aqua vs TestRail: Why Should You Move to aqua QA Testing Tool?

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
Remove duplicate tests and defects

Artificial intelligence in QA has usually been an underwhelming effort. The only exception would be UI testing tools that compare pixels — but is that your dream AI?

aqua adopted OpenAI’s GPT language model before it went mainstream to offer truly AI features. You can create tests just from a text description or ask the AI Copilot to complete drafts. Unlike ChatGPT, aqua knows the context of your software and iterates upon your test suite.

Auto-train AI Copilot with your tests

No AI capabilities

Generate entire tests with AI

No AI capabilities

Complete test drafts

No AI capabilities

Prioritise tests

No AI capabilities

Remove duplicates

No AI capabilities

Auto-train AI Copilot with your tests

Generate entire tests with AI

Complete test drafts

Prioritise tests

Remove duplicates

No AI capabilities

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

aqua and TestRail both excel at their primary functionality. You can create and run tests, store execution history, quickly navigate your test suite, and share info with regulators if necessary. The biggest difference lies in pricing: TestRail provides compliance features only in their Enterprise plan even though a small company may need them too.

On a similar note, TestRail does not have native defect management. You will have to use third-party solutions that will cost you extra time and potentially money as well.

Test cases, test scenarios, bulk test edits, custom fields
Execution history
Quick navigation, filters, views
Timestamped item change history for compliance

Native defect management

Not out of the box: External defect management only

Test parameterisation

Enterprise only: test parameterisation

Test case approvals, test case version control, audit log

Enterprise only: test case approvals, test case version control, audit log

Test cases, test scenarios, bulk test edits, custom fields
Execution history
Quick navigation, filters, views
Timestamped item change history for compliance

Native defect management

Test parameterisation

Test case approvals, test case version control, audit log

Not out of the box: External defect management only

Enterprise only: test parameterisation

Enterprise only: test case approvals, test case version control, audit log

Verdict: aqua wins by defect management and value

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

Both tools rely on third-party solutions for test automation. aqua, however, has a much bigger list of native QA integrations while TestRail makes you use REST API to connect tools. aqua also has a very powerful integration with Capture, a bug reporting tool that automatically records execution and stores system information.

Jira integration with real-time project sync
REST API

Selenium, Jenkins, UFT, JMeter, SoapUI, Ranorex, Database MSSQL, Database Oracle for test automation

Jenkins, Ranorex, Cypress, Functionize for test automation

Test recording tool Capture

No native test recording integration

Not Available

Other issue tracking software

Jira integration with real-time project sync
REST API

Selenium, Jenkins, UFT, JMeter, SoapUI, Ranorex, Database MSSQL, Database Oracle for test automation

Test recording tool Capture

Not Available

Jenkins, Ranorex, Cypress, Functionize for test automation

No native test recording integration

Other issue tracking software

Verdict: aqua wins by extra native QA integrations

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

aqua and TestRail both do not cost extra to set up, but that is where similarities end. TestRail offers monthly billing only in their regular plan, but it has a few glaring omissions including traceability. TestRail’s Enterprise plan is billed annually, and there are no free licences for some of your staff.

Free setup

Free licences for manual testers

Full-price licences only

Extra security, SSO, individual rollbacks, and custom functionality in Enterprise plan

Extra security & SSO in Enterprise plan

Test parameterisation, test case approvals, test case version control, audit log in regular plan

Test parameterisation, test case approvals, test case version control, audit log in Enterprise plan only

Free setup

Free licences for manual testers

Extra security, SSO, individual rollbacks, and custom functionality in Enterprise plan

Test parameterisation, test case approvals, test case version control, audit log in regular plan

Full-price licences only

Extra security & SSO in Enterprise plan

Test parameterisation, test case approvals, test case version control, audit log in Enterprise plan only

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

Both solutions provide visual dashboards to display and slice any custom data. There are enough features to make dashboards insightful for any team member. You can also set up KPI Alerts to be notified when a key metric went out of order. TestRail does not offer KPI Alerts, and external sharing of dashboards is lacking as well.

All data including custom fields

KPI Alerts

Does not offer KPI Alerts

External dashboard sharing

PNG/CSV exports only

All data including custom fields

KPI Alerts

External dashboard sharing

Does not offer KPI Alerts

PNG/CSV exports only

Verdict: aqua wins by KPI alerts and better sharing

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

aqua has a fully customisable reports wizard to leverage and organise any data. You can even add external images and texts, too. There is a lot of automation with self-updating diagrams and custom scripts to pull and transform data depending on conditions entered by your specialists.

