The Engine Powering Continuous Testing in Kubernetes

Testkube'sExecution Engineaddresses the triggering, scalability and reliability challenges of executing automated testing at scale in cloud native environments.

Challenges

Testing modern applications at scale in Kubernetes comes with unique hurdles:

CI/CD not built for test execution

CI/CD engines focus on integration and delivery, not scalable test execution, leading to slow, flaky tests and longer build times.

Limited to CI/CD tooling

Tests bound to CI/CD pipelines can't run locally, on schedules, via APIs, or from Kubernetes events—reducing continuous testing opportunities.

Kubernetes-native scaling gaps

Many test runners don't run natively in Kubernetes, requiring custom runners and creating complex DevOps bottlenecks.

Tool-specific scaling complexity

Each testing tool has unique, complex configurations for sharding, parallelization, or matrix execution—worse when not Kubernetes-native.

Third-party cloud reliance

Organizations use external providers despite having scalable in-house infrastructure, adding costs and undermining cloud-native investments.

Not AI ready

Script-based test execution makes it difficult for AI agents to trigger specific tests needed for code changes.

Solution

Testkube's Execution Engine combines a central control plane with local 
Kubernetes-native agents to deliver seamless, scalable test orchestration.

Agent Execution

The agents execute containerized testing tools or scripts directly within your Kubernetes clusters.

Control Plane Configuration

The control plane provides agents with the configuration necessary to execute the desired tests, including tool selection, source code locations, scaling parameters, and artifact collection instructions.

Unified Reporting

All executions are aggregated for reporting and passed to the observability tooling.

Features

Test at scale, wherever your infrastructure lives. 

Our K8s-native platform orchestrates tests across geographically distributed agents within your environment—trigger via CI/CD, GitOps, or APIs, leverage built-in parallelization and sharding, and gain unified visibility across all executions, with zero third-party cloud costs.

Flexible triggers

Tests can be triggered from CI/CD systems, manually, on a schedule, via APIs, or by Kubernetes resource changes. This supports true GitOps workflows, e.g., triggering tests on every image update.

Kubernetes-native scaling

Agents leverage native Kubernetes constructs for test execution and scaling, while also supporting parallelization, sharding, and matrix testing at the tool level. 

Multi-agent Architecture

Tests can be orchestrated to execute on geographically distributed agents for distributed load-testing and multi-region deployments.

On-premise execution

All agents run within the customer’s environment—no third-party cloud costs, full control over infrastructure.

Execution Insights

The control plan tracks and aggregates all executions across all agents, enabling cross-environment reporting and dashboarding.

Ephemeral services

The engine can spin up temporary services as part of test workflows, ensuring consistency across clusters and geographies.

Head-to-Head: Test Execution Without Limits

Prepare for a future of scalable, cloud-native testing with Testkube.
TestkubeCI/CD RunnersSaaS Testing
Kubernetes-native scaling
Agents leverage pods, sharding, parallelization, and matrix execution
CI runners not built for scalable test execution
Limited to vendor-managed infra, scaling costs add up
Flexible triggers
Run tests from CI/CD, APIs, schedules, manual triggers, or Kubernetes events
Bound to build pipelines, little flexibility
Tests tied to SaaS UI or limited API hooks
On-premise execution
Run inside your infra, no third-party cloud costs
Dependent on CI/CD cloud runners
Reliant on vendor infra, higher costs and compliance risks
Multi-agent architecture
Orchestrate tests across geographies for distributed load testing
Not natively supported
Limited to vendor's regions, not customizable
Ephemeral services
Spin up test environments/services inside Kubernetes
Requires custom scripts or extra DevOps overhead
Limited sandboxing, tied to vendor capabilities
Execution insights
Centralized reporting across all agents & environments
CI logs only, fragmented visibility
Basic dashboards, siloed from CI/CD workflows
AI-ready execution
AI agents can target tests directly from workflows
Get Started
Script-based triggers, not AI compatible
SaaS execution workflows not designed for AI

How DocNetwork Saved 30 DevOps Hours Every Week

"Testkube gave us exactly what we needed. A simple, Kubernetes-native tool that fits into our workflow and helps the whole team, technical and non-technical, build better software faster."

Matthew Mclane
DevOps Engineer Lead
DocNetwork

Real-World Use Cases

  • Continuous Testing with AI
  • Flexible Triggers and Scheduling
  • Ephemeral Environment Testing
  • Load Testing Orchestration
  • Optimize Kubernetes Resource Usage

A 30-Minute Chat to Turn Bottlenecks into Breakthroughs

Talk through your current setup

1

CI, test types, environments, bottlenecks like flaky runs or long queues.

Get clear options

2

Parallelization, on-cluster execution, cost control, how Testkube fits with your CI.

See how you stack up

3

We compare approaches and outline a simple pilot you can validate in days.