Aqua cloud

What Aqua cloud does

Aqua cloud GmbH is a Cologne, Germany-based software company that develops and sells an AI-powered test management platform under the brand 'aqua', targeting enterprise customers in heavily regulated industries including banking, insurance, government, medical devices, defense, and industrial manufacturing. The platform unifies manual and automated test case management, requirements engineering, defect tracking, bug reporting, and compliance documentation in a single hub, and is delivered both as a cloud SaaS solution (hosted on Microsoft Azure with EU data centers) and as on-premise software. The company has operated for 13+ years, serves 200+ enterprise and government customers with 35,000+ users across 22 countries, and reports a 96% five-year customer retention rate. Aqua cloud is a subsidiary of the andagon Group conglomerate and discloses no external venture capital funding, suggesting bootstrap or parent-company-financed growth.

The core technology combines the aqua platform's centralized test hub with an AI Copilot module built on OpenAI's GPT, augmented with project-specific context (requirements, tests, defects) and QA-semantics training, enabling generative test case creation from requirements, test step generation from descriptions, test prioritization by impact and failure rate, and speech-to-structured-requirements conversion in native languages. The platform supports 14+ native integrations — most notably a real-time two-way Jira sync at the requirement and defect levels, plus Jenkins, Azure DevOps, Confluence, JMeter, Selenium, Ranorex, and SoapUI — and exposes a documented OAuth2-secured REST API. The product is certified to ISO 27001 and aligned with GDPR, DORA, FDA 21 CFR Part 11/820, DO-178C/DO-254, CMMI, TMMI, IEC 62304, ISO 26262, and IEEE 829/830/1028/1044 standards.

Aqua cloud monetizes through a hybrid model: SaaS subscriptions (12-month minimum term) and on-premise software rental (annual or monthly) for recurring revenue, plus one-time perpetual licenses with annual maintenance fees for on-premise customers, supplemented by chargeable professional services and help-desk support. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales with 'Contact Sales' and 'Book a Demo' CTAs for large accounts and a self-serve free trial with no credit card required and a 1-day average migration time for smaller teams, with unlimited free basic licenses included for every customer.

Name

Aqua cloud

Legal name

aqua cloud GmbH

Website

https://aqua-cloud.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aqua cloud (aqua cloud GmbH) is a Cologne, Germany-based software company selling an AI-powered test management SaaS platform used by 200+ enterprises and government agencies across 22 countries in banking, insurance, medical, defense, and manufacturing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Test Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (513210), Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA)

Keywords

• Test management software
• AI test automation
• Quality assurance platform
• Requirements management
• Defect tracking

Headquarters

HQ city

Köln

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription (Software as a Service): Annual or monthly subscription model for cloud-hosted software access. Minimum 12-month contract term with 3-month notice period. Automatic renewal for 12-month periods.
2. Software Rental (On-Premise): Time-limited software rental for on-premise deployment with annual or monthly payments. 12-month minimum term.
3. Software Purchase (Perpetual License): One-time perpetual license purchase for on-premise installation. Maintenance and support services billed annually starting from year 2.
4. Software Maintenance & Support: Annual maintenance fees providing updates, upgrades, remote diagnosis, and hotline support. Calculated based on number of licenses acquired.
5. Help Desk / Professional Services: Chargeable user support via help desk hotline for user errors and non-defect related inquiries.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Aqua cloud sells an AI-powered test management SaaS platform that unifies manual and automated testing, requirements engineering, defect tracking and compliance documentation in a single hub. The platform is offered as a Cloud SaaS subscription or as an On-Premise license/rental, with built-in compliance templates for regulated industries such as banking, insurance, government and medical devices, and is sold to enterprise QA, development and compliance teams.

