Beta testing and QA, Houston TX
Find the bugs before your users do.
Charlie Testing is a beta testing and quality assurance company for software teams that ship on a schedule. We recruit the testers, run the test cycles and hand your developers reproducible bug reports, usually within 72 hours of kickoff.
Meet Charlie
Charlie Testing in 2 minutes, explained by our frog
Charlie the Frog catches bugs for a living. In this short video he explains what Charlie Testing does, the four QA and beta testing services we offer, how a test cycle works and what every bug report includes.
Video transcript
Ribbit! Hi there. I’m Charlie, the frog behind Charlie Testing. My job? Catching bugs. Not the kind that buzz around a pond. The kind that crash your app on launch day.
Here’s the thing. When the people who built an app test it, it usually works. Then real customers show up. On a three year old Android phone. With 400 users to import. Navigating entirely by keyboard. That’s where the bugs hide.
Charlie Testing is a beta testing and quality assurance company in Houston, Texas. We recruit the testers, run the test cycles, and hand your developers bug reports they can actually reproduce. Usually within 72 hours of kickoff.
We do four things really well. Beta program management, with testers who look like your customers. Manual QA testing, on 38 real devices in our lab. Test automation that runs on every pull request. And accessibility testing, with real screen readers.
Who do we help? Consumer mobile apps, B2B software platforms, ecommerce checkouts, and health and fintech products. The kind of software where one bad release can mean a wave of one star reviews. About half of our clients are startups that need a QA team without hiring one.
Working with us takes four hops. One: a 30 minute call to scope your release. Two: a written test plan within one business day. Three: our testers work the build while your test lead filters out the noise. Four: a release readiness report that tells you what’s safe to ship.
You also get a named test lead. They join your standups, work in your tools, like Jira, Linear, or GitHub, and speak up early if a release looks risky. Not in the final report. On day two.
And every bug we report comes with clear steps, the exact device and build, logs, and a short screen recording. No vague “it’s broken” tickets. Just bugs your team can fix.
More than 1,200 vetted beta testers. 38 real devices. And 96% of bugs reproduced on the first try.
So before your next release, let me hop in and catch the bugs before your users do. Visit charlietest.com and start a beta. I’m Charlie. Alpha. Beta. Charlie!
What we test
Beta testing and QA services built around your release calendar
Most teams do not need a bigger QA department. They need the right testing at the right point in the release. Pick one service or combine them into a single program with one point of contact.
Beta Program Management
We recruit testers who match your real customers, run the beta on a fixed calendar and turn hundreds of comments into a ranked list of fixes.
Manual QA Testing
Exploratory sessions and scripted regression passes on 38 real phones, tablets and browsers, with every bug reproduced before it reaches your tracker.
Test Automation
Playwright and Appium suites that run on every pull request, so your team stops re-testing checkout by hand the night before a release.
Accessibility Testing
WCAG 2.2 audits performed with screen readers, keyboard only navigation and zoom, plus fixes written in the language your developers use.
Why teams hire us
A QA partner that reads like part of your team
Every engagement gets a named test lead who joins your standups, learns your product and speaks up early when a release looks risky. We work in your tools, whether that is Jira, Linear, GitHub Issues or a shared spreadsheet, and we write bug reports that a developer can reproduce in under five minutes.
- Reproduction steps, device details, logs and a screen recording on every bug
- Severity ranked against your business goals, not ours
- Fixed price test cycles, so the budget never surprises you
- US based test leads working Central time hours
How it works
From kickoff to confident release in four steps
Scope the release
A 30 minute call to map the features, platforms and risks that matter for this version.
Build the plan
You get a written test plan, tester profile and schedule within one business day.
Test and triage
Testers work the build while your lead filters duplicates and confirms every issue.
Ship with data
A release readiness report tells you what is fixed, what is open and what is safe to ship.
Alpha. Beta. Charlie.
Beta testing that goes past the happy path
Internal alpha testing tells you the product works for the people who built it. A beta tells you whether it works for everyone else: the customer on a three year old Android phone, the admin with 400 users to import and the person who navigates entirely by keyboard.
Our beta testing services put your release in front of that wider audience in a controlled way. We screen testers by device, industry and experience level, collect structured feedback in one place and tell you which problems will cost you reviews, support tickets or churn if they ship.
Quality assurance checklist for your next release
- Critical user journeys tested on your top 10 devices
- Regression coverage for anything touched this sprint
- Payment, login and data export paths verified end to end
- Accessibility spot check against WCAG 2.2 AA
- Performance baseline compared with the last release
Questions
Beta testing and QA questions we hear every week
What is the difference between beta testing and QA testing?
QA testing checks your software against requirements, usually by trained testers following plans and exploring edge cases. Beta testing puts a near finished release in front of real users to learn how it behaves in everyday conditions. Most teams get the best results by running QA first and a beta second, which is exactly how we structure combined programs.
How quickly can a test cycle start?
A standard manual QA cycle can start within two business days of signing off the test plan. Recruited beta programs usually take five to seven business days, because we screen every tester against the profile you approve.
Do you work with startups or only large companies?
Both. About half of our clients are seed to Series B startups that need a QA team without hiring one. The rest are established software companies that need extra coverage around a major release.
What does a beta test cost?
Pricing depends on the number of testers, devices and weeks. A focused two week manual QA cycle typically starts around $4,500, and a managed beta with 50 recruited testers typically starts around $9,000. Every quote is fixed before work begins.
Next release
Ready to find the bugs before your users do?
Tell us what you are shipping and when. We will come back within one business day with a test plan, a timeline and a fixed quote.