Build
Scratch vs migration
Whether a tier's build time describes authoring cases from nothing or migrating ones that already exist in another tool.
- Unit
- mode
- Where you enter it
- Build tab, Detailed mode — the chip under each tier's build time.
What it means
Each build-time tier carries a mode chip. "Scratch" means the cases are being written for the first time; "migration" means they already exist somewhere — an older tool, a manual suite — and are being moved. Migration is typically 40–60% of the from-scratch time because the scenario, the data and the expected results are already known.
The chip is metadata: it records the assumption in the report's appendix and never scales the number by itself. When you flip a tier to migration the calculator offers a one-time rescale; accepting it halves the entered time.
Why it matters to the cost
Most evaluations are replacements, not greenfield builds, and quoting from-scratch authoring against an existing suite overstates every vendor's build cost by roughly half. Recording the mode keeps the assumption visible to whoever reads the report.
Typical values
Migration at 40–60% of the scratch time for the same tier.
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
Build — one-off
- Total test cases
- basic + average + complex Test case complexity tiers
- Build effort
- Set up, install and configure + Scoping the suite + Training time per person × People trained
- + Σ Test case complexity tiers × Build time per test case for each tier, as Scratch vs migration
- Build cost
- Build effort × Effective hourly rate + Build tokens priced as Token cost
Every name is a link to its definition. See the whole model.
Try it with your numbers
The calculator works scratch vs migration out from the rows it is built on. Change those and every total on the page moves with them — free, in your browser, nothing to install.
See how scratch vs migration impacts the calculation of test automation costsLast reviewed 2026-09-15. All terms.