From freelance tester to 7-figure MRR testing
platform
Kristel Kruustük started as a freelance tester and slowly-but-steadily built Testlio into a leading QA platform that seamlessly blends human testers with internal tech.
13 years later, it's bringing in seven figures per month.
Here's Kristel on how she did it. 👇
Hunting for bugs
I came to software testing by way of curiosity and taking chances. At 22, I started as a freelance tester in London, literally hanging posters around a coworking space that read "I hunt for bugs.”
Now, thirteen years later, I'm the founder (alongside my husband, Marko Kruustük) of Testlio, a community of verified software testers with a platform that integrates into organizations’ development processes.
We've scaled to become a 7-figure MRR company, with a growing community of testers across 150+ countries serving companies of all sizes, including Fortune 500 clients.
Lately, we’ve been building the first truly holistic, AI-driven tooling that addresses every friction point in the testing lifecycle. Our combination of real testing data, proven methodologies, and a global community of experts makes us uniquely positioned to set new standards for both software quality and talent matching.
Spotting the problem
After connecting with companies and experiencing the limitations of existing platforms firsthand as a freelance tester, I knew we needed to create something fundamentally different.
The traditional model compensated testers based on the number of bugs they found rather than time spent, creating an environment where testers wouldn't collaborate. I saw many testers rush to report "low-hanging fruit" bugs, rather than focusing on impactful testing. This model resulted in broken trust and undermined outcomes.
We created Testlio to change that. We value community, shared responsibility, and aligning incentives with thorough testing, not just fast bug-finding. Our first customer was actually a competitor’s client who embraced Testlio’s vision of providing quality testers. That’s all that mattered to them.
Crowd-sourced QA
We operate on a crowdsourced model where companies pay for access to our vetted testing community. Our testers are compensated on a regional basis depending on the complexity of tasks, and we focus on attracting quality brands that are prepared to pay premium rates for meaningful work.
Rather than competing on price with platforms that offer low rates, we've built our model around quality. Our rigorous vetting process ensures we can command higher rates because clients trust they're getting experienced, localized professionals.
Revenue growth has also come from expanding into new areas like AI testing, where we help companies identify bias, cultural blind spots, and security failures that automated testing misses.
An evolving tech stack
Testlio is a cloud-based, AI-powered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure, including Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon API Gateway, for its scalable functionality.
Our platform integrates various technologies, including AI for test creation and management, no-code and scripted automation tools, and third-party systems via CI/CD pipelines and integrations to provide manual and automated testing services.
Customers can run automated tests directly on the platform or through their CI/CD pipelines, leveraging the integrated tools and services. What’s unique is that our system manages the logistics of connecting a global network of testers with devices and the testing platform itself.
Organic growth
In our early years, our growth was largely organic — like I said, I started by hanging posters in a coworking space! But in these past years, it's been a very intentional mix of marketing and sales. Our business is growing because we keep up with the changes and build our clients what they need to solve their problems.
In addition to that, many of our clients actually started as testers themselves or are QA managers who connect with our origin story and understand the value of proper testing. This creates a natural pipeline where testers become customers as they advance in their careers.
We've also focused on working with brands that really care about quality — companies like Netflix that see the value in meaningful testing rather than just checking boxes. This selective approach has helped us maintain high standards while growing sustainably.
The challenge of maintaining quality at scale
There have been lots of challenges along the way.
A primary focus has been scaling Testlio while maintaining our commitment to exceptional quality. Our platform connects thousands of freelance testers with some of the world's biggest brands, and upholding consistent standards across geographies, devices, and languages requires continuous refinement.
It's not a problem you solve once. It's something you build systems and culture around over and over again. Because you want to keep getting better — always.
I often say that every misstep and failure got me here. But if I had to start over, I'd lean even more into my intuition. And I'd speak up sooner, especially when something doesn't feel right to me.
On a more personal level, one of the harder things has also been figuring out how to build a company and raise a family at the same time. It's a lot to juggle, but I wouldn't change a thing. I’ve just learned to stop trying to do it all perfectly — I focus on what matters most in that moment.
Adaptability is a superpower
I think our adaptability gives us a real advantage in the market.
For example, we started experimenting with AI long before it became mainstream. Now we're leveraging that early innovation and 13 years of testing experience to build AI-powered solutions no traditional testing company can match.
This ability to lead change is what keeps us competitive and helps us serve our clients better.
