Azure Test Plans vs TechExcel DevSuite

Azure Test Plans gives teams tools to plan, run, and track manual and exploratory testing for apps. For scripted tests, teams can track actionable defects and connect test cases and suites to user stories, features, or requirements. Exploratory sessions let testers design and run tests at the same time. During manual tests, Test Runner can capture screenshots, image action logs, and screen recordings. Reports, dashboard widgets, and customizable Power BI reports show plan progress and trends. The service integrates with Azure Pipelines for CI/CD testing and offers REST APIs and an extension contribution model. Manual testing is available in the web portal through supported browsers on major platforms; a free Test & Feedback extension supports exploratory testing in Chrome and Microsoft Edge. The free Stakeholders plan does not allow users to create or manage Test Plans. Basic is free for the first five users, then $6 per user per month; Basic + Test Plans costs $52 a month, billed at $52 per user per month. A 30-day trial is listed. Azure DevOps cloud-based load testing is deprecated; Microsoft points users to Azure Load Testing for managed load testing.

TechExcel DevSuite is an application lifecycle management platform for product development, with customizable workflows for agile or hybrid processes. Its modules cover requirements, implementation tracking, defects and testing: DevSpec gathers and traces requirements, DevTrack tracks implementation and defects, and DevTest manages test cases and test runs. Requirements can link to design specifications, code files, test cases and defects, with forward and backward traceability. The Jira integration syncs fields and statuses both ways, supports Jira Cloud and on-premise test management, and can submit defects automatically when tests fail. Listed source control integrations include Git, GitHub, Azure DevOps (TFS), Subversion, GitLab and Helix Core; AWS CodeCommit and Bitbucket are marked as coming soon. Business intelligence integrations include Microsoft Power BI, Board, Domo and Oracle. DevSuite is offered as cloud or self-managed software, with web and Windows platforms listed. The cloud plan costs $35 per user per month with annual billing; month-to-month billing costs an additional 20%. Self-managed options cost $420 per user per year or $900 per user once.