Each one fits a different team. This page shows them side by side and asks the same questions of each.
Based on public information from each company's site.
Your team, a vendor's team, or an AI at run time. The answer decides who can change a test tomorrow.
In your repository or in a vendor's system. The answer decides what you keep when the contract ends.
Nothing, a usage fee, or an AI call. The answer decides how often you can run the suite.
Scroll sideways to see all five approaches.
| Question | Build in-house | Managed QA service | Low-code test platform | AI browser extension | vikingQA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Your own tooling | Service: a vendor's team does the work | Tool | Tool: an assistant in one browser | Tool: a self-serve product your team uses |
| Who writes the tests | Your developers | The vendor's team | Your testers, in the platform's editor | Nobody: a person prompts the AI for each run | Your developers, your non-technical testers and the vikingQA agent |
| Who can contribute | Developers | The vendor's team. Your team requests and reviews | Testers trained on the platform. Depends on the product | Anyone, one session at a time | Developers (code), non-technical testers (browser extension and chat), the AI agent |
| Who keeps the tests working | Your developers | The vendor's team | Your testers, with the platform's tools | You write the prompt again | Self-healing tests: the agent explores again and heals a test that is out of date. vikingQA merges the change by itself, or your team reviews it first |
| Where the test code lives, and what you keep if you leave | Your repository | Depends on the vendor | Usually in the platform | Nowhere: there is no test code | Your own code repository on GitHub or GitLab, so every test stays if you leave |
| Test format | Your choice | Depends on the vendor | Usually the platform's own format | A prompt | Plain Playwright |
| Per-run AI cost | Depends on your design | Depends on the vendor | Depends on the product | An AI cost in each run | None. A run is code execution |
| Test-management integration (Xray, Zephyr Scale) | You build it | Depends on the vendor | Depends on the product | None | Xray and Zephyr Scale Roadmap |
| Hosting region | Your choice | Depends on the vendor | Depends on the product | Depends on the product | EU. AI model inference runs in the United States by default |
| Pricing model | Engineer time and infrastructure | Usually by quote | Usually by quote | Usually a subscription for each user | A Free plan, a Team plan at €500 a month with 10 seats, and an Enterprise plan by quote. AI credits every month, with top-ups |
| Best fit | Teams with spare platform engineers and unusual needs | Teams that want to outsource the work | Teams that do not want test code | One person who checks one change | Teams where developers and business testers share one suite |
The four alternatives are categories. Products inside a category differ. The linked pages compare vikingQA with named products.
QA Wolf's team builds and maintains your tests as a service. With vikingQA, your team and an AI agent own the suite.
Read the comparisonTwo AI testing tools that a team can start on its own. See where each one keeps the tests and who can contribute.
Read the comparisonmabl is a low-code test automation platform. vikingQA keeps the tests as code in your own repository, and the agent writes that code.
Read the comparisonAn extension checks one change while you watch. vikingQA builds a suite that runs without you.
Read the comparisonWhat an in-house setup takes to build and to keep running, with a cost calculator.
Build vs buyDevelopers push code. Business testers record or describe. The agent writes the automation.
Your tests are stored in your own code repository, in a standard open format. If you cancel, every test stays and keeps running.
For developers: Every test is plain Playwright in your git. Cancel tomorrow and you keep every test.
Running your committed Playwright tests costs no AI credits. Credits pay for the agent's work: writing, exploring and healing tests.
From each company's public website. If something is wrong or out of date, write to us and we correct it.
Because a check mark hides the detail that matters. Each cell says what a product does, in words.
No. Each comparison has a section that says when the other option is the better choice.
Yes. Start free with your own repository, or book a demo and bring your own flows.
A 30-minute demo, on your product, with your flows.