Azure devops — Save Up to 75% Cost — Smart Test Plan License Manager

Revolutionize Azure DevOps Licensing and Save Up to 75%

Managing licenses in Azure DevOps can be a costly affair — especially when it comes to the Basic + Test Plans license tier. But what if you could cut those costs by up to 75% without compromising access for your QA teams? In this blog, we’ll explore a smarter, more efficient licensing model that leverages on-demand provisioning and automation to dramatically reduce your Azure DevOps expenses.

Understanding Azure DevOps Licensing

Azure DevOps offers several access levels based on user roles: — Stakeholder — Free — Basic — $5/user/month — Basic + Test Plans — $52/user/month — Visual Studio Subscriber — Included with VS subscriptions

Official Pricing Reference: pricing azure-devops-services

The Basic + Test Plans license is essential for QA engineers who need to: — Create and manage test plans and test suites — Author test cases using the grid view or Test Runner — Organize test cases (assign, move, reorder) — Assign configurations or testers — Manage User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

The Problem with Traditional Licensing

Most organizations assign licenses based on group rules or static access policies, which often leads to over-licensing. QA engineers may be assigned the expensive Test Plan license even if they only need it occasionally.

Introducing On-Demand Licensing

With Azure DevOps, you can now implement on-demand licensing using a custom extension and automation. Here’s how it works:

1. License Storage

You maintain a user list (storage) of those who require the Basic + Test Plans license. Once added, they can always upgrade their license whenever they want.

2. Daily Downgrade Automation

Using a PowerShell script scheduled via Azure DevOps pipelines, users are downgraded back to Basic daily. This leverages Microsoft’s pro-rated billing model, which charges approximately 1/31st of the monthly cost per day.

Extension Architecture

The extension includes two endpoints:

— Organization Level:

· Admins manage the list of users who need the Test Plan license.

· At Personal Access Token Settings you need to provide the PAT of collection admin who has access to upgrade the license.

-Project Level: A new “Test Plan License” tab is added under the Test Plans section, allowing users to request or update their license in real time.

Here is the link to the extension: Smart Test Plan License Manager — Visual Studio Marketplace

Real-World Cost Savings

Let’s break it down based on a scenario:

Let assume your organization has 1000 IT engineers with 200 QA who are being assigned with Test Plan license: — Traditional Cost for Test Plan: 200 × $52 = $10,400/month — Smart-Access Model: — 200 users on Basic: 200 × $5 = $1,000 — 25 users on Test Plan (average): 25 × $52 = $1,300 — Total: $2,300/month

Monthly Savings: $10,400 − $2,300 = $8,100 saved

That’s nearly 75% in cost reduction!

This isn’t just a cost-cutting hack — it’s a smarter way to manage access. Your QA team still gets what they need, when they need it. And your finance team? They’ll love you for it.