Where BugBug's free tier stops
BugBug BugBug's free tier is limited in the places that matter most for growing test suites. You get local-only execution, not cloud runs, plus just 15 tests, 4 test suites, 1 user, and 1 project. History is kept for only 7 days, even though you do get the recorder, components, edit and rewind, screenshots, and detailed results. Once you need collaboration, longer retention, or room to expand beyond a small local setup, the free plan stops fitting.
Switch table
| BugBug | TestingBot | Shake | Repeato | Chromatic | BrowserStack | kogiQA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tests | 15 | Unknown | Unlimited bug reports, not tests | 5 Android, 5 iOS, 5 web tests | 5,000 snapshots per month | 5,000 free monthly screenshots | 500 actions per month |
| test suites | 4 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| users | 1 | Unknown | Up to 3 team members | Unlimited | Unlimited projects and users | Unlimited users | Unlimited users |
| projects | 1 | Unknown | 1 app | Unknown | Unlimited projects | Unknown | Unknown |
| cloud execution | No, local only | Unknown | Not applicable | Cloud devices 5 minutes per month | Not applicable | Not stated in the free items | Includes cloud runner usage |
| history retention | 7 days | Unknown | 1 month | Unknown | 1 month of build history | 1 month of build history | Unknown |
| Card required | - | No | No | No | No | Unknown | No |
| First paid tier | - | Live $20/month billed annually | Starter $160/mo | Basic $70 per month and user | Starter $179/month | Team $150 / month (billed annually) | Usage-based $0.002/action |
The alternatives
TestingBot
FTV 46 / 100TestingBot's free offer is a 14-day trial with no credit card required, so it is best viewed as a short evaluation window rather than an ongoing free tier. It is useful if you want to try cross-browser and device testing without paying up front, and it also has a separate free path for open-source projects. The big advantage is breadth of execution targets, since the platform is built around browser and mobile coverage. It falls short of BugBug on ongoing free use, because the offer is time-limited instead of a perpetual local plan. Switch here if you want to validate a browser/device-testing workflow before committing.
- Beats BugBug: Cross-browser and real-device coverage
- Falls short: No perpetual free tier
- Who should switch: Switch to TestingBot if your main need is a short no-card trial for browser and mobile coverage.
Shake
FTV 69 / 100Shake's free plan is perpetual and includes 1 app on the dashboard, up to 20 bug reports per month, unlimited crash reports, unlimited app users, AI debugging, MCP server access, limited integrations, up to 3 team members, 10,000 app installs, 1 month of data retention, activity history, live chat, ticket rules, custom forms, screen recording, and data obfuscation. That makes it a better fit for teams that care about issue reporting and debugging context rather than test-suite execution. It beats BugBug on team size and retention for reporting workflows, but it does not offer the same test automation focus. Switch if your real problem is capturing and triaging bugs, not running browser tests.
- Beats BugBug: Bug and crash reporting depth
- Falls short: Not a test automation tool
- Who should switch: Switch to Shake if you need free mobile or web issue tracking with richer debugging context.
Repeato
FTV 56 / 100Repeato's free tier is built for automation work and gives you unlimited monthly testing minutes, plus 5 Android tests, 5 iOS tests, 5 web tests, 20 AI vision assertions per month, 5 cloud-device minutes per month, 20 MB of cloud storage, and email support. It is a better fit than BugBug if you need mobile coverage in addition to web testing, especially when your work spans iOS and Android. It falls short on test-library breadth and cloud capacity, since the free quotas are small and cloud devices are tightly capped. Switch here if your stack includes mobile app tests and you can live within modest monthly limits.
- Beats BugBug: Mobile test coverage
- Falls short: Tighter cloud and storage limits
- Who should switch: Switch to Repeato if you need one free tool for both web and mobile automation.
