aqua vs QMetry

Which TMS Is the Best for You?

aqua and QMetry are both popular test management tools used by teams of all sizes. While their features may appear comparable, how do they stack up in terms of value and flexibility?

Key differences between aqua and QMetry

aqua offers advanced AI-powered testing

aqua provides flexible deployment options, including on-premises

aqua offers more generous free licensing

AI

AI is a rapidly developing tech, so we will look at cutting-edge tech rather than the baseline. Here’s what you should expect from an AI-powered test management solution:

  • Analyse your workspace to get QA context
  • Create test cases, defects, and even requirements from a plain text description
  • Complete test case drafts
  • Prioritise tests

Artificial intelligence (AI) enhances productivity in test management by automating repetitive tasks, improving test coverage, and providing intelligent insights. aqua cloud delivers advanced AI capabilities to generate and manage tests effectively and fast, setting it apart from competitors.

Auto-train AI Copilot with your tests
No AI capabilities
Generate entire tests with AI
Partially available via QQBot
Complete test drafts
No AI capabilities
Update tests for a changed requirement
No AI capabilities
Generate accurate test data
No AI capabilities
Auto-train AI Copilot with your tests
Generate entire tests with AI
Complete test drafts
Update tests for a changed requirement
Generate accurate test data
No AI capabilities
Partially available via QQBot
No AI capabilities
No AI capabilities
No AI capabilities

Verdict: aqua wins by offering comprehensive AI-powered testing features that QMetry does not fully support.

Test management

Test management is the main reason we are looking at these two tools. You should consider various aspects of handling test cases as well as traceability-minded features. These include:

  • Create, execute, share, and manage test cases in the workspace
  • Group tests into test scenarios, segment them into folders, assign labels
  • Quickly navigate the test suite, apply filters, use individual and shared views
  • See the entire execution history for a test case
  • Store a full log of changes for compliance
  • Visualise requirements coverage and dependencies between requirements, test cases, and defects

Effective test management includes creating, organising, executing tests, and ensuring traceability. Both aqua and QMetry excel in these areas, but aqua offers additional functionalities that enhance workflow efficiency.

  • Test cases, test scenarios, bulk test edits, custom fields
  • Execution history
  • Quick navigation, filters, views
  • Timestamped item change history for compliance
  • Nested test cases
  • Release planning
  • Tampering-proof project logging
  • Item change reversal
  • Views
Workflows
Not available
Shared views
Not available
  • Test cases, test scenarios, bulk test edits, custom fields
  • Execution history
  • Quick navigation, filters, views
  • Timestamped item change history for compliance
  • Nested test cases
  • Release planning
  • Tampering-proof project logging
  • Item change reversal
  • Views
Workflows
Shared views
Not available
Not available
Verdict: aqua wins by providing customisable workflows and shared views, enhancing collaboration and efficiency beyond QMetry’s capabilities.

Integrations

Most tools rely on automation via common third-party tools that QA specialists have been using for over a decade. The experience is much better when your test management solution has native integrations for industry-leading tools. REST API support is a must if you do not want to be at the vendor’s mercy for integrations.

  • First-party framework automation or third-party integrations with test automation tools
  • Native third-party integrations: Selenium, Jenkins, JMeter, SoapUI, Ranorex
  • Jira integration and/or Jira plugin
  • REST API support for integrating any tool

Seamless integrations with other tools are crucial for maintaining efficient workflows. aqua and QMetry both offer robust integration options, but their approaches differ.

  • Jira integration with real-time project sync
  • Selenium, Jenkins for test automation
  • UFT, JMeter, SoapUI, Ranorex, Database MSSQL, Database Oracle for test automation
  • REST API
Third-party bug trackers, Zapier
Available via integrations
Test recording tool Capture
No native test recording integration
Not Available
QQBot for AI-driven integrations
  • Jira integration with real-time project sync
  • Selenium, Jenkins for test automation
  • UFT, JMeter, SoapUI, Ranorex, Database MSSQL, Database Oracle for test automation
  • REST API
Third-party bug trackers, Zapier
Test recording tool Capture
Not Available
Available via integrations
No native test recording integration
QQBot for AI-driven integrations
Details verdict icon: Tie
Verdict: Tie

Pricing flexibility

Tools differ in how much money they request upfront and what scaling looks like. Some criteria here are:

  • Monthly or annual billing
  • Free licences for browsing or even executing tests
  • High setup costs
  • Dependency on paying for other tools

Flexible pricing models accommodate different organisational sizes and budgets. aqua and QMetry both offer scalable pricing, but aqua provides more generous free licensing options.

