# Probara vs. Azure Test Plans

> An honest comparison of Probara and Azure Test Plans: feature by feature, published pricing, and which team each one fits. Checked against Microsoft’s own pricing and documentation.

Test management for teams whose work lives in Jira or GitHub, without buying into Microsoft’s DevOps suite. Probara starts free, bills per user with no minimum, keeps read-only users free, and sends CI results straight from Playwright, Jest, Cypress and Vitest.

[Probara vs. Azure Test Plans](https://probara.net/compare/azure-test-plans/)

## Feature by feature

What each product offers, as published by its vendor. Probara’s column covers every plan, with the plan noted where a feature needs one.

### Platform

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud (SaaS) | Included | Included (Azure DevOps Services) |
| Self-hosted option | Not available | Included (Azure DevOps Server) |
| Works without Jira | Included (No Jira license needed) | Not available (An access level inside Azure DevOps) |
| Free plan | Included (Up to 3 users and 3 projects) | Partial (Free Basic users run tests, not plans) |
| Interface in Spanish | Included (English and Spanish) | Partial (Language support not documented) |
| Billing in local currencies | Included (USD, EUR, MXN, BRL and COP) | Included (USD converted through Azure billing) |

### Test design

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Suites and folders | Included (Nested suites) | Included (Static, requirement and query-based suites) |
| Shared steps | Included (Shared across projects from Pro) | Included (Shared steps and shared parameters) |
| Parameterized test cases | Included (Shared parameters across projects from Pro) | Included (One iteration per row of values) |
| Custom fields | On some plans (Pro) | Included (Through work item process customization) |
| Test case version history | On some plans (Compare and restore, Pro) | Partial (Work item history, no restore documented) |
| Test case review and approval | On some plans (Pro) | Not available (No review workflow documented) |

### Execution

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Test runs | Included | Included (Manual and automated runs) |
| Test plans | Included | Included |
| Configurations (browsers, devices, environments) | Included (Configuration matrix on test plans) | Included (Operating systems, browsers and versions) |
| Milestones and releases | Included | Partial (Azure Boards iterations, no test milestones) |
| Exploratory testing sessions | Not available | Included (Test & Feedback browser extension) |

### Tracking and reporting

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Built-in defect tracking | Included (Linked to results and cases) | Included (Bug work items with Test Runner data) |
| Requirements traceability | On some plans (Coverage reports from Jira and GitHub issues, Pro) | Included (Tests linked to stories and features) |
| Dashboards | On some plans (Pro) | Included (Test widgets and Analytics) |
| Query language | On some plans (PQL tables and charts, Pro) | Included (WIQL work item queries; OData Analytics) |

### Automation and AI

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Test automation reporting | On some plans (Playwright, Jest, Cypress, Vitest, and JUnit XML through the CLI, Pro) | Partial (JUnit XML through Azure Pipelines) |
| REST API | Included (Every plan) | Included |
| Webhooks | On some plans (Pro) | Included (Service hooks) |
| MCP server for AI agents | Included (270+ tools and operations, every plan) | Included (Official Azure DevOps MCP server) |
| Built-in AI test generation | Not available (Bring your own agent through MCP) | Not available (Documented Copilot workflow through MCP) |

### Integrations

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jira integration | On some plans (Jira Cloud, Pro) | Not available (No native integration documented) |
| GitHub integration | On some plans (Issues, Actions workflows and PR comments, Pro) | Included (Azure Boards and Pipelines with GitHub) |

### Security and administration

| Feature | Probara | Azure Test Plans |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Single sign-on | On some plans (Google Workspace, OpenID Connect and SAML, Pro) | Included (Microsoft Entra ID) |
| Two-factor sign-in | Included (Authenticator app, every plan; owners can require it) | Included (Through Microsoft Entra ID) |
| Audit log | Included (Export on Enterprise) | Partial (Entra ID organizations only, off by default) |
| SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report | Not available | Included (SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001) |

## Pricing

Azure Test Plans is sold as the Basic + Test Plans access level, at $52 per user per month with a 30-day trial; the first five Basic users are free, but Basic users cannot create test plans. Probara is priced per user from the first seat, with a free plan for small teams.

### Probara

- **Free**: $0 up to 3 users
- **Pro**: $24 per user per month, billed annually. $30 billed monthly
- **Enterprise**: Custom pricing and terms for advanced procurement, security or support needs

Every new organization starts with a 14-day Pro trial, no credit card required.

[Compare Probara plans](https://probara.net/pricing/)

### Azure Test Plans

- **Basic + Test Plans**: $52 per user per month. Test planning, tracking and execution, and user acceptance testing. 30-day free trial.
- **Basic**: $6 per user per month, first 5 users free. Runs tests from Test Runner, but cannot create or manage test plans.

[See Azure Test Plans’s pricing page](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/devops/azure-devops-services/)

## Frequently asked questions

### How does Probara’s pricing compare with Azure Test Plans?

Probara’s Pro plan costs $24 per user per month billed annually. Azure Test Plans charges $52 per user per month for the Basic + Test Plans access level, which everyone who creates or manages test plans needs; its first five Basic users are free and can run tests, but cannot create test plans. Probara bills per user from the first seat, with no seat minimum and no packs, and on Pro, read-only viewers never take a seat, so the people who only follow results cost nothing. There is also a Free plan for 3 users and 3 projects, and every new organization starts with a 14-day Pro trial, with no credit card.

### Can I bring my test cases over from Azure Test Plans?

Yes. Azure Test Plans exports test cases to CSV or Excel, and Probara imports CSV and XLSX files laid out in its import template, with their suites and steps. Arrange the exported columns to match the template described in the CSV import guide and import the file into a project. If you would rather have Probara read the Azure Test Plans export as it is, or bring over anything else, ask for it with Send feedback in your profile menu in the app, or through the contact page before you sign up, and the team adds support for it.

### Do we need Azure DevOps to use Probara?

No. Probara is a standalone web app: sign up, create a project and start writing test cases, with no tracker, pipeline service or Microsoft subscription to set up first. It connects to Jira Cloud and GitHub rather than Azure DevOps, so if your boards live in Azure DevOps, your tests and work items stay in separate tools.

### Can we keep running our tests in Azure Pipelines?

Yes. Probara’s reporters for Playwright, Jest, Cypress and Vitest run in any CI service, Azure Pipelines and GitHub Actions included, and send each run straight into a test run with its attachments, creating the cases a report names that do not exist yet. Any other framework can send JUnit XML through the open-source Probara CLI. With GitHub, Probara can also launch GitHub Actions workflows from a run and post a results comment on pull requests. All of this is on the Pro plan.

### Does Probara work with Jira?

Yes, with Jira Cloud on the Pro plan: create Jira issues from defects and failed results with their steps and evidence, keep status in sync both ways, link issues to the test cases that cover them, and build coverage reports from them. Microsoft does not document a native Jira integration for Azure Test Plans.

### Can AI agents work in Probara?

Yes. Probara’s MCP server, with 270+ tools and operations, reached through up to 14 tools listed by default, lets Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients write test cases, start runs, record results and file defects, with the same permissions as the person who connected them. It is included on every plan, Free included.

[All comparisons](https://probara.net/compare/)

Prices and features as published by Azure Test Plans, checked on October 17, 2026. Azure Test Plans is a trademark of its owner.