Chromatic
FTV 78 / 100Chromatic's free plan includes 5,000 snapshots per month, Chrome testing, unlimited projects and users, unlimited collaborators, Git and CI integrations, and UI version tracking. That makes it a better free choice for teams doing frontend visual review, especially when many people need access without seat limits. It beats BugBug on collaboration and scale for UI snapshot workflows, but it is narrower because it is centered on visual testing rather than general end-to-end browser automation. Switch here if your priority is catching UI regressions and coordinating reviews across a team, not recording functional browser flows.
- Beats BugBug: Unlimited users and collaborators
- Falls short: Visual testing focus instead of general E2E automation
- Who should switch: Switch to Chromatic if your team wants shared visual testing with no seat cap.
BrowserStack
FTV 64 / 100BrowserStack's free offering centers on visual testing with unlimited users, 5,000 free monthly screenshots, cross-browser support on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari, Percy Visual Engine, automatic browser upgrades, grouped snapshots, responsive visual testing, 1 month of build history, and 24x7 email support. It is a strong choice when the free-tier constraint is team access, since BugBug caps you at 1 user. The tradeoff is that this free offer is aimed at visual workflows, not local recorded test suites. Switch here if you need browser coverage and collaborative visual QA more than script-like local automation.
- Beats BugBug: Unlimited users
- Falls short: Narrower visual-testing scope
- Who should switch: Switch to BrowserStack if your biggest free-tier need is broad browser access with many users.
kogiQA
FTV 50 / 100kogiQA's free tier gives you the first 500 actions per month free, includes cloud runner usage, unlimited users, and all functions. That is the most generous option here if you want recurring cloud execution without a seat cap, and it is especially attractive for teams that prefer natural-language selectors over traditional CSS or XPath workflows. It clearly beats BugBug on cloud access and user count, while BugBug still offers a more familiar local recorder-and-edit workflow. Switch here if you want the most room to grow before paying and you are comfortable working within an action-based limit.
- Beats BugBug: Cloud runner usage with unlimited users
- Falls short: Action-based monthly cap
- Who should switch: Switch to kogiQA if you want the most free headroom for cloud-based web automation.
Two quick picks
Repeato
Repeato is the closest fit for someone already using recorded test flows and looking for another automation tool with a similar low-code feel. It keeps the same broad web-testing category, adds mobile coverage, and still offers local and cloud-oriented automation concepts, so the behavior change is smaller than moving to a visual or bug-tracking platform.
kogiQA
kogiQA gives the most free room before payment because it includes cloud runner usage, unlimited users, and 500 free actions each month. That combination leaves more usable collaboration and execution headroom than the other options, even though the action cap still exists.
Frequently asked questions
Which alternative is best if BugBug's 1-user limit is the real problem?
Chromatic, BrowserStack, and kogiQA all remove the single-user bottleneck on their free offerings. Chromatic and kogiQA are the cleanest free choices if you want team access without immediately paying.
Which option is closest to BugBug's test automation workflow?
Repeato is the closest drop-in because it is also a no-code automation tool for web and mobile testing. It stays much closer to BugBug's recording-and-reuse style than the visual review tools do.
Which free alternative gives cloud execution?
kogiQA includes cloud runner usage in its free tier, and Repeato includes 5 cloud-device minutes per month. TestingBot's free offer is a trial, but it is not a perpetual free tier.
Which option is best for visual testing instead of browser automation?
Chromatic and BrowserStack are the strongest fits. Both center on visual testing workflows, with Chromatic focused on snapshots and BrowserStack offering broader browser coverage and visual review features.
Bottom line
For most builders leaving BugBug's free tier, kogiQA is the best next stop because it removes the one-user bottleneck, includes cloud runner usage, and gives 500 free actions each month. If your main issue is collaboration or a need to keep testing without paying right away, that headroom matters more than a narrow local-only workflow. If you want the closest product shape instead, Repeato is the safer fallback, but kogiQA gives the most free room overall.
Read the full listing for BugBug. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more alternatives on /alternatives, or head-to-head comparisons on /compare.