Applitools

AI-based visual regression testing, priced on component and page checkpoint volume

As of 1 September 2026, Applitools's pricing is not published; the vendor quotes on request. A visual testing platform whose Visual AI compares rendered screenshots for meaningful visual differences rather than pixel-exact matches, cutting the false-positive noise that plain pixel-diffing tools generate on every font-rendering or anti-aliasing variance. Softwr lists it under Testing. Applitools is available on Web, iOS, Android.

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Overview

What Applitools does

Applitools captures screenshots during automated or manual test runs and compares them against a baseline using what it calls Visual AI, a perceptual comparison model trained to ignore rendering noise, such as anti-aliasing and sub-pixel font differences, while still catching real layout, colour and content regressions. It integrates with most major test automation frameworks and CI systems and extends into component-level testing against Storybook and design comparison against Figma files. The distinguishing claim against a plain pixel-diffing visual regression tool like Percy is the AI comparison layer itself: pixel-exact diffing tools generate a high rate of false positives on any font rendering, anti-aliasing or minor rendering engine change, which trains teams to ignore visual diff alerts entirely over time, defeating the point of visual testing. Applitools' pitch is that Visual AI produces fewer, more meaningful alerts, which is also why it can charge substantially more per checkpoint than commodity screenshot-diffing tools. Buyers are teams that tried a pixel-diffing visual regression tool, found the noise unusable, and are willing to pay materially more for a lower false-positive rate. The trade-off is a genuinely high price floor at 667 US dollars a month for the entry tier alone, with the Professional and Enterprise tiers, where NLP-based authoring and unlimited executions live, priced only by custom quote.

What people use it for

A team that abandoned pixel-diffing visual regression testing because of false-positive fatigue and wants a lower-noise alternative
A design system team wanting component-level visual testing against Storybook rather than only full-page checks
An organisation wanting automated verification that shipped UI matches its Figma source design
A team wanting NLP-based visual test authoring to reduce the coding overhead of writing visual test scripts, available at Professional tier

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Applitools.

The entry tier alone costs 667 US dollars a month on annual billing, a genuinely high floor compared to Percy's tiers or a plain screenshot-diffing open source approach.
Professional and Enterprise tiers, which hold the more advanced authoring and unlimited execution features, are quote-only, removing pricing transparency exactly where a large buyer most needs it.
Visual AI still occasionally flags false positives on genuinely novel layouts or animation-heavy interfaces, so a baseline review process is still needed, not eliminated.
Checkpoint-based pricing means cost is directly tied to test suite size and coverage breadth, so expanding visual test coverage has a direct, compounding cost impact unlike time-based or seat-based pricing models.
Teams migrating from a simpler pixel-diffing tool face real setup and baseline migration work to establish Applitools baselines correctly across a large existing UI.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Applitools

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Applitoolsvs
Percy
Percy: If you want a lower-cost, pixel-diffing visual regression tool rather than AI-based comparison
Applitoolsvs
Playwright
Playwright: If your priority is functional end-to-end testing rather than visual regression specifically
Applitoolsvs
Cypress
Cypress: If you want visual testing bundled inside a broader end-to-end testing workflow at lower cost

Pricing

What Applitools costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Starter

$667 /mo

Billed annually
100,000 component checkpoints or 1,000 page checkpoints
Visual AI, Storybook and Figma integration, accessibility testing

Professional

On request

Custom quote, starting around 150 active pages or 1,500 components
Unlimited executions, NLP-based test authoring
Priority support with a dedicated Slack channel

Enterprise

On request

Custom quote, starting around 350 active pages or 1,500 components
SSO and dedicated or private cloud
Custom SLAs and a weekly account manager

Capabilities

Features

Visual AI comparison
Perceptual screenshot comparison tuned to ignore rendering noise and catch real visual regressions
Storybook component testing
Visual testing at the individual UI component level, not just full pages
Figma design comparison
Compares rendered output against source Figma designs to catch implementation drift
Cross-browser and device visual testing
Runs visual checks across many browser and device combinations from a single test
Accessibility testing
Automated accessibility checks bundled alongside visual comparison
NLP-based test authoring
Professional tier feature for describing test intent in natural language rather than code

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

How is Applitools priced?

By checkpoint volume, component or page-level screenshot comparisons, with the entry Starter tier at 667 US dollars a month for 100,000 component or 1,000 page checkpoints.

How is it different from Percy?

Applitools uses an AI-based perceptual comparison model designed to reduce false positives from rendering noise; Percy is generally pixel-diffing based and lower cost per screenshot.

Does it test individual components or only full pages?

Both; Storybook integration allows component-level visual testing in addition to full-page checks.

Keep looking

Where to go from Applitools

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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Applitools, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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