Focus on creating genuine value
Here's my advice: Build and join networks (including communities like Testlio), and have friends around you.
Entrepreneurship can be tough, so it's important to have support and advice from people who understand the journey.
Also, if you're passionate about something, constantly look for opportunities to learn and improve. Don't be afraid to identify problems in existing solutions and build something better. Focus on creating genuine value and fostering collaboration rather than just competing on price or volume.
What's next?
It's certainly an exciting time for Testlio. We recently launched LeoAI Engine™ and LeoMatch™, breakthrough AI-driven tools for QA and talent matching that prove AI can accelerate releases, cut costs, and enhance quality when humans stay central.
We're also expanding globally with tremendous growth opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
You can follow me on LinkedIn and learn more about Testlio at testlio.com.
And for skilled testers looking to join a community that values quality over quantity and wants to work with top-tier brands, we'd love to have you apply to become part of our global testing network.
Leave a Comment
Doing freelancing before launching a product is very valuable. It helps you deeply understand your ideal customers and their needs, so when you finally create a product, you already know the space well.
Really enjoyed reading this, Kristel. Going from freelance testing to a 7-figure QA platform is such a cool journey. Love how you’ve built something around both people and tech instead of just automation. Would be great to hear how AI has changed things for testers day-to-day.
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What a great story. Kristel’s journey feels real and earned. Turning freelance testing into a global platform built on trust and quality takes real patience and vision.
An astonishing journey from freelance tester to a 7-figure MRR platform!
Kristel Kruustük's story is a prime example that when you can identify what doesn’t work in the current systems and uphold a value in quality, success can present itself in a big way. By addressing some real challenges in QA, her model, which combines human expertise with AI-enabled tools, has established a baseline of professionalism across yet another industry. I love the story of how Testlio has figured out how to be successful by putting community before everything else, collaborating to ultimately provide genuine value. Can’t wait to see what they do next to provide value and lead QA!
This was such an inspiring read. I really love how your journey started with something as simple as hanging posters, and turned into a 7-figure MRR business built on real community and quality.
As someone building in the eCommerce SaaS space, I find your approach to flipping the traditional incentive model particularly smart. So many platforms end up optimizing for volume rather than impact, and that kills collaboration fast. Aligning incentives around meaningful testing rather than bug count is a game-changer.
The way you’ve combined human expertise with AI also really resonates. A lot of teams rush to automate everything, but your “humans in the loop” approach feels like the right balance, especially in high-stakes environments.
Also, the fact that many of your clients were once testers themselves says a lot about how authentic your community is. That natural pipeline is something most SaaS companies would love to build.
Thanks for sharing this story. It’s a solid reminder that innovation often comes from questioning outdated industry models and staying adaptable over the long haul.
Love how you flipped the broken incentive model! Paying testers for quality work instead of bug quantity is such a simple but powerful shift.
From hanging posters in a coworking space to 7-figure MRR - that's the ultimate validation of solving a real problem. The tester-to-customer pipeline is brilliant too.
Curious: How do you prevent quality drift as you scale to thousands of testers? Is the vetting process mostly manual or have you automated parts of it?
That's a good question. I'm also curious what parts are automated.
I'm impressed with your story on two ways. 1. You are a QA turned entrepreneur and I know now how difficult that as I am constantly juggling my perfectionism with high quality but I know how you and Marc did your hackathon and that is sooo impressive,.2 you are a couple which founded a company together and I am so sure that is a strength but often hear the opposite. Now seeing it in your example gives me hope again now as well. Thank you for your effort for our industry and for your courage to push through
Freelancing in the space before turning to a product is super underrated. You have to fully delve into your ICPs world, so when you come to turning to a product, you have a deep understanding of the space.
I love how Testlio started from something so genuine — one person hanging posters to hunt bugs — and evolved into a 7-figure MRR platform without losing focus on quality over volume.
As a full-stack dev, I’ve seen firsthand how incentive misalignment can hurt testing quality, so your decision to reward thoroughness instead of bug count is brilliant. It’s rare to see a model that respects testers and scales sustainably.
The mix of human testers with AI-driven tools feels like the right direction for QA — augmenting, not replacing, human insight.
Thanks for sharing this, Kristel — inspiring to see how deep craftsmanship and long-term thinking can still win in tech 💪
Hey that’s a powerful article. Moving from freelancer testing to building a platform with 7-figure MRR is no small feat. Your story shows how pivoting and scaling with focus can work.
