Last Updated on January 15, 2022
I have had the pleasure of working with both Testlio and uTest. I’ve heard a lot of success stories about uTest. About people earning $500+ from it every month. Even about some people getting a full-time contract from uTest.
Personally, I’ve had more success with Testlio. I’ve so far only earned around 20$ from uTest.
And this is after completing their Academy with all the practice cycles. I also regularly fill the survey emails we get, or decline them outright (so my rating is not affected).
I had my fair share of chance from uTest as well, but I was not quite able to earn from it. I feel this is due to their bug bounty system of testing.
Check out some of the reasons I feel you should give Testlio a try. In the better months, I have earned more than 100$ from them, for just 7-8 hours of my time.
The Signup Process (and time to testing)
Signing up in uTest and Testlio both take an equal amount of time. But the time it takes for you to begin testing on these platforms varies greatly.
I’ll explain both the processes briefly:
What is the uTest Signup Process?
In uTest, after you signup. You are required to get through their Academy Cycles before you can begin working (actually). You will begin getting project survey emails after just signing up. But you will never get accepted.
This is because you are an “Unrated” tester. Unrated testers haven’t done the practice Academy Cycles. You need to do at least 3 such cycles (similar to Test.IO) to get promoted to a “Rated” tester.
It can take you anywhere between a week to a month to clear all the academy courses. Each academy cycle takes at least 3 days to complete. I personally completed the uTest Academy in 9 days.
P.S.: I got into a project as an unrated tester. But it wasn’t a testing project. It was more like a data collection project. So I guess that won’t count.
What is Testlio’s Signup Process?
Testlio’s signup process is a very intricate theoretical exam. It is a 2-part exam that tests your knowledge of testing. And believe me when I say it’s a tough exam.
I failed twice before I was finally selected. You need to read every option very carefully. Try reading between the lines.
But as soon as you clear that exam, your profile is active. And you can receive invitations for paid projects. I received an invite within a week of signing up on Testlio. It’s a very fast process.
So getting work on both the platform takes a varying amount of time. You need to wait at least 10-14 days to be eligible to work on uTest. That’s assuming you participate in the uTest academy sincerely.
On Testlio, however, you are eligible for paid projects right on the next day. Ain’t that just great.
The Testing Process (And earning process)
This is how you actually work on the platform. The tasks you need to do, and how you earn money. There are 2 types of testing you can do online:
- Exploratory Testing: You need to test everything on the website here. You are paid for any new bug you can find. Otherwise you do not earn anything. This is also known as bug bounty.
- Testcase-based Testing: In this type of testing, there is a defined set of steps you should perform. You get paid for performing the test case, whether or not you find any bug.
How do I work/test on uTest?
uTest has a lot of work available on its platform. Its testing process is very professional and can feel a little overwhelming to some.
Most of the projects on uTest are exploratory testing based. It does have several test case projects from time to time as well, but they are rare. So you are competing with several other people on finding bugs.
How do I test/work on Testlio?
In Testlio, all the projects are performed in a test-cases style. What I like about Testlio’s testing experience is how all the testing is carried in a streamlined manner.
There are test cases that take you through the whole testing. Telling you the expected results, features you should test, inputs you should try, etc. The whole experience is very user-friendly.
And whenever you find that something is not working as expected, you simply add an issue. If you find the issue has already been added, you simply add a “repro(duce)”comment. It is nerd language to signal that the same problem is happening on your device as well.
Since you are getting paid to carry out the test case, it doesn’t matter that other people have already found the bug.
Differences in Testing Experience
Apart from the obvious differences in how you make money on the platform, there are subtle differences in how these platforms operate.
Bug/issue submission
In uTest, your issue can be rejected if you do not follow the guidelines. They are very strict about it and you are required to correct it yourself.
For example, I submitted a video in the wrong format. So I needed to convert and re-submit it myself.
A similar thing happened once in Testlio. The test lead himself corrected the format and re-submitted it for me.
They also edit any mistakes you might have made in the issue description. This feels good.
Ultimately, both platforms are doing the same job for companies. Finding bugs/issues for them. But I feel it’s a better experience on Testlio.
The Number of Testers/Size of Company
uTest has almost 1 million testers testing for them. It is obviously the bigger company (known as “Applause Testing“). And the amount of projects they have proves it.
This explains why they have required you to go through lots of academy cycles and have more exploratory projects.
Testlio has an ample amount of projects as well. I have been getting consistent work from them since I joined them. But due to the nature of test case-based testing, they are dependent on the devices you have.
The more variety of devices you have (iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, iPad OS, etc.) the greater your chances of getting project invitations.
And bless the fact that they have lesser testers working for them, I can get multiple projects every month.
And now some similarities between uTest and Testlio
Ultimately, both of them are crowd testing platforms. They both help companies identify bugs in their products. Both have dedicated testers who check and submit your bugs to the client.
Both have a rating system
Both of these websites have a very sophisticated tester rating system. uTest prefers classifying its raters as Unrated, Rated, Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.
As you climb up, you get more work, more projects to test.
Testlio’s rating system is a numerical one. They give you points out of 100. Just like uTest, it is also based on your performance in the test cycles. The better bugs you find, the better your rating.
Both have Test Team Leads
TTLs are the direct point of contact for you. As a tester, you will be interacting with them if you run into any difficulty during the project cycle. There is someone online to help you with any issue you get.
They also have a community feature where you can interact with other testers. uTest sometimes even rewards people who actively use their community features.
And they even have a subreddit. So you know they are serious about the whole community thing.
They both shine when you have several devices
Both of them kind of require you to have access to different kinds of devices. The more smartphone, tablets, PC/Laptop you have access to the better.
Update the devices on your profile regularly. I recently updated my iOS version to 15 and soon got 2 new projects on both uTest and Testlio. Call that a co-incidence.
