Everything about
the competition

What is World Best Tester

World Best Tester is a global software testing competition. Teams sit down in front of an application they have never seen before, and race the clock to find and report the very best bugs in it. Experienced judges then score every team on the quality of their testing — and the best team wins.

It is friendly, but it is serious. The people who do well are not the ones who click fastest; they are the ones who think about risk, test the right things, and write reports a developer could actually act on.

Who can take part

Anyone who tests software, at any level of experience. Students, career changers, freelancers, and testers with twenty years behind them all compete in the same events.

You always compete as a team

Every participant belongs to a named team, and each team works on the application together. Teams are usually small — big enough to split the work, small enough that everyone contributes.

Competing on your own is completely fine: you are simply a team of one, and you still pick a team name. The exact team size allowed is set by the organizer of each event and is stated on that event's registration page.

What it costs

That is the organizer's decision. Many events are free to enter, and some ask for a small entry fee — whichever applies, it is always stated up front on the event's registration page. There is never a charge for using the competition platform itself.

Online or in person

Events run in two formats. The competition itself is identical — the same platform, the same kind of application, the same judging. What changes is where you sit and how the day feels.

How a competition runs

There is no single timetable. Every event is built by its own organizer around its own day — a conference slot, an evening after work, a Saturday morning. What the times will be for your event is always published on its registration page.

What is true at every event

• A fixed competition window. Testing starts and stops at an announced time, and bug reports only count while that window is open. When it closes, it closes.
• Judging comes after. Once testing stops, the judges review every team's work. Nothing you submit is scored live — a human reads it.
• Then the results. Most events announce the winners the same day, a few hours after testing ends. Some save the moment for a conference stage later on.

Typical shape of a day

Most organizers give teams two to four hours of testing, and allow roughly four to five hours for judging before announcing results. Here is what a full day inside a conference commonly looks like — treat it as an example, not a rule:

The app you will test

Every competition is built around one application — the “System Under Test”. It is a real, working web application, and it stays secret until the moment the competition starts.

That surprise is deliberate. Nobody gets to prepare test cases in advance, so the competition measures how well you handle software you have never met before — which is, after all, the job.

How the application is chosen

• Realistic. A genuine application with genuine problems in it, not a puzzle built to be solved.
• Fair. The same application, the same conditions, and the same amount of time for every team in the event.
• Testable in the window. Big enough to be interesting, small enough that a good team can cover it meaningfully in a few hours.
• Browser-based. You reach it through the platform. No installation, no local setup, no special hardware.

Organizers can tell us what kind of application would suit their audience — a banking app, an e-shop, an educational tool — and we prepare something that fits. What they cannot do is tell the participants, even if they know.

What you can use

Bring the way you actually work. The competition is meant to reflect a real testing day, not an exam hall.

What is not allowed is help from outside your team, or anything that would give your team an unfair advantage over the others. Your team works on its own submission; teams do not work together.

How teams are scored

Judges look at the whole job, not just the pile of bugs at the end. The score reflects how a team approached the application, how it worked through it, and what it left behind for someone else to read.

What the judges look at

Each area carries its own weight, and the exact weighting for your event is confirmed by its organizer. Whatever the numbers are, they are applied identically to every team in the event.

Judging & fairness

Every team's work is read by experienced testing professionals. We aim for at least two judges at every event, so no single opinion decides a result on its own.

• Same conditions for everyone. One application, one time window, one set of criteria — for every team in the event.
• Independence. Judges declare any connection to a competing team, and step back from scoring where there is a conflict of interest.
• Confidentiality. Your submissions are seen by the judging team and are not shared beyond it.
• Professional conduct. Participants and judges are expected to behave professionally throughout. Serious breaches can cost a team its place.

If something about a result looks wrong to you, your team representative can raise it with the organizers on the day, while everyone is still in the room. Questions are welcome — the point of the competition is that the best team wins.

Recognition & prizes

Every event celebrates its top three teams, and prizes are chosen by the organizer — so what is on the table varies from event to event, and is announced in advance.

How to take part

Getting in takes a couple of minutes. The important thing to understand: you register for an event, and we build your account and team from that registration.

1. Find your event

   Events are hosted by communities, conferences, universities and companies around the world. Register your interest here and we will tell you when one opens near you — or use the registration link your organizer shared.

2. Register — with a team name

   You give your name, your email, your country, and the name of your team. Everyone needs a team name, including people competing alone: a solo entry is simply a team of one, so pick something you would enjoy hearing announced.

3. We create your account and your team

   You do not sign yourself up on the platform — we set up every account and every team from the registration list, so that all teams are ready and equal before the day starts.

4. Your login arrives by email

   Before the event, your credentials are emailed to the address you registered with. Keep them — that is how you get in on the day. If nothing has arrived shortly before the event, ask your organizer.

5. Show up and compete

   Join the room or the meeting space early, run the connection check, and be logged in when the clock starts. Then the application appears — and it is on.

Host an event

Running a World Best Tester event is how the competition reaches a new country, conference or campus — and it is lighter work than it sounds, because the competition itself is on us.

We publish an Organizer Guide that walks through the whole thing — choosing a format, timing the day, collecting registrations, and what to say in your marketing. Ask us for it at welcome@worldbesttester.com and tell us roughly when and where you would like to run your event.

Questions & answers