Still hiring a Manual QA Engineer in 2026? Salary, Cost, and clever alternatives for the US IT Sectors
“Hunt those pesky bugs before they haunt your customers.”
One of the most important challenges that every IT company in the United States faces at some point is how to kick-start QA engineer hiring and establish the best QA team that can compete globally. Testing the respective web application and detecting bugs early is one of the most important things that every IT company should ensure. This is where the STLC (Software Testing Life Cycle) jumps in!
In the most challenging tech environment, like the United States, one needs to adapt agile practices in both software testing and development.
Why hiring a manual QA Engineer in 2026 doesn’t work and what is the future of software testing in 2026?
The modern era of software testing demands both automation and AI to ensure a smooth product/feature release.
Disadvantages of Manual/Traditional testing:
- Increased Human Error
- Time-Consuming
- Requires more man-power
- Lower efficiency for repetitive Tasks
- Very little scope for scalability
To ensure faster software releases within a shorter time requires the incorporation of agile practices with the help of “test automation tools” like DevAssure.
It doesn’t mean that AI/Automation can completely replace a quality department. It means that incorporating these technologies into the agile QA process can increase efficiency with greater accuracy with reduced manpower. QA engineer hiring must be focused on identifying people with the right skill set, with profound knowledge of test automation frameworks and AI-powered test automation tools.
The following sections discusses about the future of software testing in 2026 and also the costs involved in manual qa engineer hiring vs the modern way that the US startups are adopting.
Furthermore, it also discusses on the detailed/hidden costs involved in the traditional way of hiring.
The Traditional Method (without test automation tool) vs The Modern Way (with test automation tools)
| Traditional Way | Modern Way |
|---|---|
| Recruiting a QA Engineer - Takes up to 2 to 4 months | Tool Implementation in just 5 mins |
| Manually scripting tests - Consumes many weeks, depending upon the functionality of the application | AI-powered test case generation in just a click of a button |
| Flaky Tests - Manually Recurring process | Self-healing capabilities reduced the test maintenance time |
| The Verdict: High Time Consuming, High manpower cost, etc. | The Verdict: Very Less time consuming, reduces QA cycle by 50%, and zero maintenance cost |
AI-powered QA Team for IT tech startups in the US
Software testing teams that adopt an AI-powered test automation tool definitely stand apart from the rest. Several IT companies in the United States have started to adopt this technique rather than the old traditional way.
Companies that have opted for AI test Automation tools like DevAssure have witnessed a huge improvement in efficiency as well as a reduction in QA Costs. Below is the table and the costs that are involved in the hiring process of manual QA Engineers vs the teams that have opted for AI powered test automation tool (DevAssure).
| Key Factors | Hiring a Manual QA Engineer in the USA | AI Automation tools (DevAssure) + QA Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Recurring Cost | Salary of an experienced QA: $110K to $150K + Additional Dev resource cost | $200 Monthly Subscription fees alone (Customizable pricing) |
| Set up and Implementation | A new Senior manual engineer takes a couple of months to frame a new process and train his juniors before starting. | Just a few minutes to set up the total process using an AI-driven test automation tool like DevAssure |
| Test Case Maintenance | Very difficult and time-consuming as it has to be performed manually | AI-Powered self-healing helps to maintain tests automatically with Zero human error |
| Scalability | Hiring cost increases as the team grows | Fixed Subscription plan for end-to-end test automation along with AI capabilities so that higher test coverage as well as efficiency can be achieved in reduced time |
| Integration | Completely custom set up, which becomes very tedious and sometimes impossible | Integrations with CI/CD tools such as Circle CI, Jenkins, Git, etc. can be done in one click |
What is the approximate cost that I can save if I use DevAssure for end-to-end testing?
The below calculations portrays the hiring cost of only manual QA Engineers Vs the hiring cost of QA Automation Engineers who can use DevAssure.
Manual QA Engineer Hiring Cost (USA)
- Average base salary: $100,000 / year
- Fully loaded cost (benefits, payroll tax, tools, overhead): ~30%
👉 Fully loaded cost per QA Manual Engineer = $130,000 / year
DevAssure License Cost
- $200 / user / month
👉 $2,400 / user / year
Three different scenarios are discussed in this blog that shows how much amount can be saved for Small scale, Mid-market, and Enterprise IT companies that are headquartered in the US.
Scenario 1: Small US SaaS Team
There are two ways in which teams can use DevAssure to reduce cost, increase speed and velocity thereby elevating the productivity for the SMB IT Industry in the USA.
Option 1
5 QA Manual Engineers → 3 QA Automation Engineers + 3 DevAssure Licenses
🔴 Before DevAssure (Manual-Heavy Setup)
| Item | Calculation |
|---|---|
| QA Manual Engineers | 5 |
| Cost per QA Manual Engineer | $130,000 |
| Total QA Manual Cost | $650,000 / year |
🟢 After DevAssure Adoption
| Item | Calculation |
|---|---|
| QA Automation Engineers | 3 |
| QA Automation Cost | 3 × 130,000 = $390,000 |
| DevAssure Licenses | 3 |
| License Cost | 3 × 2,400 = $7,200 |
| Total Cost | $397,200 / year |
💰 Net Savings
- QA Manual headcount reduced: 2 engineers
- Annual cost before: $650,000
- Annual cost after: $397,200
✅ Net Annual Savings = $252,800
✅ Cost Reduction ≈ 38.9%
Option 2 – Based on Speed and Velocity Optimization
“US companies can retain their full Manual QA Engineers and amplify productivity by adding DevAssure licenses—effectively giving each engineer AI-powered automation superpowers that significantly accelerate release cycles.”