As someone creating tools and products too, I often lean on simple platforms that help automate testing, feedback, or visuals. Consistency, small wins, and community feedback seem to matter as much as a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing your journey — very motivating.
Love how you flipped the “pay-per-bug” race into quality-led incentives and kept humans central while layering AI—feels like the only scalable path to trustworthy QA. Curious: what single activation best predicts long-term retention—a tester cohort passing vetting, first CI-integrated run, or a verified high-severity bug resolved within SLA?
He discusses perseverance, strategic growth, and leveraging expertise to scale a successful software business from one of the world's top freelance testers to a 7-figure testing platform.
This is such an inspiring journey! It’s amazing to see how curiosity and consistency can grow into something as impactful as Testlio. At blooketjoin we also believe in the power of community and innovation — combining fun, learning, and technology to create better experiences for users around the world. Your story is a great reminder that when passion meets purpose, amazing things happen.
Great Journey. I can almost feel like i can relate. Sometimes our intuition grows with experience. Also I should remember your quote of "if you're passionate about something, constantly look for opportunities to learn and improve. Don't be afraid to identify problems in existing solutions and build something better. Focus on creating genuine value and fostering collaboration rather than just competing on price or volume.". It is very inspiring and this is a article i want to live up to.
This was such an inspiring read! I love how your journey began with something as simple as hanging posters, and evolved into a 7-figure MRR business grounded in genuine community and quality.
It's a very impressive journey
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This is Truly Inspiring
Kristel, this is such an inspiring journey. I love how you stayed curious, focused on quality, and built something that genuinely helps people .... really motivating to read!
Kristel's journey is truly inspiring! The blend of human testers with tech is so powerful, and it resonates with my own experiences. In fact, at DownloadToKuPlay, we’ve been focused on building a seamless platform that helps users find and download quality games, while ensuring that our platform is always bug-free and easy to use. It’s a challenge to maintain quality as you scale, but like Kristel mentioned, adaptability and creating genuine value are key. Looking forward to seeing how Testlio continues to evolve—this is a great reminder of the importance of growing with a clear focus on quality and value!
Thats Nice
Nice
Really enjoyed this arc; going from freelance tester to a 7-figure MRR platform screams “do the unscalable work, then productize the patterns.” The wedges make sense: tight CI/CD integrations, reliable parallelization, and guardrails for flakiness so teams trust the signal, not just the dashboard.
Curious on two fronts:
What single activation best predicts a paying team; first green build with parallel runs, a flake detected and quarantined, or a week of consistent CI usage?
On distribution, which lever actually moved paying accounts — partner integrations/marketplaces, engineering content, or customer showcases?
P.S. I’m with Buzz; we build conversion-focused Webflow sites and pragmatic SEO for dev tools and SaaS launches. Happy to share a tight 10-point launch-page checklist if useful.
magnifique
This is such an inspiring story!
Going from freelance testing to building a 7-figure platform shows what’s possible with focus and consistency. I really liked how you balanced automation with real human expertise — that’s what makes it stand out. Thanks for sharing your journey, it’s super motivating!
Kristel Kruustük’s journey from hanging “I hunt for bugs” posters to building Testlio, a 7-figure MRR QA platform, is such an inspiring story of persistence, innovation, and community-driven growth.we share a similar vision of empowering businesses through innovation — offering custom ERP solutions, automation systems, web and mobile app development, and QA testing services designed to improve software reliability and operational efficiency. How can tech leaders today follow Kristel’s path — blending human expertise with technology — to create platforms that scale sustainably and deliver uncompromised quality?
Freelancer to 7-figure MRR is wild. Most people get stuck in the freelance trap forever.
What an inspiring journey! Turning freelance testing into a 7-figure MRR platform is no small achievement. I appreciated the focus on quality over bug count - what a game-changer! I'd be interested to hear how you keep the tester quality at scale. Thank you for sharing!
This is inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Great story! "Don't be afraid to identify problems in existing solutions and build something better."
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This is inspiring. Thank you for sharing
Amazing story! As a MicroSaaS founder myself, I really connect with the part about adaptability and starting small — hanging posters to get your first users is such a classic, scrappy move! Great to see how you stayed focused on quality and built something meaningful over time.
Thanks for sharing such insights.