A method for rating a software component of a software-in-the-loop (SiL) environment, a target hardware including at least one target hardware component being simulated by an SiL environment including at least one corresponding software component, both the target hardware and the SiL environment being subjected to a test situation, while the target hardware and the SiL environment are being subjected to the test situation, output data being generated in each case by both the target hardware and the SiL environment and the output data of the target hardware being compared to the outputs of the SiL environment, the software component being rated on the basis of the comparison.