99tests vs BrowserStack App Live:
which one fits your next release?
BrowserStack App Live gives your own engineers remote access to real devices in a cloud farm. 99tests gives you other people — 20,000 testers who own the devices your Indian users own — to run your test cases and report back in 3 business days.
Side by side.
| BrowserStack App Live | 99tests | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Device cloud: you drive a real device remotely | Human testing service: testers run your cases on their own devices |
| Who does the testing | Your engineers and QA | 99tests' verified crowd |
| How you buy | Monthly or annual subscription per user | Pay per job, from ₹9,999 / $129 |
| Device access | Thousands of device/OS combos, data-centre hosted, instantly | Devices as they exist in users' pockets — carrier SIMs, real networks, real battery and storage state |
| Network conditions | Simulated throttling | Actual Jio, Airtel, Vi connections in the tester's location |
| Best for | Debugging a specific device issue yourself, right now | Finding out what real users on real Indian devices will hit before you ship |
What BrowserStack App Live is built for
App Live is a tool for engineers. You pick a device from a catalogue, it appears in your browser in seconds, and you tap through your app yourself. It is unbeatable for reproducing a bug on a specific OS version, checking layout on a device you do not own, or running automation at scale with the sibling Automate product. BrowserStack is also a Bengaluru-founded company with a large Indian device catalogue.
What 99tests is built for
99tests is a service, not a tool. It answers a different question: not "can I access a Galaxy A15?" but "what happens when 5 different people on their own Galaxy A15s, Redmi 12s and iPhone 11s run my 40 test cases on Jio and Airtel networks?" Testers use devices with a year of real photos, apps and battery wear, on real carriers, in real locations. Findings are verified and severity-graded before you see them.
Where they differ.
Labour: App Live costs your team's hours; 99tests costs a fixed fee and none of your team's hours.
Device state: farm devices are clean and reset; tester devices have MIUI battery optimisation switched on, low storage, and 30 background apps — which is where bugs live.
Network: farm devices sit on data-centre connections with optional throttling; tester devices are on the carrier and cell tower your users are on.
Coverage per rupee: App Live gives one engineer one device at a time; a 99tests Standard job gives 10 sessions across 4 devices with different humans.
Bug discovery: App Live finds what you think to look for; exploratory sessions on 99tests find what you did not.
Automation: BrowserStack Automate runs scripts at scale; 99tests does not do automation and says so.
When to pick BrowserStack App Live
- You need to reproduce and debug a specific issue on a specific device yourself.
- You run automated suites and want them on real devices.
- Your engineers want instant access to devices during development.
- You need a very wide device matrix beyond the Indian market.
When to pick 99tests
- You want humans to run your test cases, not just a device to run them on.
- You care about behaviour on real carriers and real device state, not a clean lab unit.
- Your engineers' time is worth more than ₹9,999.
- You want exploratory findings, not only pass/fail on scripted steps.
Running both
This is the common pattern: BrowserStack during development and for automation, then a 99tests job on the release candidate for human real-world coverage on Indian devices. They are complements, not substitutes.
Before you choose.
Is 99tests a device farm?
No. Testers use their own devices in their own locations. There is no remote access; you get a report, not a device session.
Can I use 99tests for automation?
No. 99tests is manual and exploratory execution by people. For automated runs on real devices, use BrowserStack Automate or similar.
Which finds more bugs?
Different bugs. App Live finds what your engineer looks for on a clean device. 99tests finds what a person with a full phone on a weak Jio signal hits when following your test cases and then poking around.
Try it on one build.
Pay, upload your test cases, and testers are on it within the hour. Verified report in three business days.