Product overview

aqua cloud offers a unified AI-powered test management platform with modular architecture. The core aqua platform provides test management, requirements management, bug tracking, and reporting capabilities. AI-powered features are delivered through the AI Copilot module that integrates GPT with project context data. Additional modules include Capture (bug reporting), Agile Testing, User Acceptance Testing, Application Testing Tools, and Test Automation Tools. The platform supports both cloud and on-premise deployment. aqua also provides free utility tools including AI Test Case Generator, UUID Generator, Test Coverage Calculator, Bug Priority & Severity Calculator, and SQL Insert Generator. Industry-specific solutions are available for Banking, Insurance, Manufacturing, Government, Tech companies, and Medical sectors, alongside enterprise and SMB editions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• aqua Test Management Platform Core AI-powered test management platform that unifies manual and automated testing, requirements engineering, defect tracking and reporting in a centralised hub for enterprise QA teams.
• AI Copilot AI assistant that amplifies GPT with project context to auto-generate test cases from requirements, create test steps from descriptions, complete test descriptions, prioritise tests and remove duplicates.
• Capture Chrome extension for recording tests and creating comprehensive bug reports with video and screenshot capture.
• aqua Enterprise Edition Enterprise QA solution that transforms QA from a costly task into an efficient, value-driven process, with support for regulatory compliance including CMMI, TMMI, ISO, IEC, DO-178C, FDA and IEEE standards.
• aqua Small and Midsize Business Edition QA solution for small and midsize businesses seeking premium-quality testing tools to stand out from competition.
• AI Test Case Generator Free utility that uses AI to generate test cases for QA and development teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• 42% decrease in test lifecycle time
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary cloud infrastructure provider for aqua's public cloud deployment. Provides database-as-a-service (MSSQL) and cloud storage. Servers located in EU.
• Jira (Atlassian)coreTechnology or IntegrationDeep two-way real-time sync at requirement and defect levels. aqua4Jira plugin enables covering Jira issues with aqua test cases. Automatic display of test cases in Jira tickets.
• JenkinscoreTechnology or IntegrationNative CI/CD integration for continuous delivery workflows. Automated test execution triggered through Jenkins pipelines.
• Confluence (Atlassian)majorTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for documentation synchronization with Confluence wikis.
• Azure DevOpsmajorTechnology or IntegrationBidirectional sync with Azure DevOps for integrated DevOps workflows.
• DigitalOceansupportingTechnology or IntegrationWebsite hosting and content delivery network (CDN) for optimal data throughput.
• JMetersupportingTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for load testing with JMeter results displayed in aqua.
• RanorexsupportingTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for automated testing with Ranorex test automation tool.
• SoapUIsupportingTechnology or IntegrationIntegration for API testing with SoapUI tool.
• andagon GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partneraqua cloud GmbH is a subsidiary of the andagon group. The andagon Group conducts business in Germany through various subsidiaries.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TestRail (Gurock): TestRail is a leading SaaS test management platform used by QA teams to organize test cases, plans, and runs. It directly competes with aqua in the same mid-market and enterprise test management category, with aqua explicitly publishing an aqua-vs-TestRail comparison page.
• Zephyr (SmartBear): Zephyr is a Jira-native test management solution from SmartBear, serving enterprise DevOps teams. It overlaps with aqua's core test management offering, and aqua publishes a direct head-to-head comparison against Zephyr.
• qTest (Tricentis): qTest is Tricentis' enterprise test management platform for Agile and DevOps teams. It is a primary direct competitor to aqua in regulated and enterprise QA, with aqua publishing a direct comparison page.
• Xray (Xpand IT): Xray is a Jira-native test management app widely used in Agile teams. It competes with aqua's aqua4Jira plugin and is one of the named direct peers in aqua's own comparison pages.
• PractiTest: PractiTest is a SaaS test management tool with end-to-end traceability and enterprise integrations. aqua publishes an explicit comparison against PractiTest, indicating direct overlap in QA process tooling.
• Katalon: Katalon is an AI-augmented test automation and management platform serving enterprise QA teams. aqua lists Katalon as a direct comparison competitor, with overlap in test management and AI-assisted authoring.
• Qase: Qase is a modern SaaS test management platform for manual and automated tests. aqua publishes a head-to-head comparison with Qase, signaling direct overlap in mid-market QA tooling.
• QMetry: QMetry is an enterprise test management and automation platform. aqua lists QMetry as a direct comparison peer, indicating comparable scope across QA planning, execution, and reporting.
• Kualitee: Kualitee is a test and defect management platform serving QA teams. aqua publishes a direct comparison page against Kualitee, confirming direct overlap in test case and defect management functionality.

Broad incumbents

• Micro Focus ALM / Quality Center: Micro Focus ALM / Quality Center (now OpenText) is a broad enterprise ALM suite used by large regulated organizations. aqua explicitly positions itself against Micro Focus in regulated-industry QA, leveraging modern UX and AI Copilot versus legacy ALM incumbents.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aquatesting
• Xx.com/aqua_testing
• Facebookfacebook.com/aquatesting

Compliance14 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aqua cloud