Test Plan vs Test Case: Core Differences

Test plan and Test case are often thrown interchangeably. It is crucial to understand the core difference between a test plan and a test case.

Overview

What is a Test Plan?

A test plan is a detailed document outlining a software testing project’s testing strategy, objectives, scope, resources, schedule, and deliverables. It defines what will be tested, how testing will be conducted, and the criteria for success.

What is a Test Case?

A test case is a specific set of inputs, execution steps, expected results, and conditions used to verify an application’s particular functionality. It ensures the system behaves as expected under different scenarios.

Key differences between Test Plan and Test Case

Definition: A test plan outlines the overall testing strategy, while a test case specifies steps to validate a particular functionality.
Purpose: A test plan defines the testing scope, objectives, and approach, whereas a test case ensures a specific feature works as expected.
Scope: A test plan covers the entire testing process, while a test case focuses on individual functionalities or scenarios.

This guide describes what a Test Plan and Test case are and outlines the differences between them in detail.

Test Plan vs Test Case: Key Differences

Listed below are the key differences between Test Plan and Test Case

Attribute	Test Plan	Test Case
Definition	The Detailed document which contains objective, test strategy, schedule, estimates, timelines and resources required for completing the project.	A set of actions with details required to be performed on a system to verify its functionality or behavior is as per the requirement.
General	A detailed document covers management aspects and Testing aspects in the project	A specific and precise document for a distinctive testing feature that covers only testing aspects
Intended for	Testers, Test managers and any Stakeholders need to be updated about the testing process	Test team
Duration	Till the end of completion of the testing project	Till the end of a particular testing process
Sections	Both testing and project managing aspects like scope, schedule, risks, approach, entry & exit criteria, defect reporting, roles & responsibilities and more	Only testing aspects such as test case name, test steps, test data, test environment, expected test result, actual test result, test status, etc
Uses	An up-to-date document used till the end of the project Control whole testing process and keeps everyone aligned	Ensures testers are equipped with all required step-by-step processes and details to test the intended functionality Allows identifying unexpected bugs

What is a Test Plan?

Test plan is a document that describes the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of intended test activities. It identifies amongst others test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks, who will do each task, the degree of tester independence, the test environment, the test design techniques, and entry and exit criteria to be used, and the rationale for their choice, and any risks requiring contingency planning. It is a record of the test planning process.

A test plan’s importance is capturing and sharing the testing details with all stakeholders. It also undergoes a review and approval process.

Follow-Up Read: 7 Software Test Estimation Techniques

How to Create a Test Plan: Example

Let us look at a sample Test Plan for ‘creating a website bstackdemo.com’

1. Overview

Create a website bstackdemo.com with functionality to allow the users to log in with Google credentials or to sign up new users with email and password.

2. Scope

In scope:

Out of scope: All other features that are not included under in scope

3. Test Approach

Functional Testing: Testing the functionality against Software requirement specifications to check what software does. For example: Smoke testing, System testing, Integration testing, Interface testing, Sanity testing, Regression testing, and User acceptance testing.

Non-Functional Testing: Testing the way and how well the software works. For example: Performance testing, Load testing, Security testing, Stress testing, upgrade, installation testing, and Recovery testing.

4. Test Entry and Exit Criteria

Entry criteria define prerequisites that must be completed before commencing testing

Requirements must be defined and approved
Test plan must be approved
Test cases must be prepared, reviewed, and approved
Test Data must be available
Test environment must be open with testable code
Unit test results must be shared by the development team (optional)

Exit criteria define the items that must be completed before concluding the testing

All critical test cases must be executed and passed
Achieving 100% Test coverage for all the requirements in the scope
Retesting and closing all the blockers, Critical and Severity-1 defects
Test summary report preparation and approval by stakeholders

5. Risks and Mitigation Plans

A risk is a potential problem that has not happened yet or may not happen at all. Anticipating the possible negative outcome and a plan to avoid or mitigate is captured in this section

6. Defect Management

Defect Management involves defining stages of the defect life cycle to be followed in the project. It defines and implements the defect life cycle

For Example,

New > Open > Review > In development > Ready for test > Test in progress > Test successful > Done.

New > Open > Review > In development > Ready for test > Retest failed > Review > In development > Ready for test > Test in progress > Test successful > Done.

New > Open > Review > Deferred.

New > Open > Review > Not a defect.

New > Open > Review > Defect not reproducible.

7. Test Environment

Defines the environment configuration in which the application will be tested.

For Example, Operating system, Browsers, Versions, etc.

8. Test Schedule

Defines the timelines for each test activity.

For Example, Start and end date for Test plan preparation, Test cases preparation, Test execution, and publishing test summary.

9. Test Deliverables

Defines the artifacts delivered as part of test closure

For Example, Test summary report, Test cases, Test results, etc.

