Software Test Plan: How to Create One + Example

A software test plan is a document that defines what will be tested, how testing will be performed, who is responsible, which environments and tools will be used and what must happen before testing can be considered complete.

A useful test plan doesn't need to be 30 pages long.

For a small SaaS release, it may fit into a few pages or a shared document. For a large regulated product, it may become much more detailed.

The goal is the same: remove ambiguity before testing starts.

TL;DR

A good test plan should define:

• objectives
• scope and exclusions
• test types
• environments and test data
• roles and responsibilities
• schedule
• entry and exit criteria
• risks
• reporting and metrics

If you need a ready-made document rather than the methodology, use BugBug's test plan template.

What is a test plan in software testing?

A test plan in software testing is the document that describes the objectives, scope, resources, schedule and method for a specific testing effort.

The ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 series defines a test plan as a detailed description of the test objectives and the means and schedule for achieving them. The current ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3:2021 standard also provides templates and examples for software test documentation.

In practical terms, a test plan should answer:

What are we testing?

What aren't we testing?

How will we test it?

Who owns each part?

Where will testing happen?

When are we ready to start?

What does “done” mean?

A test plan is therefore different from a list of test cases.

A test case describes one test.

A test suite groups related test cases.

A test plan coordinates the wider testing effort.

The three major steps in test planning

At a high level, test planning can be reduced to three steps:

1. Analyze and define scope. Understand requirements, risks, constraints and what won't be tested.
2. Design the strategy. Choose testing levels, types, environments, tools and coverage.
3. Prepare execution. Assign owners, set timelines, confirm entry and exit criteria and define reporting.

The document can stay lightweight, but these three decisions need to exist before execution becomes predictable.

What should a test plan include?

A practical test plan usually contains the following components.

You can add more structure when a project requires it, but every additional field should help someone make or execute a testing decision.

Test plan vs test strategy

These terms are often used interchangeably even though they serve different purposes.

A test strategy is generally broader and more stable.

A test plan is specific to a release, product or testing effort.

For example:

A test strategy might say:

Critical web journeys should have automated regression coverage before deployment.

A test plan for Release 4.3 might say:

Checkout, login and subscription-upgrade regression suites will run in staging before deployment. Julia owns manual exploratory testing. Automated critical-path suites must achieve a 100% pass rate before release.

For the deeper distinction, see Test Plan vs Test Strategy.

If you're still deciding the broader testing model before writing a plan, BugBug's software testing strategies guide and testing methodology guide cover that layer.

Three common types of test plans

A team can have more than one test plan.

The ISO/IEC/IEEE definition explicitly allows a project-level plan plus more detailed test-level or test-type plans.

Master test plan

A master test plan coordinates testing across an entire project or major release.

It can include:

• several test levels
• several teams
• multiple environments
• broad resource allocation
• dependencies between testing phases

Use it when several separate testing activities need one coordinating document.

Test level plan

A test level plan focuses on one testing level.

Examples:

• integration test plan
• system test plan
• acceptance test plan

It adds detail that would make the master plan unnecessarily large.

Test type plan

A test type plan focuses on a particular kind of testing.

Examples:

• regression test plan
• performance test plan
• security test plan

You don't need all three types for every product.

A five-person SaaS team may only need one lean release-level test plan.

Software test plan example

Let's create a plan for a fictional SaaS application called TaskFlow.

TaskFlow has just redesigned its billing and subscription area.

The release changes:

• upgrade and downgrade flows
• card management
• invoice history
• trial conversion
• cancellation

Because billing touches existing authentication, permissions and account data, the release also creates regression risk outside the new pages.

Test plan overview

Objectives

The testing effort should establish that:

1. customers can start and manage paid subscriptions
2. account access remains correct after plan changes
3. existing billing data is displayed accurately
4. payment failures are handled safely
5. previously working account flows still function after the billing release

In scope

• plan upgrade
• plan downgrade
• trial conversion
• add/change payment method
• failed payment handling
• cancellation
• invoice history
• subscription permissions
• regression around login and account settings

Out of scope

• payment-provider infrastructure
• load testing above agreed release requirements
• legacy subscriptions scheduled for removal next quarter
• internal finance tooling

Writing exclusions matters.

Without them, “test billing” can silently expand into testing every system that touches money.

Example test types

The TaskFlow release might use:

Functional testing

Verify each billing behavior against the requirements.

See BugBug's functional testing guide for the methodology.

Regression testing

Recheck existing login, account and subscription behavior after the billing changes.

For methodology, see what regression testing is.

End-to-end testing

Validate critical journeys such as:

signup → trial → upgrade → payment → account updated

BugBug's end-to-end testing guide covers this layer in more detail.

Exploratory testing

Explore billing combinations and user behavior that predefined scripts may not cover well.

Cross-browser testing

Validate critical billing flows in the supported browser set.

Test environment and test data

The plan should define where tests run and what data they need.

