There are many different tools available to distribute apps and for collecting mobile app bugs and crash reports with various pricing schemes features. We’ve taken a look at some of the most popular tools out there and summarized what each one has to offer.

BetaCrash

Product description:

We are very happy to showcase our favorite tool: BetaCrash. We launched BetaCrash in April 2017. It’s an easy solution for sharing Beta Android and iOS applications with your team. We recently released a new integration – the Shake Report. Now testers can easily take screenshots and share bugs with developers via a mobile device. All you need to do is shake your device to send bugs to the engineers.
BetaCrash is a tool we’ve developed at PLUS QA. If you would like to find out more about it please visit our blog.

BetaCrash has a lot to offer. It is easy to set up just by logging in with a Google or Github account. It is easy to use as well. Once you have uploaded your build, you can get the link from our app and share it with your team. Everything is secure and you can choose to restrict the access of your app with a password and set a date for the build to be available. There are several good integrations, like Slack and Xcode. And now with the Shake Report you can report bugs just by shaking your phone.

Pricing

A limited time offer is currently available: you can get 5 builds for free. This option is ideal if you are only shipping a few builds per month.
Prototyper plan: $5/month
Large plan: $49/month
XL plan: $99/month


 Bugsee

Product description

Bugsee is a great solution to collect bugs and feedback for developers. This tool allows you to record videos of users in action and also to track bugs and crashes very easily. Developers can quickly get feedback to fix bugs and improve their mobile applications.
The Bugsee dashboard displays all the information that is linked to the bug so you can isolate the issue and implement a fix.

Some of the great features it offers are integration available for bug trackers such as Jira, user-friendly interface, video recording, console log and crash reports, and network events and device information.

Price

Free trial available
From $99 to $599

https://www.bugsee.com/pricing/

 


HockeyApp

Product description:

Hockey App was acquired by Microsoft in 2014. This tool allows you to upload your build, test it and track issues. It works with Android and iOS apps. You will have to install it and integrate it with your app.
Hockey App provides live crash reports with all the information that is pertinent to a developer.

This product is easy to use and it works with iOS, Android, Windows Phone and OS X apps.
You can filter crash reports to narrow it down to only the information that you need. It also offers Jira and Github integration.

Price

Free trial available
Business S: $30/month
Business M: $60/month
Business L: $120/month
Business XL: $250/month
Business XXL: $500/month

(No longer applicable)


Crashlytics

Product description

Crashlytics is another crash reporting tool that has been acquired by Twitter in 2013. It knows how to prioritize your work according to the importance of the bug. If there is a critical bug that is not fixed, it will send you a notification to alert you that this is something that you need to fix asap.
Crashlytics is mostly known for its crash reporting tool but it also allows you to distribute apps and analyze them.

Users like the great dashboard and it is easy and fast to setup. It is also free. It is integrated to the Fabric.io platform and works with iOS and Android.

Price

Free

 


Buddybuild

Product description

Buddybuild was founded in 2015. It’s one of the best developer tools available on the market and the company itself has a great reputation.

This tool has many different features:

  • The bug reporter: this reporter is user-friendly with visual graphics. It also gives you an accurate report with the ability to track whose device crashed and what line of code was responsible for the issue.
  • The analytic report: it gives you users’ data. You will be able to know when a tester downloaded your app and launched it in real time. Also, the report lets you know what version of the app the tester is testing.
  • App-to-date: this feature will detect if testers are testing on an old version of your app. If this is the case, it will be automatically updated.

Other benefits include Github integration and customizable workflow.

Price

Monthly and annual plans are available.
Business Plus $1179/month – Business $489/month – Team $279/month – Enterprise: available upon request.

https://www.buddybuild.com/pricing/#business

 


Fabric

Product description

Fabric is a new platform created in 2014 by Twitter. It supports Android, iOS, macOS, tvOS and Unity apps.

They are positioned around 3 areas:

  • BUILD – crash reporting tool feature and app deployment: beta distribution of your app
  • UNDERSTAND – track users’ behavior and try to keep the “healthy” ones
  • GROW – track new user sign-ups and optimize onboarding flow. Implement ads in your app to monetize it.

Fabric has a friendly user interface and it is free.

 


Firebase Crash Reporting

Product description:

Firebase Crash Reporting is a Google product that creates detailed reports of bugs in your app. Issues are grouped and organized according to the severity of impact on your users. In addition to automatic reports, you can log custom events to help capture the steps leading up to a crash.

On the plus side, it is easy to setup and you are able to group users who are testing the same project. Meanwhile you will need to implement Google Play services to use Firebase.

Price

Free trial available
Fame plan: $25
Blaze plan. Pay as you go

https://firebase.google.com/pricing/

 


Instabug

Product description:

Instabug is an easy and efficient tool known for its debugging capabilities. It provides clear data to help you in the debugging process. It is an easy tool to integrate and use while you are testing. Dashboards are very useful to analyze data related to crashes and bugs.

It is easy to use and integrate and easy to make a report with the handy shake option. It offers integration with Jira and it is easy to collaborate.

Price

Free trial available
Bronze plan: $49/month
Silver plan: $149/month
Gold plan: $349/month
Enterprise: available upon request

https://instabug.com/pricing

 


Appsee

Product description

Appsee is designed to fully integrate with your app and automatically set up event tracking, session recordings, crash playback, touch heatmaps and more.

It is easy to use and integrate. It is also intuitive and user-friendly. The heatmaps allow you to see clients’ behavior without contacting them. The user navigation flow presentation is easy to understand. It also has a recording video feature and several good integrations.

Price

Premium plan: 14-day free trial
Enterprise plan: available upon request

 


Apple – Testflight

Product description

Testflight is known to be one of the most popular crash reporting tools. It was acquired by Apple a few years ago. Many developers did not like the change but Testflight remains the #1 solution for a lot of mobile teams.

It is easy to use. Even if there are some limitations, you can easily share apps with your team.
The solution is able to work with many testers (over 1000 users) on an unlimited number of devices.
While you can have over 1000 external testers, the solution limits you to 25 internal testers. Getting approval from the Beta review was an extra step in the development when Apple introduced it but it’s generally a quick process.

Price

The app can be download for free in the Appstore.

 


The best tool for your needs depends on the type of app you’re developing and the size of your team. One of the free tools might be enough to get your basic needs met but the more costly ones usually offer additional features that will help with the development process and testing.

If there are some other tools not mentioned here that you like working with, feel free share by adding a comment.

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