Crowdsource testing is an emerging trend in software testing which exploits the benefits, effectiveness, and efficiency of crowdsourcing and the cloud platform. Crowdsourcing is a term that has been used to describe the process of requesting a crowd to perform a task rather than hiring consultants or contractors. The software is put to test under diverse realistic platforms which makes it more reliable, cost-effective, fast, and bug-free.

This software testing method is adopted when the software is more user-centric: i.e., software whose success is determined by its user feedback and which has a diverse user space. It is frequently implemented with gaming, mobile applications, when experts who may be difficult to find in one place are required for specific testing.

It is commonly applied with gaming, mobile applications, when experts who may be difficult to find in one place are required for specific testing, or when the company lacks the resources or time to carry out the testing internally. Crowdsourcing your software testing consists of delegating onto a number of internet users the task of testing your web or software project while in development to ensure that it contains no defects.

Crowdsource testing companies provide the platform for the testing cycles. They decide to crowdsourse the software product to a group of testers, who register for testing the application voluntarily. Testers are paid per bug, depending on type of bug and its market price. The crowdsource testing team is usually in addition to the organization’s testing team, and not usually a replacement.

Advantages of Crowdsource testing:

  • Real insights from the real world, not just made up test case results
  • Rapid feedback right away.
  • With crowdsourcing, testers automatically test your interactive project against a variety of platforms
  • It is cost effective, as the product company pays only for the valid bugs reported.
  • The pool of testers is diverse with variations in languages as well as locales. This helps in testing applications which are based on localization.
  • Testing done by hundreds of people at the same time. As there is large number of testers testing software simultaneously, testing can be done quickly, giving more time to market. Time to test the software is comparably less.
  • Leads to better productivity.