5 Manual QA Engineers + 5 DevAssure Licenses
Assumptions
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| QA Manual Engineers | 5 |
| Fully Loaded Cost per QA Manual Engineer / Year | $130,000 |
| DevAssure License Cost / Year | $2,400 |
| Release Frequency (Before) | Bi-weekly (26 / year) |
| Regression + E2E Effort / Release (Before) | 80 hours |
| QA Productivity Gain with DevAssure | ~40% faster execution |
Before DevAssure (Manual-Heavy Workflow)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| QA Manual Engineers | 5 |
| Releases per Year | 26 |
| QA Effort per Release | 80 hours |
| Total QA Hours / Year | 2,080 hours |
| Avg QA Hours / Release | 80 |
After DevAssure Adoption (Same Team + AI and Automation)
| Metric | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| QA Manual Engineers | — | 5 |
| DevAssure Licenses | — | 5 |
| Effort Reduction per Release | 40% of 80 hrs | 32 hrs saved |
| New QA Effort per Release | 80 − 32 | 48 hours |
| Total QA Hours / Year | 48 × 26 | 1,248 hours |
📉 Net Productivity Gain
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| QA Hours Saved / Year | 832 hours |
| Equivalent QA Capacity Gained | ~0.4 FTE |
| % Faster QA Cycles | 40% |
🚀 Release Velocity Impact
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Avg QA Time per Release | High | ↓ 40% |
| Possible Release Cadence | Bi-weekly (26/yr) | Weekly possible (40–52/yr) |
| Release Bottlenecks | Frequent | Minimal |
| Confidence in Releases | Moderate | High |
“For an incremental ~$12K per year, US companies can turn an existing 5-member Manual QA Engineer team into an AI-assisted automation powerhouse—cutting QA cycle time by ~40% and enabling significantly faster releases.”
🚀 See how DevAssure accelerates test automation, improves coverage, and reduces QA effort.
Ready to transform your testing process?
Scenario 2: Mid-Size Product Company
Option 1
10 QA Manual Engineers → 7 QA Automation Engineers + 7 DevAssure Licenses
🔴 Before DevAssure
| Item | Calculation |
|---|---|
| QA Manual Engineers | 10 |
| Total QA Manual Cost | $1,300,000 / year |
🟢 After DevAssure Adoption
| Item | Calculation |
|---|---|
| QA Automation Engineers | 7 |
| QA Automation Cost | 7 × 130,000 = $910,000 |
| DevAssure Licenses | 7 |
| License Cost | 7 × 2,400 = $16,800 |
| Total Cost | $926,800 / year |
✅ Net Annual Savings = $373,200
✅ Cost Reduction ≈ 28.7%
Option 2 – Velocity & Scale Optimization
10 QA Manual Engineers + 10 DevAssure Licenses
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Total QA Hours / Year | 10,400 | 6,240 |
| QA Hours Saved / Year | — | 4,160 |
| Equivalent QA Capacity | — | ~2 FTEs |
| QA Cycle Time Reduction | — | 40% |
“For an incremental $24K per year, mid-tier US companies unlock the equivalent of ~2 additional QA engineers and reduce QA cycle time by ~40%—without increasing headcount.”
🚀 See how DevAssure accelerates test automation, improves coverage, and reduces QA effort.
Ready to transform your testing process?
Scenario 3: Large Engineering Organization
Option 1
20 QA Manual Engineers → 15 QA Automation Engineers + 15 DevAssure Licenses
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Net Annual Savings | $614,000 |
| Cost Reduction | ≈ 23.6% |
“By replacing 25% of QA Manual Engineer headcount with DevAssure licenses, US companies save $250K–$600K annually, while improving test automation coverage.”
Option 2 – Enterprise-Scale Velocity & Risk Reduction
25 QA Manual Engineers + 25 DevAssure Licenses
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Total QA Hours / Year | 26,000 | 15,600 |
| QA Hours Saved / Year | — | 10,400 |
| Equivalent QA Capacity | — | ~5 FTEs |
| QA Cycle Time Reduction | — | 40% |
“For an incremental $60K annually, enterprises gain the equivalent of ~5 additional QA engineers, reduce regression cycles by ~40%, and unlock faster, safer releases at scale.”
Conclusion
In an ever-challenging tech landscape like the US, SMB’s, MM, ENT, IT Companies are in need of countering daily challenges in release cycles. Moreover, improving the efficiency of the QA team members with both AI + Automation as well as retaining the manual QA Engineers and training them with test automation tools like DevAssure, is most likely the way forward for IT Companies in the United States of America.
🚀 See how DevAssure accelerates test automation, improves coverage, and reduces QA effort.
Ready to transform your testing process?