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SpecFlow vs xUnit.net comparison of testing frameworks
What are the differences between SpecFlow and xUnit.net?

SpecFlow

https://specflow.org/

xUnit.net

https://xunit.net/
Programming language

.NET

.NET

Category

Acceptance Testing

Unit Testing

General info

SpecFlow is a test automation solution for .NET

SpecFlow is a test automation solution for .NET which follows the BDD paradigm, and is part of the Cucumber family. SpecFlow tests are written with Gherkin, using the official Gherkin parser which allows you to write test cases using natural languages and supports over 70 languages.

xUnit.net is aUnit testing framework for C# and .NET

xUnit.net is a free, open source, community-focused unit testing tool for the .NET Framework. It is used to test C#, F#, VB.NET and other .NET languages. xUnit.net and works with ReSharper, CodeRush, TestDriven.NET and Xamarin. It is part of the .NET Foundation,
xUnit
Set of frameworks originating from SUnit (Smalltalk's testing framework). They share similar structure and functionality.

No

Yes

xUnit.net is part of the xUnit family of frameworks
Client-side
Allows testing code execution on the client, such as a web browser

Yes

Front-end behaviour is tested. With specflow specifications of the expected behaviours are made and specflow tests against this

Yes

You can test various front-end components independently since it is a Unit testing framework
Server-side
Allows testing the bahovior of a server-side code

Yes

Back-end behaviour is tested. Specifications of the expected behaviours are made and specflow tests against them

Yes

You can test various back-end components independently since it is a Unit testing framework
Fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data (fixtures) that are test-local. This ensures specific environment for a single test

Yes

BeforeTestRun and AfterTestRun are executed once for each thread which is a limitation of the current architecture.

Yes

It contains class fixtures which are setup once pertest class
Group fixtures
Allows defining a fixed, specific states of data for a group of tests (group-fixtures). This ensures specific environment for a given group of tests.

N/A

Yes

xUnit.net contains collection fixtures which allow you to share context among many tests
Generators
Supports data generators for tests. Data generators generate input data for test. The test is then run for each input data produced in this way.

Yes

SpecFlow contains a generator component. The SpecFlow IDE integration tries to locate the generator component in your project structure, in order to use the generator version matching the SpecFlow runtime in your project

Licence
Licence type governing the use and redistribution of the software

BSD license

Mocks
Mocks are objects that simulate the behavior of real objects. Using mocks allows testing some part of the code in isolation (with other parts mocked when needed)

Yes

Specflow intergrates well with mock to give it excellent mocking capabilities

Grouping
Allows organizing tests in groups

Yes

You can create test suites with specflow

Other
Other useful information about the testing framework