  • Free setup
Unlimited free licenses for manual testers
Not available
  • Free setup
Unlimited free licenses for manual testers
Not available

Verdict: aqua wins by offering additional no-cost lisences and more robust free licenses, making it more accessible for teams with budget constraints.

Deployment Models

On-Premise deployment is a must in many industries, yet vendors won’t explicitly say if they don’t offer it. Depending on your security policies and scale, deploying in a non-vendor Cloud is a beneficial option too.

  • Vendor Cloud
  • External Cloud: AWS, Azure, etc.
  • On-Premise

Flexible deployment options are essential for meeting various security and compliance requirements. aqua and QMetry differ significantly in their deployment offerings.

  • GDPR-compliant hosted cloud
On-Premise
Not availiable
Isolated Enterprise Custom Cloud (Any Azure data centre)
Available via custom arrangements
Custom Cloud
Available via custom arrangements
  • GDPR-compliant hosted cloud
On-Premise
Isolated Enterprise Custom Cloud (Any Azure data centre)
Custom Cloud
Not availiable
Available via custom arrangements
Available via custom arrangements
Verdict: aqua slightly wins by offering on-premise deployment options, catering to companies with strict data security and regulatory requirements that QMetry does not support.

Dashboards

QA dashboards serve two vital purposes. They help the QA team track their progress, but they also make other teams aware of potential bottlenecks. At a minimum, you should be able to include any data and share dashboards with the team.

  • Use all data of the workspace
  • Create private and shared dashboards
  • Choose between various types of graphs
  • Set up KPI/values alerts that arrive as email/app notifications

Dashboards provide critical insights and monitoring capabilities. Both aqua and QMetry offer customizable dashboards, but aqua includes advanced alerting features.

  • All data including custom fields
  • Pie, bar, stacked bar, table charts
  • External dashboard sharing
KPI Alerts
Does not offer KPI Alerts
  • All data including custom fields
  • Pie, bar, stacked bar, table charts
  • External dashboard sharing
KPI Alerts
Does not offer KPI Alerts
Verdict: aqua wins by offering KPI alerts, which leads to proactive monitoring and timely responses to deviations in key metrics.

Reporting

Reporting is important for both internal and external stakeholders. The goal here is to get what you need with as little or as much effort as possible. When a tool offers both a template library and rich customisation, that is a good start.

  • Access vendor-provided template library
  • Create custom layouts and save them
  • Use and transform any data
  • Apply text & image formatting
  • Add external data and imagery
  • Employ scripts and parametrisation to auto-update reports

Comprehensive reporting is essential for decision-making and compliance. aqua excels in customisable reporting options compared to QMetry’s more template-based approach.

  • Template library
  • Drag-and-drop
  • Pivot tables
  • Diagrams
  • Parametrisation
  • Text & image formatting
Custom reports
Not available
External data & imagery (natively)
External data & imagery (custom plugins only)
Custom layout (natively)
Not available
Scripts (natively)
Not available
  • Template library
  • Drag-and-drop
  • Pivot tables
  • Diagrams
  • Parametrisation
  • Text & image formatting
Custom reports
External data & imagery (natively)
Custom layout (natively)
Scripts (natively)
Not available
External data & imagery (custom plugins only)
Not available
Not available
Verdict: aqua wins by providing powerful customisation in reporting, allowing users to create tailored reports that meet specific organisational needs.

User management

Precise user management is essential when working on multiple projects and/or working with external specialists. It will also save you a lot of pain from running crowd testing in the same test management solution.

