Nexus StudioNexus Studio vs Sauce Labs: how do they differ?
Nexus Studio runs your Playwright, Selenium and pytest tests on machines you control and keeps test data there. Sauce Labs runs them in its own cloud. Prices below are the ones on its pricing page, read on 2026-10-13: saucelabs.com/pricing.
| Feature | Nexus Studio | Sauce Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Where tests run | On machines you control: your PC, a mini PC, Docker or a Linux server over SSH. | Sauce Labs' cloud: desktop browsers, emulators and simulators. |
| Test data leaves machine? | No. Tests, results and evidence stay on your disks; the only connection is the license check. | Tests run in the vendor’s cloud, so the browser sessions and what they load go through it. Read its data terms. |
| Verdicts | 14 verdicts instead of pass or fail, so a real defect is told apart from a slow network, a bot challenge or a crashed browser. | Pass or fail per test, as its own dashboard reports. |
| Evidence (what files) | report.md, metadata.json, raw-data.json, screenshot.png and video.webm per failure, sealed in a SHA-256 chain of custody. | Held in the vendor’s cloud. Read its documentation for the exact files. |
| Pricing model (per machine vs per parallel) | Per machine: Individual USD 79 a month for 1 machine, Team USD 199 for 3, Business USD 599 for 10. No charge per user, per test or per parallel run. | Cloud pricing, per parallel: Virtual Device Cloud USD 149 a month billed annually (USD 199 month to month) for 1 parallel test; plans go from 1 to 5 concurrent sessions. |
| Android real phones | Yes: real Android phones over USB, no minutes to buy. iPhone and iPad through WebKit emulation only. | Hosted emulators, simulators and physical devices, billed as part of the cloud plan. |
| Offline capable (7 days license grace) | Yes. After a successful license check the Studio keeps working for 7 days, shows a notice for 4 more, then turns read-only until it reconnects. | No. It is a cloud service and needs a connection to run tests. |
When do you want a hosted grid with emulators, simulators and physical devices, and enterprise analytics from one vendor?
Pick Sauce Labs. Nexus Studio has no cloud runners. The full comparison with five vendors and Nexus Studio pricing.