Testflight Alternatives: 10 Ways to distribute iOS and Android builds

Updated on February 25, 2015: We added Installr.
Updated on June 16, 2015: We added TestPoke.

TestflightApp.com will shut down tomorrow, Thursday, February 26, 2015. Developers who don't want to use Apple's TestFlight are forced to look for alternatives.

Apple TestFlight criticism

Apple's TestFlight is way less convenient than the old version on testflightapp.com. Developers complain about:

  • Mandatory review process for external testers
  • No way to restrict app updates to a group of beta testers
  • Testers must install the TestFlight app on their devices
  • Requires iOS 8 on all testers' devices

<a href="https://blog.playtestcloud.com/first-time-user-experience-can-make-or-break-your-game/"style="color: #3B82B6;font-size:20px">Sept '17 Blog Post: First time user experience can make or break your game

Alternatives

This is a list of the currently available Testflight alternatives:

Name Platforms Special Features Pricing Owner
HockeyApp iOS, Android
  • Desktop Apps for easier upload
 $8.33 - $500/month Microsoft
Crashlytics Beta iOS, Android
  • Crash reporting
  • IDE integration
 free Twitter
Applause
Mobile Beta Management		 unknown available on request Applause
Beta Family Supersend iOS, Android
  • No registration necessary
 free —
TestFairy iOS, Android
  • Video capture, CPU and memory tracking, coverage reports, heatmaps
  • No SDK required
  • JIRA integration
 free - $199+/month —
Appaloosa Store iOS, Android
  • Enterprise App Store
  • Analytics
 free - $1.99/user/month
(monthly minimum) 		—
AppBlade iOS, Android
  • Crash Reporting
  • Permission management
 free for 25 devices,
$1-$4/device 		—
BirdFlight iOS, Android free —
Installr iOS, Android
  • Flat fee per app
 free for up to 5 devices, up to $149.95 per app —
TestPoke Android
  • Crash reports
  • Helps track tester behavior
  • Android app for realtime crash notifications
 free —

Suggestion

Most of our customers plan to switch to HockeyApp. It supports iOS as well as Android and offers a good user experience. It's not free though.

If you're looking for a free solution, Crashlytics Beta might be the way to go. We haven't really used that though. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to let us know in the comments.