TestingBudget

Run

Runs per year

How many times a year the full regression suite is executed — the multiplier that turns a per-run cost into an annual one.

Unit
count per year
Where you enter it
Run tab, "All vendors" column.

What it means

The number of complete regression cycles in a year, which follows from the release cadence: monthly releases mean about twelve, fortnightly about twenty-six, quarterly four. It belongs to the application and is entered once for every vendor.

Every per-run figure — execution, triage, write-up, sign-off — is multiplied by it to produce the annual run cost.

Why it matters to the cost

This is the number that decides whether automation pays at all. Manual execution costs the same every cycle, so at four runs a year it may never pay back and at twenty-six it usually does within the first year. It also spreads the annual breakage rate over runs to give the tests broken per run.

Typical values

Twelve for monthly releases; twenty-six for fortnightly; four to six for a packaged application on a vendor's upgrade cadence.

Typical values describe a category of tool — AI-native, codeless, script-based, homegrown, manual — never a named product. Why we do not price named products.

Where it appears in the model

Run — every release

tests broken per run
Total test cases × Test breakage rate ÷ Runs per year — found here, repaired under Maintain
flaky per run
Total test cases × Flaky failures per run
Failures per run
Defects found per run + tests broken per run + flaky per run — derived, never asked
Run effort
Prepare and start a run + Failures per run × Triage one failure + Defects found per run × Write up one defect + Report and sign off — an automation tool
Run effort
Prepare and start a run + Total test cases × Execution time per case + Defects found per run × Write up one defect + Report and sign off — a manual approach — the tester is the run
Machine time per run
Total test cases × Execution time per case — automation only; duration, not labour
Run cost per year
Run effort per run × Runs per year × Effective hourly rate + Token cost

Every name is a link to its definition. See the whole model.

Try it with your numbers

Runs per year is a row in the calculator. Change it and every total on the page moves with it — free, in your browser, nothing to install.

See how runs per year impacts the calculation of test automation costs

Related terms

  • Run effort The person-hours a run costs — preparation, triage, defect write-up and sign-off for a tool; execution itself for manual testing — and the same figure over a year.
  • Run cost per year Run effort per year at the effective hourly rate, plus any tokens consumed during execution.
  • Failures per run Everything a person has to look at after a run: defects found plus tests the product broke plus flaky failures — derived, never typed.
  • Build duration How many weeks the build takes with the budgeted team: build effort across every application divided by weekly FTE capacity.

Last reviewed 2026-09-15. All terms.