# Percy vs Argos

> Choose Argos if you want the diff to show what your test rendered, a lower flat price and open-source code. Choose Percy if you already pay for BrowserStack and want each snapshot re-rendered across browsers and widths in its cloud.

Canonical: https://argos-ci.com/compare/percy

Migration guide: https://argos-ci.com/docs/learn/how-to-guides/migrate-to-argos/from-percy

## Verdict

Choose Argos if:

- You want the diff to show exactly what your test rendered, captured in your own CI browser.
- You want a lower price: $100/month flat for 35,000 screenshots, where Percy's Desktop plan is $199/month, billed yearly, for 10,000.
- You want Playwright traces and failure screenshots next to the visual review.
- You also want text diffs of Markdown, JSON or HTML, and preview deployments.
- You want open-source code.

Choose Percy if:

- Your company already has a BrowserStack contract.
- You want one capture re-rendered across many browsers and widths without running them in CI.
- You want AI help reviewing diffs from Percy's Visual Review Agent.

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Argos | Percy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **[Monthly pricing](https://argos-ci.com/pricing)** — How much it costs per month | $100/mo | $199/mo, billed yearly |
| **[Snapshot testing for any file](https://argos-ci.com/diff)** — Diff Markdown, JSON, HTML and more, not just images | Yes | No |
| **[Deployments & PR previews](https://argos-ci.com/deploy)** — Host Storybook or any static build on a live URL | Yes | No |
| **[Collaborative reviews](https://argos-ci.com/review)** — Pinned comments, threads, reactions, real-time presence | Yes | No |
| **[Agent-ready CLI & API](https://argos-ci.com/ai-agents)** — Agents inspect and review builds from the CLI and REST API | Yes | Via BrowserStack MCP |
| **[Playwright debugging](https://argos-ci.com/stabilize#debug)** — Playwright trace viewer and failure screenshots | Yes | No |
| **[Playwright test retries](https://argos-ci.com/changelog/2024-04-29-retried-failures)** — Separate test retries to have a clear overview | Yes | No |
| **[GitHub SSO](https://argos-ci.com/changelog/2024-02-28-github-sso)** — Synchronize your GitHub users with Argos | Yes | No |
| **[Spend Management](https://argos-ci.com/docs/learn/billing-and-subscription/spend-management)** — Control your spendings by setting a budget limit | Yes | No |
| **[Open Source](https://github.com/argos-ci)** — SDK and platform code available | Yes | No |
| **[GitHub integration without code access](https://argos-ci.com/docs/learn/integrations/github-integration)** — Offer a mode without content permission required | Yes | No |
| **[Sensitivity threshold per screenshot](https://argos-ci.com/changelog/2024-07-09-sensitivity-threshold)** — Set a threshold by screenshot to reduce flakiness | Yes | No |
| **[GitHub Actions partial re-runs](https://argos-ci.com/changelog/2024-06-17-partial-re-runs-github-actions)** — Save time and resources with partial re-runs | Yes | No |
| **[Monitoring mode](https://argos-ci.com/changelog/2024-05-28-monitoring-mode)** — Run periodic checks on your website | Yes | Yes |

Sources for Percy: [Percy pricing](https://www.browserstack.com/pricing?product=percy), [Percy plans and billing](https://www.browserstack.com/docs/percy/overview/plans-and-billing), [How Percy renders snapshots](https://www.browserstack.com/docs/percy/integrate/percy-sdk-workflow), [Percy tools in the BrowserStack MCP server](https://www.browserstack.com/docs/browserstack-mcp-server/tools/percy) (checked 2026-10-21).

## Pricing

Argos Pro is $100/month including 35,000 screenshots, then $0.004 per extra screenshot ($0.0015 for Storybook screenshots). The estimate uses the same assumptions as the calculator on the page: Percy at $199/month for 10,000 screenshots, then $449/month for 25,000 screenshots, and $0.036 per additional screenshot.

| Screenshots per month | Argos | Percy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10,000 | $100 | $199 |
| 50,000 | $160 | $1,349 |
| 100,000 | $360 | $3,149 |

Percy prices from browserstack.com/pricing?product=percy (checked October 2026). The estimate uses Percy's Desktop plan billed annually: $199/month for 10,000 screenshots or $449 for 25,000 ($249 and $549 month to month), then $0.036 per extra screenshot. Percy counts each browser and width a snapshot renders in as one screenshot.

Argos pricing in full: https://argos-ci.com/pricing

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Argos a good Percy alternative?

For most teams, yes: the workflow is the same (screenshots from CI, a check on the pull request, changes approved in a web UI), with three differences. Argos diffs the screenshot your test took instead of a cloud re-render, it costs less, and its code is open source. Percy stays the better fit if you already pay for BrowserStack and want cloud rendering across many browsers.

### How does Percy capture screenshots, compared to Argos?

Percy uploads a DOM snapshot of the page and re-renders it in BrowserStack's cloud for every browser and width you configure, with JavaScript disabled; each combination is a screenshot. Argos takes the screenshot in your test browser, after waiting for fonts, images and aria-busy to settle, so the diff shows exactly what the test displayed.

### How much does Percy cost compared to Argos?

As of October 2026, BrowserStack's [pricing page](https://www.browserstack.com/pricing?product=percy) lists three Percy plans: Free, with 5,000 screenshots a month; Desktop, $199/month billed annually ($249 month to month) for 10,000 screenshots and $0.036 per extra one; and Desktop & Mobile, $599/month billed annually ($729) for 25,000 and $0.048 per extra one. Percy counts each browser and width a snapshot renders in as one screenshot. Argos has a free Hobby plan for individual developers with 5,000 screenshots a month, and Pro at $100/month flat with 35,000 screenshots included and $0.004 per extra one.

### Do I have to rewrite my tests to migrate from Percy?

Mostly no. In Playwright, percySnapshot(page, name) becomes argosScreenshot(page, name), and the widths from .percy.yml become viewports. The [migration guide](https://argos-ci.com/docs/learn/how-to-guides/migrate-to-argos/from-percy) covers each SDK.

### Can I parallelize uploads?

On both. Percy groups parallel jobs into one build. Argos detects Playwright sharding on its own, and merges other parallel uploads (Vitest shards, CI matrix jobs) into a single build with a shared nonce; it is included in every plan.

### Can AI agents work with Percy and Argos?

Yes. The BrowserStack MCP server has Percy tools to run builds, fetch changes, and approve or reject them, and Percy offers an AI Visual Review Agent. Argos has its own [MCP server, CLI and REST API](https://argos-ci.com/ai-agents), with JSON output, so an agent can inspect a build and submit a review.

Ready to switch to Argos? Get started for free, no credit card required: https://app.argos-ci.com/signup