On the other hand, Zephyr has template-based reporting only. They claim to have 26 templates, but they are essentially 26 tracked metrics rather than 26 combinations of any metric. If QA reporting is a major consideration, aqua is a much better choice. Note that QA will eventually become the key stage to optimise, and good reports help a lot.

Template library
Custom reports
Diagrams
Parametrisation
Text & image formatting

Visual Reporting wizard for customisation beyond templates

DIY plugins for customisation beyond templates

Any data (natively)

Any data (custom plugins only)

External data & imagery (natively)

External data & imagery (custom plugins only)

Custom layout (natively)

Custom layout (plugins only)

Drag-and-drop

Not Available

Pivot tables

Not Available

Scripts (natively)

Scripts (custom plugins only)

Template library
Custom reports
Diagrams
Parametrisation
Text & image formatting

Visual Reporting wizard for customisation beyond templates

Any data (natively)

External data & imagery (natively)

Custom layout (natively)

Drag-and-drop

Pivot tables

Scripts (natively)

DIY plugins for customisation beyond templates

Any data (custom plugins only)

External data & imagery (custom plugins only)

Custom layout (plugins only)

Not Available

Scripts (custom plugins only)

Verdict: aqua wins by easier customisation

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

Granular user permissions are useful for working on multiple projects, conducting user acceptance testing, and working with freelancers. Basic roles functionality is usually fine, but you would hate to be in a situation where you need but can’t set individual permissions. aqua and TestRail both offer individual permissions, but TestRail locks them behind the Enterprise plan.

SSO
Default user roles
Custom roles
Individual permissions

Server and project level administrators

Server and project level administrators in Enterprise plan only

SSO
Default user roles
Custom roles
Individual permissions

Server and project level administrators

Server and project level administrators in Enterprise plan only

Verdict: aqua wins by value

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

Both solutions specialise in quality assurance, but aqua does not limit itself to just testing. You can use it for the entire lifecycle of the product, while TestRail will cover QA only. This is a significant money saver, as aqua gives you 4 tools at the price it would cost you to get TestRail only.

Test case management

Requirements management

Not Available

Defect management

Not Available

Project management

Not Available

Test case management

Requirements management

Defect management

Project management

Not Available

Verdict: aqua wins by covering the entire lifecycle, not just testing

What people say

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

“I was surprised to find such a comprehensive and mature tool for test management in the German market without having taken it seriously beforehand.”

Jörg Großmann

Head of Development at Bank 11

“For day-to-day test management of my project — I am able to do a lot of things. Test cases are reusable and I can report on some of their data. The UI is a little clunky, the documentation is not super helpful, and the reports are not as customizable as I would like. I'd also like to be able to build out a tracking dashboard for one or more projects.”

A G2 reviewer

Broadcast Media (51-1000 emp.)

“The reporting is meaningful and provides a good basis for decisions. After the employees have used aqua, they recognize the added value very quickly.”

Thomas Haeske

Head of Organisation/IT at Berlin Hyp

“Not user friendly, it's confusing and not always helpful. The audit trail for each defect doesn't do a good job of recording past history and hence, data becomes hard to analyse.”

Suchismita Majhi

Associate IT Consultant (a > 1000 emp. Enterprise)

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

Jörn-Hendrick Sörensen

Test Manager at KBA

“Sometimes bugs go unfixed for a long amount of time. There was one with uploading pictures that hindered us for a bit and now one with filtering. Reporting is also lacking a bit, I would like to see the ability to create my own reports. There is also no easy way to connect test reports with the browser stack that we use for our automated testing.“

Jessica W.

Computer Analyst (51-1000 emp.)

“I was surprised to find such a comprehensive and mature tool for test management in the German market without having taken it seriously beforehand.”

Jörg Großmann

Head of Development at Bank 11

“The reporting is meaningful and provides a good basis for decisions. After the employees have used aqua, they recognize the added value very quickly.”

Thomas Haeske

Head of Organisation/IT at Berlin Hyp

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

Jörn-Hendrick Sörensen

Test Manager at KBA

A G2 reviewer

Broadcast Media (51-1000 emp.)

“Not user friendly, it's confusing and not always helpful. The audit trail for each defect doesn't do a good job of recording past history and hence, data becomes hard to analyse.”

Suchismita Majhi

Associate IT Consultant (a > 1000 emp. Enterprise)

Jessica W.

Computer Analyst (51-1000 emp.)

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What do you pick for Enterprise and SMB?

Key differences between aqua and TestRail

How we compare

AI

Verdict: aqua wins (TestRail has no AI testing)

Test management

Integrations

Pricing flexibility

Verdict: aqua wins by extra Enterprise flexibility and advanced Regular features

Deployment Models

Dashboards

Reporting

User management

ALM

What people say

Final verdict

Winner