For TaskFlow:

Environment

Primary: Staging

Application version: Release candidate 4.3

Database: Production-like test dataset

Payment: Payment-provider sandbox

Email: Test mailbox environment

Test accounts

Prepare:

• active trial user
• monthly customer
• annual customer
• cancelled account
• payment-failure account
• admin user
• standard user

Don't make five testers share one mutable customer account.

Shared test data causes tests to interfere with each other and creates failures that aren't product defects.

For complex automated suites, reusable and controlled test data should be planned before execution starts.

Entry and exit criteria

One of the most useful things a test plan can do is remove subjective release decisions.

Example entry criteria

Testing starts when:

• release candidate is deployed to staging
• unit and integration pipelines pass
• test environment is available
• required test accounts exist
• blocking development work is complete
• acceptance criteria are approved

Example exit criteria

The release can move forward when:

• 100% of P0 critical test cases have passed
• at least 95% of planned P1/P2 tests have been executed
• there are 0 open critical defects
• there are 0 open high-severity payment or data-loss defects
• all agreed critical regression flows pass
• remaining known issues are reviewed and explicitly accepted
• test summary is shared with release stakeholders

These are examples, not universal industry thresholds.

A low-risk internal tool and a payment platform shouldn't have identical exit criteria.

The important part is defining the rules before release pressure appears.

For tracking execution, defect rates and quality indicators, see BugBug's guide to QA metrics.

Schedule and buffer

A test schedule shouldn't assume every planned hour becomes productive execution time.

For a five-day testing window, you might plan:

Avoid allocating 100% of available time to predefined test execution.

For example, if the team has 40 tester-hours available, allocating 32–34 hours to planned work and keeping roughly 15–20% as a buffer gives the team room for:

• environment problems
• defect investigation
• retesting
• requirement clarification
• unexpected high-risk findings

Again, 15–20% isn't a universal QA standard.

It's a planning example designed to make uncertainty visible rather than pretend it doesn't exist.

Who is responsible for a test plan?

A Test Manager commonly owns the plan in larger QA organizations, but ownership can also sit with a QA lead, senior tester, engineering manager or another person coordinating release quality. The author should collect input from developers, product, operations and security when those teams own part of the test scope.

ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3:2021 defines test-documentation templates that can be used across lifecycle models and explicitly lists testers, test managers, developers and project managers among the intended users.

Official source: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3:2021

Roles and responsibilities

Avoid writing only:

QA team will test the release.

Define ownership.

For example:

For very small teams, one person may hold several roles.

That's fine.

The important part is knowing who makes each decision.

How to create a test plan in 6 steps

1. Define the objective and scope

Start with the change and the business risk.

Ask:

• What changed?
• Which user journeys matter most?
• What could break?
• What won't we test?

Don't begin with a test-case spreadsheet.

First decide what the testing effort needs to prove.

2. Choose the test types and depth

Decide which risks need:

• unit testing
• integration testing
• functional testing
• regression
• E2E
• exploratory testing
• performance testing
• security testing

You don't need every testing type on every release.

Choose based on risk.

BugBug's software testing best practices guide goes deeper into prioritizing coverage rather than trying to test everything equally.

3. Define environment, data and tooling

Record:

• test environment
• browsers/devices
• accounts
• datasets
• external sandboxes
• test management tools
• automation tools
• defect tracking

If the team is automating browser workflows for the first time, BugBug's automation testing tutorial shows how the execution layer can be set up.

4. Build test cases and suites

Translate requirements and risks into executable cases.

Each important case should have:

• a clear objective
• preconditions
• steps
• expected result

For reusable documentation, start with BugBug's test case template.

Then organize related tests into test suites so release execution doesn't become a long unstructured list.

5. Define schedule, ownership and risk

Set:

• who executes each area
• when testing begins
• key milestones
• dependencies
• expected review points
• contingency/buffer time

Also document major test risks.

Example:

6. Define success before execution starts

This is where entry criteria, exit criteria and reporting come together.

Decide in advance:

• which tests must pass
• how much planned coverage must be executed
• which defect severities block release
• which metrics will be reported
• who approves residual risk

Without this step, release decisions often become emotional negotiations at the end of testing.

Suspension criteria, deliverables and sign-off

A test plan should also explain what happens when testing can't continue.

Suspension criteria define conditions that pause execution, such as an unstable build, unavailable environment, blocked test data or a critical defect that invalidates further results.

Test deliverables can include the plan itself, test cases, execution reports, defect logs and the final test summary.

For larger releases, define who gives final sign-off and what evidence they need. In a small team, this can be as simple as a named owner confirming that exit criteria are met.

Test plan checklist

Before approving the plan, check that you can answer all of these.

Scope

• What are we testing?
• What is explicitly out of scope?
• Which areas are highest risk?

Coverage

• Which test types will run?
• Which critical journeys have regression coverage?
• Which tests will be manual vs automated?

Environment

• Is the environment ready?
• Are test accounts and data available?
• Are external sandboxes available?