  • Set default roles
  • Create custom roles
  • Apply per-user permissions
  • Authenticate users via SSO

Effective user management ensures security and operational efficiency. Both aqua and QMetry offer role-based permissions, but aqua provides more granular control.

  • SSO
  • Default user roles
  • Custom roles
Individual permissions
Not available
Not available
Role permissions only
  • SSO
  • Default user roles
  • Custom roles
Individual permissions
Not available
Not available
Role permissions only
Verdict: aqua wins by offering individual permission settings, allowing for more precise access control compared to QMetry’s role-based permissions.

ALM

This is not a hard requirement, but you may be interested in a test management solution that also handles the entire product lifecycle. This is a great money saver as you need licences from fewer vendors, and the synergy should save you some hours as well.

  • Test case management
  • Requirements management
  • Defect management
  • Project management

Comprehensive ALM capabilities cover test case management, defect tracking, requirements management, and project management. Both aqua and QMetry provide robust ALM functionalities.

  • Test case management
  • Defect management
  • Requirements management
  • Project management
  • Test case management
  • Defect management
  • Requirements management
  • Project management
Details verdict icon: Tie
Verdict: Tie

What people say

Here are a few things people like and dislike about both tools.

star star star star star

“Manual test cases are easily automated with aqua. Seamless integration with test automation tools helps here.”

Jörn-Hendrick Sörensen

Test Manager and KBA

star star star star

“I really like the usability of the tool as a whole. I'm able to figure out the tool without much guidance which is nice to have in a test management system. However, the admin screens are a little tricky to understand. When looking at the fields it is hard to understand what should be in that field. Updating user passwords is difficult to do especially for your own username.”

Crystal H.

Sr Business Analyst

star star star star star

“aqua test management has a super easy-to-use web interface. One can start in minutes setting up a project and start create test cases and organise everything around their testing activities. aqua offers a great set of features which help testers to do a great job! I love the AI feature to generate test cases from the requirements section of aqua. This saves lots of time and testers as well as test managers can spend the time in more challenging details when it comes to testing.”

Daniel K.

Blogger and freelance writer

star star star

“You can organise your test cases and reuse them for other test runs. But there's a lot going on. It would be better if it was as simple as before. And also, adding test cases and putting them in test runs always end up being jumbled.”

Elah. C.

A G2 Reviewer, working with small businesses

star star star star star

“Manual test cases are easily automated with aqua. Seamless integration with test automation tools helps here.”

Jörn-Hendrick Sörensen

Test Manager and KBA

star star star star star

“aqua test management has a super easy-to-use web interface. One can start in minutes setting up a project and start create test cases and organise everything around their testing activities. aqua offers a great set of features which help testers to do a great job! I love the AI feature to generate test cases from the requirements section of aqua. This saves lots of time and testers as well as test managers can spend the time in more challenging details when it comes to testing.”

Daniel K.

Blogger and freelance writer

star star star star

“I really like the usability of the tool as a whole. I'm able to figure out the tool without much guidance which is nice to have in a test management system. However, the admin screens are a little tricky to understand. When looking at the fields it is hard to understand what should be in that field. Updating user passwords is difficult to do especially for your own username.”

Crystal H.

Sr Business Analyst

star star star

“You can organise your test cases and reuse them for other test runs. But there's a lot going on. It would be better if it was as simple as before. And also, adding test cases and putting them in test runs always end up being jumbled.”

Elah. C.

A G2 Reviewer, working with small businesses

Final verdict

aqua and QMetry are both competent test management systems capable of handling the entire product lifecycle. However, aqua rises above with its superior AI-driven features, flexible deployment options including on-premise, more generous free licensing, and advanced customisation in reporting and user management. These features make aqua a more versatile and scalable solution for companies seeking a comprehensive and future-proof QA tool.

Bleeding-edge AI testing functionality
Traditional QA only
More granular permissions
Role-based permissions only
Customisable workflows and shared views
Standard workflow efficiency
Bleeding-edge AI testing functionality
More granular permissions
Customisable workflows and shared views
Traditional QA only
Role-based permissions only
Standard workflow efficiency