--- title: "agent-qa vs Autonoma" description: "Compare agent-qa with Autonoma for teams choosing a source-owned agentic QA loop built on YAML tests, CLI runs, sandboxed hooks, file-backed memory, and caching." canonical_url: "https://vostride.com/autonoma-alternative" md_url: "https://vostride.com/autonoma-alternative.md" last_updated: "2026-08-17T02:33:16+05:30" --- # agent-qa vs Autonoma > Compare agent-qa with Autonoma for teams choosing a source-owned agentic QA loop built on YAML tests, CLI runs, sandboxed hooks, file-backed memory, and caching. Autonoma connects to your repo. agent-qa moves in, and remembers every run. Autonoma focuses on connected agent testing from its platform. agent-qa makes the repo the control plane: YAML, MCP, Skills, cache, hooks, and memory that compounds where your code lives. > This comparison is based on publicly available information. Product capabilities and pricing can change; verify details with each vendor before making a purchase decision. ## Capability comparison - **Source access.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: Yes. Both publish source. What differs is how much of the product that covers: agent-qa's engine, authoring format, memory store and agent workflow are all in the repo you clone, under FSL-1.1-ALv2. - **Repo-owned YAML.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: Partial. agent-qa makes plain-English YAML the contract of record, so changing a test is a diff a reviewer can argue with rather than something somebody did in an app. - **Coding-agent native.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: No. A coding agent cannot click through a hosted editor. agent-qa ships MCP tools, packaged Skills and a CLI, so the agent that changed the code writes the test, runs it and reads the failure without leaving the loop. - **Bring your own LLM.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: No. Whoever picks the model sets your quality ceiling and your bill. agent-qa lets you point at any provider, any compatible endpoint, or a model on your own hardware, and change it in one line. - **Local and CI execution.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: Partial. One command on a laptop, in CI, and from an agent. No run depends on somebody else's control plane being up, and nothing queues behind another tenant. - **Web and mobile QA.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: Yes. Web, Android and iOS from the same natural-language flow and the same evidence model. The surface is a target named in a file, not a different product tier. - **Memory, cache, hooks.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: Partial. Execution memory, a validated action cache and sandboxed hooks compound. A suite that has been running a month is faster, cheaper and better informed about your app than the day it was written. - **No platform lock-in.** agent-qa: Yes; Autonoma: No. Every durable asset stays in your repository. Cancel agent-qa tomorrow and the tests, the memory and the evidence are still there and still readable. ## Why teams switch ### Built for coding agents, not dashboards Your team already ships code with coding agents, and a coding agent cannot click around Autonoma's interface. agent-qa ships MCP tools, packaged Skills and a CLI, so Claude Code, Cursor and their peers author the test, run it and triage the failure inside the same loop that wrote the change. ### Runs compound instead of resetting Autonoma runs a test and forgets. Every run starts from nothing, which is why the hundredth run costs exactly what the first one did. agent-qa writes what it learned into memory committed beside your tests, so the next run starts where the last one finished and the suite gets better at your app on its own. ### Connected-to is not the same as owned-by Autonoma reaches into your repo from its platform. agent-qa inverts that: the repo is the platform, and everything, tests, hooks, memory, cache, artifacts, is a file your team can read, review, and keep. ## Verdict Autonoma and agent-qa agree that agents should run QA. They disagree on who should own the result. agent-qa's answer: you, in your repo, forever. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is agent-qa a good Autonoma alternative? Yes, and the reason is structural rather than a feature count. Autonoma is an agent-testing product that connects to your repositories from its own platform, which means the asset you are building lives on their side of the line. agent-qa is a source-available QA agent with no paid tier, governed by FSL-1.1-ALv2: tests are plain-English YAML in your repository, runs execute on your laptop, in your CI, or from your coding agent, and every run writes back into memory committed beside the tests. The suite gets better at your app whether or not you renew anything. ### How much does agent-qa cost compared to Autonoma? Autonoma is priced on vendor-set product pricing, so the bill tracks how much you test. agent-qa has no paid tier, no seats and no platform fee; FSL-1.1-ALv2 governs permitted use. You pay for the model tokens and infrastructure you already control, on the provider you choose, and the validated action cache takes roughly 60% of the tokens off a matched rerun. Adding coverage does not add a line item. ### How do I migrate from Autonoma to agent-qa? You are re-describing intent, not porting code, which is why this is far smaller than a normal test migration. Since Autonoma already works at the level of user intent, rewriting its flows as agent-qa YAML tests preserves the intent while gaining code review. Run npx agent-qa init, write each critical flow as a plain-English YAML test, and let the runtime work out the selectors and the recovery. Most teams move a smoke suite in an afternoon, and there is nothing to un-pick later because the output is files in your own repository. ### Does agent-qa cover web and mobile like Autonoma? Yes, and from the same file. agent-qa runs end-to-end tests on web, Android and iOS with one natural-language format, one memory store and one evidence model, so a flow written once survives being pointed at another surface. Autonoma covers app testing through its product; agent-qa runs web and mobile from the same repo-owned YAML and CLI path. ### Both are agentic, why does repo ownership matter? Because agents are only as good as the context they keep. agent-qa's memory, cache, and artifacts are files beside your code, versioned with it and visible to every coding agent you run. A platform-side agent's learning stays on the platform's side of the fence. ## Sources - [agent-qa GitHub repository](https://github.com/vostride/agent-qa) - [Autonoma public website](https://getautonoma.com/)