People

• Who owns each area?
• Who fixes blockers?
• Who makes the final release decision?

Timing

• When does testing start?
• How much buffer exists?
• When must defects be fixed for retesting?

Success criteria

• What pass rate is required?
• Which defects block release?
• How will residual risk be accepted?

Reporting

• Which metrics matter?
• When will status be communicated?
• Who receives the final summary?

Agile test planning: does a team still need a document?

Agile doesn't remove the need for test planning.

It changes the format.

A traditional project may have a formal test plan document.

A smaller Agile team might keep the same information across:

• Jira
• Linear
• Notion
• a release checklist
• test management software
• CI configuration

The format matters less than whether the decisions are explicit.

A lightweight Agile test plan still needs to define:

• scope
• risk
• responsibilities
• environments
• critical tests
• release criteria

What you want to avoid is turning “Agile” into:

We'll decide what to test after development is finished.

That creates reactive testing, not Agile testing.

For broader process choices, see Software Testing Methodology.

Test plan example: final release summary

At the end of TaskFlow's testing window, the QA lead could summarize:

Planned tests: 126

Executed: 122 / 126 = 96.8%

Passed: 118

Failed: 4

Critical flows: 14 / 14 passed

Open critical defects: 0

Open high defects: 1

Known high defect: Invoice PDF spacing issue in Safari; business impact reviewed and accepted for release.

Recommendation: Proceed with release, with the accepted defect scheduled for the next patch.

The important part isn't the exact numbers.

It's that the release decision can now be traced back to criteria defined in the plan.

Common test planning mistakes

Treating the plan as a document nobody uses

If nobody looks at it after kickoff, it's too disconnected from execution.

The plan should guide actual testing decisions.

Testing everything equally

Not every feature creates the same risk.

Billing, authentication and data-loss scenarios usually deserve more attention than low-impact UI behavior.

Leaving exit criteria vague

“Testing complete” isn't a release rule.

Use measurable conditions.

Forgetting exclusions

Explicitly defining what won't be tested prevents accidental scope expansion.

Creating a plan too late

A test plan written after development is finished can't influence testability, environments or coverage decisions early enough.

Never updating it

Plans change.

When scope, environments or release dates shift, update the plan so the team is working from reality rather than the original assumption.

Test plan vs test case vs test suite

These three artifacts operate at different levels.

If you need to create individual cases, use the test case template.

If the problem is organizing cases for execution, see What Is a Test Suite?.

If you need the actual downloadable planning document, use the Test Plan Template.

Frequently asked questions about software test plans

What are the steps in test planning?

Start by defining objectives and scope, choose the test types and environments, prepare test data and cases, assign owners and schedule, define entry/exit criteria, then decide how results and defects will be reported.

What is an example of a test plan?

A checkout-release plan might cover login, cart, payment, order creation and browser regression, define test accounts and environments, assign QA/developer owners, and require all critical flows to pass with no open P0 defects before release.

Which KPIs can a test plan include?

Common examples are planned-vs-executed test coverage, pass rate, critical-defect count, defect reopen rate, flaky-test rate, execution time and escaped defects. Pick only measures that inform a release or process decision.

What are the stages of testing in a test plan?

A plan may organize work around preparation, environment/data readiness, test execution, defect handling, regression, exit review and final sign-off. The exact stages depend on the release model.

What is a software test plan?

A software test plan defines the objectives, scope, resources, schedule and method for a specific testing effort. It explains what will be tested, how testing will happen, who is responsible and which conditions determine when testing can start and finish.

Who writes a test plan?

A QA lead, test manager or senior tester often owns the plan, but it should be created with input from developers, product stakeholders and other people responsible for release risk. Small teams may assign ownership to a developer, product manager or generalist QA engineer.

What are the main parts of a test plan?

A practical test plan includes objectives, scope, test types, environments, test data, responsibilities, schedule, risks, entry and exit criteria and reporting. Larger projects may also include detailed dependencies, deliverables and governance.

What is the difference between a test plan and test strategy?

A test strategy defines the broader principles for how testing should be performed. A test plan applies those principles to one project, product or release and contains more operational detail such as scope, schedule, owners and exit criteria.

What are the three types of test plans?

Common categories are master test plans, test-level plans and test-type plans. A project may use one master plan plus detailed plans for areas such as system testing, performance testing or regression testing.

Is a test plan required in Agile?

Not necessarily as a formal document. Agile teams still need the decisions normally contained in a test plan: scope, risks, environment, ownership, coverage and exit criteria. These may live in a lighter shared document or testing workflow.

What are entry and exit criteria in a test plan?

Entry criteria define what must be true before testing begins, such as a deployable build and ready environment. Exit criteria define what must be achieved before testing ends, such as all critical tests passing and no unresolved blocker defects.

How detailed should a test plan be?

Detailed enough that the team understands scope, ownership, execution and release criteria without relying on unwritten assumptions. A small release may need only a short plan. Large, regulated or high-risk systems usually require more formal documentation.