A single pricing page can show several pricing models at once. The catalogue records which models a page shows, the plans and prices exactly as printed, and whether a permanent free tier exists. This guide explains how we read a pricing page and what we leave out.
The seven pricing model types
A tool can have more than one model. Documented counts as of 2026-09-24, across 330 tools, sorted by count:
| Pricing model | What the page shows | Tools (documented) |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | a permanent free plan | 174 |
| Enterprise quote | a plan priced only through sales | 174 |
| Flat tier | a fixed price per plan | 80 |
| Usage credits | a price tied to runs, credits or executions | 75 |
| Per seat | a price per user | 54 |
| Managed service | vendor staff do the testing work | 13 |
| Outcome based | a price tied to a result, such as tests maintained | 5 |
144 tools have at least one published price in the catalogue.
Free tier versus free trial
A free tier is a plan with no end date. A free trial ends after a set period. We record a free tier only when the pricing page shows a permanent free plan.
As of 2026-09-24, the free tier fact, which is separate from the pricing model, is documented as yes for 175 tools and as no for 45. It is not documented for 100 tools.
TestRail records no free tier, and the evidence level is documented. The TestRail pricing page FAQ states: "There isn’t a permanently free plan, but every plan includes a 30-day free trial".
mabl records its free tier as not documented. The mabl pricing page prints a 14-day free trial, which is not a free tier.
ACCELQ records a free tier, and the evidence level is documented. On the ACCELQ pricing page, only the ACCELQ Manual "Individuals" plan is printed as "Free for life". The Automate plans are offered as a free trial, and no prices are printed.
Credits and usage units
Some plans state an allowance next to the price. Read the unit as carefully as the number.
Cypress prints its plans on the Cypress pricing page:
| Plan | Price as printed | Billing as printed |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free (10 users, 500 test results / month, 100 prompt execs / month) | No credit card required |
| Team | Starting at $67 / month (50 users, 120k test results / year, 9k prompt execs / year) | Billed annually at $799 |
| Business | Starting at $267 / month (50 users, 120k test results / year, 24k prompt execs / year) | Billed annually at $3,199 |
The mabl pricing page states "a starting point of 500 credits per month for cloud test runs". It prints no prices, so the catalogue records none.
Healenium prints its "Professional (Healenium Pro)" plan on the Healenium homepage as "Then $1.142/hour after trial". Billing is hourly through AWS Marketplace after a 30-day free trial.
Per seat and flat tier
The TestRail pricing page prints "Essentials (Cloud only, up to 5 users)" at "$ 22 Per user/month", billed annually. The plan cards and the pricing FAQ print different per-seat figures for some plans. We record both as printed and do not reconcile them.
CloudQA prints flat plans on its subscription plans page. "Kickstart – Free" is $0. "Scale Up" is $119/m billed monthly, or $99/m billed annually.
Outcome based
Checksum prices by the number of tests maintained. Its pricing page lists Emerging, Scaling and Enterprise tiers with no printed prices. The page offers a "Free 30-day Trial". The free tier fact is documented as no.
Enterprise quote: why we never estimate
"Contact sales", "Request a Quote" or "Custom pricing" means the model includes enterprise quote. The catalogue records no number for it.
We do not estimate a quote from third-party pages, search snippets or similar tools. An estimate would be a number that no source backs.
testRigor shows how this works in practice. Its plans were read from the testRigor sign-up page. The page lists a free public open-source plan, a trial and custom enterprise pricing, with no printed prices. Search snippets citing monthly prices were not confirmed on any page we opened, so they were not used.
A short checklist
- List every plan name exactly as printed, including any text in brackets.
- Note the billing period and whether the default toggle shows monthly or annual prices.
- Note the usage unit: users, runs, credits, test results or tests maintained.
- Separate a permanent free plan from a free trial.
- Record "Contact sales" as enterprise quote with no number.
- Note the date you opened the page, because pricing pages change often.
Every tool's pricing model, published prices and free tier appear on the pricing page, each with its source and verified-on date. The rules are on the methodology page.