How to Migrate from TestRail to Tuskr (Step-by-Step Guide)

Why More QA Teams Are Switching from TestRail to Tuskr in 2025

Test management in 2025 isn’t just about tracking test cases—it’s about agility, visibility, traceability, and most importantly, seamless collaboration across QA, DevOps, and product teams.

Yet, many organizations are still stuck in legacy platforms like TestRail. Once an industry leader, TestRail now struggles to keep up with the demands of modern CI/CD pipelines, remote QA teams, compliance audits, and test automation ecosystems. It locks teams into:

• Outdated, click-heavy interfaces that hinder productivity
• Rising licensing costs with limited flexibility
• Siloed manual and automated test workflows
• Weak support for traceability, role-based access, and audit trails
• Manual integrations with tools like Jira, Jenkins, or GitHub

The result? Slower releases, lower confidence in test coverage, and increasingly frustrated QA teams.

That’s why hundreds of teams are migrating to Tuskr —a modern, cloud-native test management tool built from the ground up for today’s quality engineering needs. Unlike TestRail, Tuskr:

Costs up to 50% less—with a transparent pricing model for growing teams

Supports one-click TestRail migration via XML or CSV (including test steps, custom fields, users, and roles)

Offers a clean, modern UI optimized for speed and usability

Natively integrates with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, Playwright, Cypress)

Provides advanced dashboards, audit logs, and full ISO 27001 / SOC 2 compliance

Whether you’re managing 5,000 test cases or scaling automation across multiple teams, Tuskr simplifies the move without disrupting your workflows.

Migrating from TestRail may sound daunting—especially when you’re worried about broken imports, lost metadata, or misaligned workflows. But with the right plan and tools, the process can be fast, accurate, and surprisingly smooth.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through:

• What to prepare before leaving TestRail
• How to cleanly export and map your test cases, users, and runs
• Using Tuskr’s TestRail importer and advanced CSV uploader
• Rebuilding integrations, automation, and workflows
• Post-migration QA and team onboarding best practices
• And most importantly: how your QA team wins with traceability, automation, and better insights in Tuskr

Whether you’re a QA lead, engineering manager, or IT decision-maker—this guide is designed to help you migrate to Tuskr with zero data loss and maximum long-term value.

1. Pre‑Migration Checklist

Before diving in, tick these items off:

• Estimate data volume: number of test cases, test runs, custom fields, and users in TestRail.
• Map your source fields to Tuskr’s schema: Test Case Name, Steps, Expected Results, Custom Fields, Suite/Section hierarchy.
• Use TestRail’s XML or CSV export tools for data extraction
• Clean up your TestRail project: remove deprecated cases, de-duplicate suites, standardize statuses and custom fields.
  

2.  Step 1: Exporting Data from TestRail

You have two export modes:

→ Option A: XML Export (Recommended)

Export entire projects in XML format—preserves structures, cases, attachments, and custom field metadata. This format works best with Tuskr’s native migration importer.

→ Option B: CSV Export

Use TestRail’s CSV export (multi-row per test case formats for detailed Steps). Tuskr’s importer supports multiline steps and UTF-8 encoding, as detailed in the CSV import FAQ

Pro tips:

• Format spreadsheet rows consistently.
• Export “Steps” using TestRail’s Step template for clarity.
• Remove unused custom fields to simplify mapping.
  

3. Step 2: Preparing Tuskr

• Create new Tuskr project container(s)—sandbox trial projects come pre-populated for testing migration.
• Define required custom fields (e.g., Priority, Module, Platform).
• Set up user accounts and roles to align with TestRail user permissions.
  Optionally, pre-create Test Suites and Sections to mirror your TestRail structure.

Tuskr can auto-create suites & sections during import if they don’t exist. It’s that flexible.

4. Step 3: Importing Data into Tuskr

Choose your approach:

→ Option 1: Native TestRail Migration

Go to Tuskr’s Migration panel, select the TestRail project XML export, and hit “Migrate”. Tuskr recreates project structure, cases, steps, field mappings, users, and roles in one go.

→ Option 2: CSV Import Wizard

Tuskr supports CSV import of up to 1,000 test cases per batch. Map columns to Tuskr fields—Title, Steps, Suite, Estimated Time, custom fields, etc.—using JavaScript-style multiline step syntax (list numbers, or +++ >>> separators).

Tuskr automatically creates new Suites or Sections if mapped in CSV, no manual step required.

5. Step 4: Post-Import Validation and Cleanup

Once import finishes, validate the data:

• Spot-check test cases for correct formatting: step markup, expected results, images.
• Verify custom fields, user mappings, and test run templates.
• Use Tuskr’s “Details” tab inside Test Runs to check deadlines, status, and metadata accuracy.

