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cucumber-ruby vs Codeception: open-source BDD tools compared

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

Summary

cucumber-ruby: Ruby implementation of Cucumber that runs Gherkin feature files with Ruby step definitions.

Codeception: Full-stack PHP testing framework for acceptance, functional and unit tests written as actor steps.

Both are listed under BDD. 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 (1 of 12 fact cells here); that does not mean the feature is absent.

Side by side

cucumber-ruby and Codeception: metrics and documented facts, in the fixed row order used for BDD comparisons.
Factcucumber-rubyCodeception
Stars5,21214,8571
Forks1,11811,2791
Contributors46518531
Last release2026-06-2512026-02-181
Last commit2026-09-1812026-08-061
Commits in 90 days54141
LicenseMIT1MIT1
Primary languageRuby1PHP1
Statusactive1active1
Languages for writing testsRuby source: READMEPHP source: README
Specification formatGherkin feature files with Ruby step definitions source: READMEPHP code; classic PHPUnit tests also run source: README
Parallel or distributed executionnot documentednot found in the project's documentation as of Sharding across CI jobs with the --shard option; robo-paracept task set for groups source: Docs: Parallel Execution
CI integrationCI guide: run through Rake, Ant or Maven; JUnit formatter output for Jenkins source: Docs: Continuous IntegrationSetup steps for Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI and Travis CI source: Docs: Continuous Integration
Report formatsBuilt-in formatters: message, progress, pretty, html, json, rerun, junit source: Docs: ReportingCLI, HTML (--html), JUnit XML (--xml); Allure through an extension source: Docs: Reporting
Install methodRubyGems (gem install cucumber) or Bundler (gem 'cucumber' in the Gemfile) source: READMEComposer (composer require "codeception/codeception" --dev) or codecept.phar 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.

cucumber-ruby

Fits projects that run automated tests for Ruby code written in plain language; its README describes plain-language tests that anyone on the team can read. source: README

Codeception

Fits projects that write acceptance, functional and unit tests for PHP applications; its README describes a full-stack testing framework for PHP. 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: Parallel Execution, read
  12. Docs: Continuous Integration, read
  13. Docs: Continuous Integration, read
  14. Docs: Reporting, read
  15. Docs: Reporting, read

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