10. Reports

Define any stats published during the test life cycle.

For Example, Daily status reports to stakeholders, Weekly progress reports, Test summary reports, etc.

11. Stakeholders contacts

List all the project’s stakeholder names and contact details like email id and phone numbers.

12. Roles and responsibilities

List the project team members’ names and their roles in the project execution.

13. Sign off

This section includes the stakeholders responsible for signing off the project and their sign-off details.

Best Practices to Create a Test Plan

A well-crafted test plan is essential for a structured and efficient testing process. Here are key best practices to follow when creating your test plan:

Understand Requirements: Invest time in thoroughly understanding the requirements and clarifying any questions or assumptions.
Define Test Objectives: Clearly outline the goals and objectives of the testing process to align with project needs.
Establish Test Criteria: Set clear acceptance and exit criteria for determining the success of the tests.
Plan Test Environment: Identify the necessary test environments, including hardware, software, and network configurations.
Assess Risks and Mitigation: Forecast potential risks and devise mitigation strategies to handle them proactively.
Resource Planning: Allocate resources effectively, including human resources, tools, and equipment.
Scheduling and Estimation: Plan timelines and estimate the effort required for each phase of testing to ensure efficient execution.

What is a Test Case?

ISTQB defines a test case as a set of preconditions, inputs, actions (where applicable), expected results, and post-conditions, developed based on test conditions.

Test cases are step-by-step instructions to the tester to perform validation of specific aspects of the system or application functionality.

How to create a Test Case using a simple example

An example Test Case for the optimistic scenario for existing user login to www.browserstack.com

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Best Practices to Create Quality Test Cases

Test Cases are fundamental to the Testing process. Hence it is important to:

Invest time in understanding requirements and clarifying all questions and assumptions.
Define clear test objectives to establish what needs to be validated.
Set precise test criteria to ensure accurate pass/fail evaluations.
Plan the test environment, including necessary hardware, software, and data.
Identify potential risks and create mitigation plans.
Allocate resources effectively to ensure the right team and tools are in place.
Estimate timelines and develop a realistic test schedule.

Creating and Managing Test Cases with BrowserStack Test Management

BrowserStack Test Management is an AI-powered, unified platform designed to accelerate test case creation, execution, and automation with up to 90% faster test authoring and 50% improved coverage.

It offers seamless integrations, real-time visibility through customizable dashboards, and advanced AI agents that streamline testing workflows for both manual and automated tests.

Built for teams of all sizes, it ensures secure data handling while enabling high-quality, efficient software delivery.

Key Features of BrowserStack Test Management:

AI-Powered Test Case Creation: Automatically generate comprehensive test cases from Product Requirement Documents (PRDs), user stories, or text prompts. AI also suggests enhancements to existing test cases, reducing manual effort significantly.
Test Deduplication Agent: Detects exact or semantically similar test cases across your repository, providing intelligent recommendations for merging or removal to maintain a clean and efficient test suite.
Low-Code Automated Test Authoring: Quickly convert manual test cases into low-code automated tests to accelerate automation adoption without requiring deep coding skills.
Intelligent Test Selection Agent: Uses AI to identify and recommend the most relevant tests for execution, optimizing test runs and focusing on critical test coverage.

Unified Test Management: Manage all manual and automated test cases in one centralized platform with full traceability from requirements to defects through seamless integrations with Jira, Azure DevOps, and more.
Powerful Dashboard Analytics: Access customizable dashboards that offer real-time insights, track release status, monitor historical trends, and visualize testing metrics, including automation coverage.
AI-Powered Jira App with Two-Way Binding: Synchronize test cases and runs between BrowserStack Test Management and Jira, allowing management from both platforms with AI-driven assistance.
Streamlined Manual and Automated Test Runs: Plan and execute test runs across manual and automated tests. Supports dynamic test inclusion and uploading automation results from frameworks like JUnit, BDD-JSON, and Test Observability.

The free version of BrowserStack Test Management offers unlimited test cases, robust integrations, and real-time reporting capabilities.

Try BrowserStack Test Management

Conclusion

Understanding the differences between a test plan and a test case is essential for structured and effective software testing. While a test plan defines the overall strategy, a test case ensures specific functionalities work as expected. Both play a critical role in delivering high-quality software.

Managing test cases efficiently is key to a smooth testing process. BrowserStack Test Case Management helps teams create, organize, and execute test cases seamlessly. With real-time collaboration, detailed reporting, and integration with automation tools, it ensures efficient test tracking and execution for faster, high-quality releases.

Useful Resources for Test Case

Understanding Test Case:

Tutorials and Best Practices:

Test Management Made Easy & Efficient

Try BrowserStack Test Management, to Create Test Plan, Import or Create Test Cases, Test Results and Analytics for seamless Test Management

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Test Plan vs Test Case: Core Differences