Smoke testing vs sanity testing

There are many types of testing in software engineering that help engineers fix problems, Today we will be covering what smoke testing and sanity testing are and compare those two.

This blog is written by Akshat Virmani at KushoAI. We're building the fastest way to test your APIs. It's completely free and you can sign up here.

What is Smoke testing?

Smoke testing is a type of testing in which checks are conducted after a new build is released to verify if the important functions of the software are working. It basically checks or verifies if the new build is stable enough for more detailed/in-depth testing. Smoke tests are often called “build verification tests” because they ensure that the core features are functional before moving into deeper testing.

What is Sanity testing?

In Sanity testing, a more focused type of testing is conducted after the specific changes are made. Its purpose is to check that the recent fixes or updates are working correctly and haven’t introduced new issues.

When to Use Smoke Testing

1. New Build Verification: When a new build is deployed, smoke testing ensures that features are working correctly.
2. Frequent Builds: In projects with frequent releases or integrations, smoke tests provide quick validation stability without a full test every time.
3. Time Constraints: Smoke testing checks if a build is ready for further testing.

When to Use Sanity Testing

1. Post-Bug Fix Verification: When a specific bug is resolved, sanity testing verifies that the fix works as expected without further issues.
2. Minor Updates or Patches: When small updates are applied, sanity tests focus only on areas impacted by the change, ensuring they function as intended.
3. After Regression Testing: Sanity tests are useful as a quick check after major regression tests to ensure critical fixes don’t introduce new problems.

To Conclude

Using these two testing methods together allows QA teams to follow and adopt a layered approach, validating builds at a high level and then diving deeper where necessary.

This blog is written by Akshat Virmani at KushoAI. We're building an AI agent that tests your APIs for you. Bring in API information and watch KushoAI turn it into fully functional and exhaustive test suites in minutes.