Run
Machine time per run
How long a tool takes to execute the whole suite — duration, deliberately not cost.
- Unit
- hours per run, derived
- Where you enter it
- Computed; shown on the Run tab for automation vendors.
What it means
Total cases multiplied by the execution time per case, for an automation vendor. It tells you whether a full regression fits in a pipeline window or an overnight slot, and it is reported for exactly that reason. It is not a labour cost: no one is paid while the machine runs, and the model never converts it to money.
It does not apply to a manual approach, whose execution time is the tester's and is counted as effort instead.
Why it matters to the cost
The old way of costing automation multiplied machine time by a "supervision percentage" and called the result labour, which quietly charged for time nobody spent. Keeping machine time separate makes the human cost honest and still answers the practical question — a ten-hour run cannot happen on every commit.
Typical values
Ten to fifteen hours of serial machine time for a 300-case suite at two to three minutes a case; parallel execution divides it.
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
Machine time per run 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 machine time per run impacts the calculation of test automation costsLast reviewed 2026-09-15. All terms.