsSL "https://get.maestro.mobile.dev" | bash); requires Java 17 or higher source: README

1 Fetched from the GitHub or GitLab API on . Hover a value for its own date.

When each fits

Written from each project's documented scope, not from preference. Neither tool is ranked.

Appium

Fits projects that automate native, hybrid, mobile web and desktop apps across platforms through WebDriver; its README describes one or more drivers per platform that know how to automate it. source: README

Maestro

Fits projects that run UI and end-to-end tests for Android, iOS and web apps; its README describes tests kept as a flat list of YAML commands. source: README

More on these tools

Sources

  1. GitHub REST API: repository, read
  2. GitHub REST API: repository, read
  3. GitHub REST API: contributors, read
  4. GitHub REST API: contributors, read
  5. GitHub REST API: latest release, read
  6. GitHub REST API: latest release, read
  7. GitHub REST API: commits, read
  8. GitHub REST API: commits, read
  9. README, read
  10. README, read
  11. Docs: Maestro CLI commands and options, read
  12. Docs: Test reports and artifacts, read

Documented facts collected 2026-09-22. See the methodology for how metrics and facts are gathered.