• Make adjustments or re-import only specific sections if data is misaligned.
  

6. Step 5: Migrating Test Runs and Execution History

For full traceability:

• Recreate runs manually if volume is low.
• Or import run results via CLI or XML (e.g., JUnit format) into Tuskr test runs. This preserves pass/fail statuses, run history, and links to bugs.
• Generate PDF export of dashboards for stakeholder sign-off.

7. Step 6: Rebuild Workflows and Automation

After data import:

• Connect CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, Playwright, Cypress) via CLI/API integration, enabling automated results to flow into Tuskr runs with rule-based mapping.
• Re-establish defect tracking integrations (Jira or GitHub) to link test cases → issues → back.
• Enable email notifications for run assignment changes and 100% completion alerts.

8. Step 7: Onboarding and Scaling

• Phase rollout gently—start with a pilot team or project.
• Provide templates, naming conventions, and analytics dashboards for adoption.
• Train QA teams on bulk editing, test run workflows, and burndown dashboards.
• Use activity stream and dashboard metrics to get feedback and refine processes.

9. Expected Benefits Post-Migration

By moving to Tuskr, you gain:

• Unified manual and automated testing in one platform
• Full audit trails, RBAC, ISO‑27001 / SOC‑2 compliance
• Real-time dashboards: coverage, velocity, defect trends, workload analytics
• Transparent pricing with lower yearly cost than TestRail
• Flexible deployment: cloud or on-premise, modern UI, CI/CD compatibility

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why should I migrate from TestRail to Tuskr?

Tuskr offers a modern UI, lower pricing, seamless integrations with CI/CD tools, and automated traceability between test cases, requirements, and bugs. Unlike TestRail, Tuskr is built to support agile, DevOps-ready QA workflows with built-in dashboards, audit trails, and version control.

2. Can I import all my TestRail data into Tuskr?

Yes. Tuskr’s TestRail Migration Tool supports full import of:

• Test cases (including steps and expected results)
• Test suites and sections
• Custom fields and statuses
• Users, roles, and permissions
• Test runs and their history (via API/XML)

3. Do I need technical expertise to perform the migration?

No coding is required. Tuskr provides a user-friendly import wizard and detailed documentation for both CSV and XML-based migrations. You can also request a white-glove onboarding session with the Tuskr support team.

4. What happens to my test steps and attachments during migration?

Tuskr supports multi-step test cases and handles embedded media files and attachments when you export using TestRail’s XML format. These will be retained and mapped during the import process.

5. Does Tuskr integrate with Jira, GitHub, and CI tools?

Yes. Tuskr supports native integrations with:

• Jira (bi-directional sync)
• GitHub
• Slack
• CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Playwright, Cypress, and more via CLI & API.

6. Is there a risk of data loss during migration?

Tuskr’s migration process is designed to be safe and reversible. You can validate imported data before going live and even import into test projects first for quality checks.

7. How long does migration from TestRail to Tuskr take?

Depending on the size of your test repository, most teams complete migration within a few hours to 1–2 days. Tuskr’s CSV importer supports bulk operations (up to 1,000 cases per batch), and the XML route handles entire projects.

8. Does Tuskr support test automation after migration?

Absolutely. You can immediately begin importing automated test results using Tuskr’s CLI/API. These can be unified with manual runs for end-to-end QA reporting across your pipelines.

9. Is Tuskr compliant for regulated industries?

Yes. Tuskr is designed for audit-readiness, supporting:

• Audit 
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• 2FA
• SOC 2 & ISO 27001 standards

10. What pricing options are available after migration?

Tuskr offers transparent pricing for teams of all sizes:

• Free Plan – for small teams
• Team ($9/user/month) – with core management tools
• Business ($15/user/month) – with SSO, dashboards, audit trail
• Enterprise ($29/user/month) – includes automation, API access, compliance support

Ready to Make the Switch from TestRail to Tuskr?

Migrating test management platforms used to be risky, but not anymore. With Tuskr, you’re getting:

• A cleaner, faster, and more intuitive test case management experience
• Seamless integration with your existing tools and workflows
• Data-rich dashboards that empower QA leaders and testers alike
• Enterprise-grade security and compliance
• Lower total cost of ownership compared to legacy platforms like TestRail

Whether you’re looking to modernize your test infrastructure, scale your QA team, or simply switch from manual test case maintenance—Tuskr makes it easy to migrate, optimize, and accelerate your testing efforts.