What’s the Difference Between Zephyr and Xray?  

A guide to Jira-native test management tools 

When choosing the best test management solution for your team, there are a lot of options and decisions to make. What are your current testing needs, and what will you need in the future? Do you want a standalone solution, or something native to Jira? 

When you’re comparing capabilities, it can be hard to tell from a tester, admin, or consultant’s perspective what the day-to-day usability and experience will be like with each tool. 

And to start this off: obviously, we’re biased toward Zephyr as the best choice for managing and automating tests in Jira. But we don’t need to show you that with a 50-line feature comparison table of things that don’t matter to the day-to-day tester, because what others won’t tell you is that the core test management features of Jira-native tools are fairly similar.  

The real differences come down to usability, automation capabilities, and architecture, which are all things that can make or break your experience with a test management tool. 

Managing Tests: Jira Issues vs. External Storage 

The core difference between Zephyr and Xray is how they store your tests: 

• Xray stores test cases in the Jira database as Jira issues  

• Zephyr manages test cases as a separate data model rather than as Jira issues but keeps them fully accessible and linkable within Jira. Test cases are stored in Zephyr’s own database. 

Why does this matter? 
Storing tests as Jira issues can work fine for small test repositories, but as the repository grows, many users have reported performance issues across their entire Jira instance: slower navigation, bloated indexes, and more overhead on dashboards and searches. It’s maddening to use a test management system that slows Jira down to the point of taking several seconds to reload pages after each click.  

One of the most common concerns we hear from some Xray users, as reflected in public reviews and feedback (examples: one, two, and three), is that storing tests as Jira issues can impact performance as repositories grow. By keeping tests external to Jira’s issue schema but still visible and traceable within Jira, Zephyr can help avoid this “issue bloat,” ensuring fast, reliable performance at any scale. 

Additionally for Jira admins, if for any reason you need to stop using your test management tool, having a platform that doesn’t store tests as issues could save a lot of headaches in that transition process.  

Built-in No-Code Automation & AI 

Both Xray and Zephyr integrate with external automation frameworks. But Zephyr goes a step further, it’s also a test automation platform in its own right. 

Zephyr Standard and Advanced editions include: 

• No-code automation for converting manual tests to automated ones 

• Record-and-playback automation 

• AI-powered test step suggestions to build better tests 

• Self-healing locators to reduce maintenance when UIs change 

• Parallel automated test execution (Advanced edition) 

• Cross-browser automated testing (Advanced edition)  

• SMS and email automated validation (Advanced edition) 

These automation tools are built directly into Jira, with no scripting or external infrastructure required. Learn more about how teams are using no-code automation. 

Reporting, Traceability, and Reusability 

Zephyr offers 30+ built-in cross-project reports and 20+ dashboard gadgets for real-time insights into: 

• Test coverage 

• Execution status 

• Defect linkage 

• Release readiness 

All reports can be exported to Excel for offline review or audit purposes. Zephyr also supports full test case versioning.  For reusability, Zephyr supports call-to-test functionality and inline preconditions, allowing step-level or full test reuse without complex Jira issue linking. This keeps test maintenance light and efficient.

Scalability and Storage 

Zephyr supports growing teams through unlimited storage. Currently*, Xray applies storage limits (100GB on standard plans, with an upgrade required for more). 

For organizations with large or growing testing operations, Zephyr’s performance-first architecture ensures that adding more tests won’t slow down Jira, a key reason it’s trusted by enterprise teams. 

Product Comparison

Feature	Zephyr	Xray Standard
Test Management, Planning, & Execution	✓	✓
Importing & Exporting	✓	✓
Single Project Reporting	✓	✓
Doesn’t Store Tests as Jira Issues	✓	X
No-Code Automation	✓	X
Cross-Project Reporting, Sharing, & Reusability	✓	X
Unlimited Storage	✓	X
Test Case Versioning	✓	X
Parallel Automated Testing	Advanced edition	X
Cross-Browser Automated Testing	Advanced edition	X
Email & SMS Automated Testing	Advanced edition	X

Final Thoughts 

If your testing needs are small and unlikely to grow, you may find either solution works well for you. But if you’re looking for long-term scalability, built-in automation, AI assistance, and performance-first architecture, Zephyr offers a Jira-native experience without the Jira slowdowns. 

And since Zephyr now comes in Essential, Standard and Advanced editions, it’s easy to match the right feature set to your team’s needs. Try Zephyr for yourself, with a 30-day free trial.  

*Capabilities of Xray and Zephyr last evaluated in August of 2025