Allure Alternative: Test Reporting Without the Infrastructure Overhead

You picked Allure for its HTML reports. Then you tried to share those reports with your team, and hit the real problem: self-hosting a server, configuring a database, managing CI integration, handling user access, and keeping everything updated. For many teams, the infrastructure tax exceeds the reporting benefit.

Why Teams Look for Allure Alternatives

Allure Report generates beautiful HTML reports locally. Allure TestOps (the paid product) adds history and collaboration features. But both come with trade-offs:

Self-Hosting Complexity

Running Allure TestOps means:

Setting up and maintaining a server
Configuring PostgreSQL or another database
Managing backups and storage
Handling authentication and user management
Keeping everything updated and secure

For small teams, this is a lot of overhead just to share test results.

CI Pipeline Integration

Allure requires adding the Allure commandline tool to your CI environment, generating reports, then uploading them somewhere your team can access. This works, but it’s another moving part to maintain.

Report Hosting

Allure generates static HTML reports, but hosting them requires additional setup. Common approaches:

GitHub Pages (works but limited for private repos)
S3 + CloudFront (more infrastructure to manage)
Self-hosted web server (even more maintenance)

Gaffer: Hosted Test Reporting

Gaffer takes a different approach: hosted test reporting with zero infrastructure.

No Self-Hosting

Gaffer is a SaaS platform. No servers to manage, no databases to configure, no updates to apply. Sign up and start uploading test results.

Simple CI Integration

One step in your CI pipeline:

- name: Upload to Gaffer
  if: always()
  uses: gaffer-sh/gaffer-uploader@v1
  with:
    gaffer_api_key: ${{ secrets.GAFFER_UPLOAD_TOKEN }}
    report_path: ./test-results

Or with curl if you prefer:

curl -X POST https://app.gaffer.sh/api/upload \
  -H "X-API-Key: $GAFFER_UPLOAD_TOKEN" \
  -F "files=@test-results/report.html"

Every upload gets a shareable URL. Send it in Slack, paste it in a PR, or bookmark it. No downloads, no zip files, no “let me spin up the report server.”

Built-in Flaky Test Detection

Gaffer automatically tracks test stability over time and identifies flaky tests by analyzing flip rates. No additional setup required - just upload your results.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Allure Report	Allure TestOps	Gaffer
Test reports	Local HTML	Hosted	Hosted
Historical trends	Manual setup	Yes	Yes
Flaky test detection	No	Yes	Yes
Team sharing	Manual hosting	Yes	Yes
Self-hosting required	N/A	Yes	No
Database required	No	Yes	No
Pricing	Free	Per user	Flat-rate tiers
Setup time	Minutes	Hours/Days	Minutes

Framework Support

Both Allure and Gaffer support major test frameworks:

Framework	Allure	Gaffer
Playwright	Yes	Yes
Jest	Yes	Yes
Vitest	Via adapter	Yes
pytest	Yes	Yes
JUnit	Yes	Yes
Cypress	Yes	Yes (via CTRF)

Gaffer also supports CTRF (Common Test Report Format), which provides adapters for 20+ test frameworks.

When to Use Allure

Allure might be a better fit if you:

Already have infrastructure and ops capacity to self-host
Need Allure’s specific annotation features (@Step, @Attachment)
Have strict data residency requirements that prevent SaaS usage
Want to avoid any SaaS vendor dependency

When to Use Gaffer

Gaffer is probably a better fit if you:

Want test reporting without infrastructure overhead
Have a small team without dedicated DevOps
Need quick setup (minutes, not hours)
Want built-in Slack notifications and GitHub integration
Prefer flat-rate pricing with unlimited users over per-seat

Migration from Allure

Already using Allure? Gaffer works alongside your existing setup:

Keep generating Allure reports if your team is used to them
Add the Gaffer upload step to CI
Use CTRF or JUnit XML format for Gaffer analytics
Gradually shift to Gaffer for sharing and history

No big-bang migration required.

Other Comparisons

Evaluating multiple tools? See how Gaffer compares to ReportPortal.

Try It

Gaffer’s free tier includes 500 MB storage and 7-day retention. Enough to evaluate whether it fits your workflow.

Try Gaffer Free

Gaffer