Azure Test Plans is a comprehensive test management solution for manual and exploratory testing. The service is part of Azure DevOps and enables teams to plan, execute, and track structured testing.
What is Azure Test Plans?
Azure Test Plans is the test management tool within Azure DevOps Services. It provides capabilities for manual test cases, exploratory testing, test suites, and traceability between tests and requirements. Unlike pure automation tools like Azure Pipelines, Test Plans focuses on manual testing and organized test workflows.
The service supports the entire test lifecycle: test planning with hierarchical test suites, test execution with screenshots and annotations, bug tracking directly from test runs, and comprehensive reporting. Integration with Azure Boards enables end-to-end traceability from requirements through test cases to bugs.
Test Plans is particularly valuable for teams requiring regulated testing, for UAT scenarios with business stakeholders, or for regression testing before releases. The Test & Feedback browser extension enables exploratory testing directly in the browser with automatic screenshot capture and session recording.
Typical Use Cases
User Acceptance Testing with Business Stakeholders
Create structured test plans for UAT phases. Stakeholders receive Basic Tester licenses and can execute tests without DevOps knowledge. Feedback is automatically captured in Azure Boards as bugs or feature requests.
Exploratory Testing for New Features
Use the Test & Feedback extension for ad-hoc testing without predefined test cases. Capture bugs with automatic screenshots, video recording, and environment information directly from the browser.
Regression Testing Before Releases
Organize reusable test suites for each release. Map test cases to requirements for complete traceability. Monitor test coverage and quality metrics via dashboards.
Manual Tests for Complex UI Workflows
Document detailed test steps with expected results. Testers record results with pass/fail and comments. Automatic bug creation on failures with full context.
Compliance and Audit Trails
Document all test activities for regulated industries. Traceable history of who executed which test when. Integration with work items for complete audit trails.
Best Practices
Organize Test Suites Hierarchically
Structure test suites by features or epics. Use requirement-based test suites for automatic mapping to user stories. Shared steps reduce duplicates for recurring procedures.
Exploratory Testing with Test & Feedback Extension
Install the browser extension for all testers. Use session mode for automatic screenshot capture. Capture bugs directly from tests with full context.
Integration of Manual and Automated Tests
Combine manual test cases with automated tests in the same test suites. Automated tests run in Azure Pipelines, manual tests as part of Test Plans. Combined reporting shows total coverage.
Test Data Management with Parameters
Use parameterized test cases for data-driven testing. Reduces number of test cases for different input data. Better maintainability and clarity.
Traceability with Azure Boards
Link test cases with requirements and user stories. Automatic bi-directional traceability. Dashboards show test coverage per feature.
Frequently Asked Questions about Azure Test Plans
What is the difference between Basic and Basic + Test Plans licenses?
Basic licenses (around €5/user/month) allow access to Azure Boards, Repos, and Pipelines, but not Test Plans. Basic + Test Plans (around €47/user/month) adds Test Plans for complete test management. Stakeholder licenses (free) allow limited test execution.
Can I use Azure Test Plans without the rest of Azure DevOps?
No, Test Plans is an integral part of Azure DevOps Services. You need an Azure DevOps organization. However, you can use Test Plans with GitHub repositories if you use Azure Boards for work item tracking.
Does Azure Test Plans support automated tests?
Partially: You can integrate automated tests (e.g., Selenium, Playwright) into test suites and track their results. Execution happens via Azure Pipelines, not Test Plans itself. Test Plans focuses on manual and exploratory testing.
How many tester licenses do I need?
Only testers who create or edit test cases need Basic + Test Plans. Testers who only execute existing tests can work with Basic or Stakeholder licenses (with limitations). For UAT, Stakeholder licenses are often sufficient.
Can I use Test Plans with Jira or GitHub Issues?
Limited: Azure Test Plans requires Azure Boards for work item tracking. You can synchronize Azure Boards with Jira or GitHub, but primary data storage is in Azure Boards. For pure GitHub/Jira workflows, there are better alternatives.
What browser extensions exist for Test Plans?
The Test & Feedback extension (available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox) enables exploratory testing directly in the browser. Captures screenshots, videos, network traces, and browser logs. Bugs can be created directly from the extension.
How does Test Plans differ from other test tools?
Test Plans focuses on integration with Azure DevOps and manual testing. Alternatives: TestRail (pure test management without DevOps), Zephyr (Jira-integrated), Xray (also Jira), qTest (standalone). Test Plans excels at Microsoft stack integration.
Can I use Test Plans on-premises?
Yes, as part of Azure DevOps Server (formerly TFS). Requires separate licensing and self-hosting. Azure DevOps Services (cloud) is recommended by Microsoft and updated more frequently.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you in implementing Azure DevOps and Test Plans. We help with migration from legacy test tools, designing test strategies for agile teams, integration with CI/CD pipelines, and training for manual and exploratory testing methods.
Contact us for a non-binding consultation on Azure Test Plans and Microsoft Azure.
