Compare Desktop and enterprise GUI tools
AskUI vs Squish
Object-level GUI testing for Qt, QML and embedded HMIs, compared with AskUI's agent that needs no access to the application.
Squish · by Qt Group
What it is.
Squish is Qt Group's GUI test tool, formerly by froglogic. It hooks into the application's UI toolkit and tests at the object level. It is widely used for embedded Qt and QML HMIs in automotive, medical and avionics.
Where Squish is strong
- Deep object-level access to Qt and QML, and to several other toolkits.
- Runs on Linux, QNX, Android, iOS and Windows.
- Squish Coco adds code coverage for safety standards.
Side by side
How they work.
Architecture, not adjectives.
| Question | Squishby Qt Group | AskUIComputer-use agent |
|---|---|---|
| How a test finds the UI | UI objects and their properties, read through the toolkit binding. | An agent reads the screen like a tester does. No selectors, no object repository, no recordings. |
| How tests are written | Scripts in Python, JavaScript, Perl, Ruby or Tcl, with record and replay. | Plain language. Your manual test cases, often written from requirements. |
| Surfaces | Qt, QML and other supported toolkits, on desktop, embedded and mobile targets. | Desktop and remote computers, web browsers, Android emulators and phones, iOS simulators, several computers in one test, and embedded screens with no DOM. |
| Access needed to the app | A Squish-enabled application: the test hooks into the UI toolkit. | None. No source code, instrumentation or accessibility tree. AgentOS gives the agent screen, keyboard and mouse. |
| When the screen is not as expected | Runs the scripted steps exactly as written. Predictable, and stops at an unexpected screen. | The agent decides each next action from the screen. It closes unexpected pop-ups and corrects its own misclicks. Two attempts per step; In-Flight Guidance stops runs that loop; Dreaming proposes fixes for review. |
| Integrations beyond the UI | Test scripts can call any library of the scripting language. | Tool Store: SQL over ODBC, HTTP, shell and file checks, off until enabled. Custom C# tools and MCP servers, for example Vector CANoe or dSPACE, called from plain-language steps. |
| Test format | Test scripts in a Squish test suite. | Markdown, CSV or JSON files in your own Git repository. |
Based on public information from the vendor's website and docs.askui.com, checked August 2026. Products change; check the current documentation. Squish is a trademark of its owner.
Which one fits
Both are good at something.
Choose Squish when
Your HMI is pure Qt, you have source access and you need the properties only the toolkit exposes.
Choose AskUI when
You cannot or do not want to instrument the build, the HMI mixes technologies, or you test the finished device from its screen.
Many teams use both: Squish at the object level during development, AskUI end to end on the finished device.
Questions
- Does AskUI need a Qt binding?
- No. AskUI works from the screen, so it does not depend on the UI toolkit. It reads the HMI the way a tester does.
- Can AskUI read Qt object properties?
- No. If a test needs internal properties that are not visible on screen, an object-level tool such as Squish is the right choice.
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