1.3Test Strategy vs. Test Plan

These terms are often confused. They serve different purposes and operate at different levels.

Aspect	Test Strategy	Test Plan
Scope	Organization or product-wide	Specific release, sprint, or feature
Timeframe	Long-term (6-12+ months)	Short-term (sprint or release)
Author	QA lead, QA manager, or QA architect	QA engineer on the team
Audience	Leadership, cross-functional stakeholders	Development team, QA team
Content	Principles, approaches, tool choices, team structure	Specific test cases, schedules, assignments
Change frequency	Rarely (quarterly or annually)	Every sprint or release
Example question it answers	"Do we invest in mobile automation?"	"How do we test the new checkout flow?"

When you need both: Large organizations with multiple teams need a strategy (shared direction) and individual test plans (team-specific execution). Small teams can often combine them into a single lightweight document.

When you only need a plan: A single team working on a single product in short sprints. The strategy is implicit in how you work.