Comparison
mobilerun vs Maestro: agent runtime vs app testing.
Both put mobile devices behind an API. The difference is scope: whose app you are allowed to drive, and how the meter runs.
TL;DR
Maestro is a test framework for your own app.
Apache-2.0 and free locally, with a hosted cloud at $250 per device
per month that its terms scope to your own software.
mobilerun drives any app in production, third-party
apps included, on persistent Android and iPhone devices. A free
plan to start, pooled device minutes, state that survives
spin-down, up to 100 concurrent phones on Scaleup and unlimited on
Enterprise, and white-label plus agents-as-a-service explicitly
supported.
| Capability | mobilerun | Maestro |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | AI agents driving any app in production | UI testing of your own app |
| Third-party apps | Supported, that is the product | Cloud ToS scope: "Customer software applications and services" |
| White-label & reselling runs | Explicitly supported | Sublicensing and reselling prohibited (ToS 2.2) |
| Devices | Persistent Android + physical iPhones as an add-on · any-region configuration | Real iPhone/iPad/Pixel/Galaxy plus iOS Simulators & Android Emulators |
| Device identity | Real device identity, compatible with the checks real apps run & app trust checks | Mixed fleet, per-SKU split not documented |
| State on spin-down | Persists, resume with logins intact | Built around per-test-run execution |
| Agent control | Your own models via REST API, SDKs, hosted MCP | Maestro MCP in the free local tier, human + AI framing |
| Pricing | Free plan · paid from $20/mo · $0.03/min extra · real iPhone $160/mo annual, $200 monthly | Local free · Cloud $250/device/mo · Enterprise custom |
| Billing shape | Device minutes pooled across 5 phones from $20/mo, fits bursty agent work | $250 per device slot, priced on max concurrent executions |
| Scaling | Up to 100 concurrent phones on Scaleup, unlimited on Enterprise | Parallel runs, add concurrency slots |
| Open source | MIT framework, 8,000+ stars, 98.34% on iOSWorld | Apache-2.0 CLI, Studio & Viewer, 15,000+ stars |
| Device location | Configurable for any region | See vendor |
Maestro details from maestro.dev, maestro.dev/pricing and maestro.dev/terms-of-service, July 2026. mobilerun pricing as of September 2026. Terms and prices change, read both vendors' current documents before you commit.
Why teams choose mobilerun
- Any app, not just yours. Third-party apps in production are the use case, not an exception.
- White-label and agents-as-a-service are explicitly supported, which the Maestro Cloud terms exclude.
- Persistent Android, plus physical iPhones as an add-on, with location configurable for any region.
- Genuine device signals that pass the checks real apps run.
- State persists. Stop a phone, resume later with logins and state intact. Stopped phones bill no device minutes.
- Developer at $20/month pools device minutes across 5 concurrent phones. Bursty agent work does not fit a fixed $250/device/month slot.
- Add-ons: connect your own phone from $4/month, Android + dedicated IP from $64/month, a real iPhone from $160/month, billed annually.
- Social media runs here too, on your own and your clients' authorized accounts.
- Scales on demand. Up to 100 concurrent phones on Scaleup, unlimited on Enterprise.
- Your own models drive it. REST API, Python/TypeScript SDK, hosted MCP.
- An MIT-licensed open-source framework with published benchmark results: 98.34% on iOSWorld and 100% on AndroidWorld.
FAQ
mobilerun vs Maestro, common questions.
What is the main difference between mobilerun and Maestro?+
Maestro is a mobile UI testing product. Its Apache-2.0 CLI, Studio and Viewer run locally for free, and Maestro Cloud runs those tests on hosted devices in CI. mobilerun is agent infrastructure: persistent Android and iOS devices driven by the model of your choice over REST API, Python/TypeScript SDKs and a hosted MCP server. Maestro verifies your app, and its free local tier adds Maestro MCP for agent-assisted testing. mobilerun drives apps in production.
Can I use Maestro Cloud to drive a third-party app or resell agent runs?+
Read the terms first. Section 2.1 of the Maestro Terms of Service states the properties "are to be used solely for Customer's internal business purposes relating to development and performance monitoring of Customer software applications and services" and that "Customer will not permit access to the Hosted Services by any third-party." Section 2.2 additionally prohibits sublicensing, reselling and "unpermitted commercial exploitation". That is a scope limit, not an anti-bot rule: their AUP has no anti-bot or anti-scraping clause. Driving someone else's app, or reselling runs to your own customers, sits outside the granted scope. mobilerun supports white-label and agents-as-a-service explicitly.
How does the pricing shape differ?+
Maestro Cloud is $250 per device per month with unlimited hosted test runs, priced on maximum concurrent executions, which fits a stable CI suite well. mobilerun starts with a free plan. Developer is $20/month for 5 concurrent phones and 600 device minutes pooled across them, and extra minutes cost $0.03 on paid plans. Dedicated phones are add-ons: Android + dedicated IP from $64/month and a real iPhone from $160/month, billed annually. Agent workloads are bursty, so pooled minutes follow the work instead of a fixed price per device.
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Run your agent on a real phone.
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