# Probara vs. Zephyr

> An honest comparison of Probara and Zephyr: feature by feature, published pricing, and which team each one fits. Checked against Zephyr’s Marketplace listing and SmartBear’s documentation.

Keep Jira for development and give testing a tool of its own. Probara charges only the people who test, keeps read-only users free, lets you query your whole test record with PQL, and stays linked to Jira Cloud without living inside it.

[Probara vs. Zephyr](https://probara.net/compare/zephyr/)

## 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 | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud (SaaS) | Included | Included (Jira Cloud, hosted on AWS) |
| Self-hosted option | Not available | Included (On Jira Data Center) |
| Works without Jira | Included (No Jira license needed) | Not available (Requires Jira; Zephyr Enterprise is separate) |
| Free plan | Included (Up to 3 users and 3 projects) | Not available (30-day trial only) |
| Interface in Spanish | Included (English and Spanish) | Included (Five languages, Spanish included) |
| Billing in local currencies | Included (USD, EUR, MXN, BRL and COP) | Not available (USD) |

### Test design

| Feature | Probara | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Suites and folders | Included (Nested suites) | Partial (Folders; no suites outside cycles) |
| Shared steps | Included (Shared across projects from Pro) | Included (Call to Test) |
| Parameterized test cases | Included (Shared parameters across projects from Pro) | Partial (Test data rows repeat the steps of one execution) |
| Custom fields | On some plans (Pro) | Included (Cases, steps, cycles, plans and executions) |
| Test case version history | On some plans (Compare and restore, Pro) | Included (Compare versions) |
| Test case review and approval | On some plans (Pro) | Partial (Status values, no approval workflow) |

### Execution

| Feature | Probara | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Test runs | Included | Included (Test cycles) |
| Test plans | Included | Included |
| Configurations (browsers, devices, environments) | Included (Configuration matrix on test plans) | Partial (Environments, no matrix) |
| Milestones and releases | Included | Partial (Iterations; no milestone entity documented) |
| Exploratory testing sessions | Not available | Not available (Not documented) |

### Tracking and reporting

| Feature | Probara | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Built-in defect tracking | Included (Linked to results and cases) | Not available (Defects are Jira issues) |
| Requirements traceability | On some plans (Coverage reports from Jira and GitHub issues, Pro) | Included (Links to any Jira issue type) |
| Dashboards | On some plans (Pro) | Partial (24 reports, 19 gadgets; no custom reports) |
| Query language | On some plans (PQL tables and charts, Pro) | Not available (No JQL functions) |

### Automation and AI

| Feature | Probara | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Test automation reporting | On some plans (Playwright, Jest, Cypress, Vitest, and JUnit XML through the CLI, Pro) | Included (JUnit, Cucumber and a custom format) |
| REST API | Included (Every plan) | Included |
| Webhooks | On some plans (Pro) | Not available (Not documented) |
| MCP server for AI agents | Included (270+ tools and operations, every plan) | Included (SmartBear MCP, Standard and Advanced) |
| Built-in AI test generation | Not available (Bring your own agent through MCP) | Included (Rovo skills and AI step suggestions) |

### Integrations

| Feature | Probara | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Jira integration | On some plans (Jira Cloud, Pro) | Included (Runs inside Jira Cloud and Data Center) |
| GitHub integration | On some plans (Issues, Actions workflows and PR comments, Pro) | Not available (None documented; results through REST) |

### Security and administration

| Feature | Probara | Zephyr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Single sign-on | On some plans (Google Workspace, OpenID Connect and SAML, Pro) | Partial (Not documented by Zephyr) |
| Two-factor sign-in | Included (Authenticator app, every plan; owners can require it) | Partial (Not documented by Zephyr) |
| Audit log | Included (Export on Enterprise) | Partial (Version history only) |
| SOC 2 or ISO 27001 report | Not available | Included (SOC 2 Type 2) |

## Pricing

Zephyr is sold on the Atlassian Marketplace by Jira user tier: the tier must match every user on your Jira site, and Jira itself is billed on top, free for up to 10 users and from $8.48 per user per month on Jira Standard. Probara is priced per user from the first seat, with a free plan, and on Pro, viewers do not take a seat.

### 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/)

### Zephyr

- **Standard**: $10 per month for up to 10 Jira users. $100 a year for up to 10 users; $3,405 a year for 26 to 50 users.
- **Advanced**: $15 per month for up to 10 Jira users. $4,365 a year for 26 to 50 users. Adds more no-code automation runs, parallel and cross-browser testing.

[See Zephyr’s pricing page](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1213259/zephyr-test-management-and-automation-for-jira)

## Frequently asked questions

### How does Probara’s pricing compare with Zephyr?

Zephyr, the app once called Zephyr Scale, is sold by Jira user tier: SmartBear’s FAQ notes there is no way to buy a lower tier for the app than for Jira, and Jira itself is billed on top. For a Jira site of up to 10 users, Zephyr Standard costs $10 a month, less than a paid Probara plan for the same team. As the site grows, so does the bill, however few people test: Zephyr Standard is $3,405 a year for 26 to 50 Jira users. Probara has no seat minimum and no packs: Pro costs $24 per user per month billed annually, and you pay only for the people who write and run tests. On Pro, read-only viewers never take a seat, so the rest of the company can follow results for free, and the Free plan covers 3 users.

### Can I bring my test cases over from Zephyr?

Yes. Probara imports test cases from CSV and XLSX files laid out in its own template, or its JSON and XML formats, with suites and steps, so a Zephyr export arranged in that template moves your cases today. If you would rather have Probara read Zephyr’s export as it comes, or bring over something 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 have to stop using Jira?

No. On the Pro plan, Probara works with Jira Cloud: 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 Jira issues. Your test cases live in Probara rather than in Jira. Jira Data Center and Jira Server are not supported.

### Does Probara work with our automated tests and CI?

Yes, on Pro. Native reporters for Playwright, Jest, Cypress and Vitest send each CI run into a Probara test run, attachments included, and create the cases that do not exist yet. Any other framework that writes JUnit XML reports through the open-source Probara CLI. With GitHub, you can launch GitHub Actions workflows from a run and get one results comment on each pull request. Zephyr imports JUnit and Cucumber results, and adds no-code web and API automation that Probara does not offer.

### How do AI agents compare?

Both have an MCP server. Zephyr’s SmartBear MCP is available on its Standard and Advanced editions, and Zephyr adds Rovo skills and AI step suggestions inside the app. 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 on every plan, Free included, with the same permissions as the person who connected them.

### Do our testers need a Jira license?

Not for Probara. In Zephyr, test cases and cycles live inside Jira, so everyone who writes or runs them works in Jira, and every Jira user on the site counts toward both the Jira bill and the Zephyr tier. In Probara, testers sign in to Probara itself and no one needs a Jira seat to use it; Jira Cloud stays linked on Pro. Every new organization starts with a 14-day Pro trial, with no credit card.

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

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