Who can provide Basic+Testplans access

Question

Who can provide Basic+Testplans access in an organization.
for IT Customer and Commercial Project

Answer 1

An Azure DevOps organization owner or Project Collection Administrator (PCA) can provide Basic + Test Plans access; a Project Administrator can configure test permissions but cannot assign the organization-level access license.^1^

For Azure DevOps Services

The organization owner or PCA should:

1. Confirm that billing is configured for the Azure DevOps organization. Basic + Test Plans is paid access, although a 30-day trial is available.^1^
2. Open the Azure DevOps organization.
3. Go to Organization settings → Users.
4. Add the IT Customer or Commercial Project user if they are not already present.
5. Select the user and assign Basic + Test Plans as the access level.
6. Ensure the user is also added to the required project. An organization access level does not by itself grant membership in a specific project.^2^

If many users require this access, a PCA can automate assignment through Organization settings → Users → Group rules → Add a group rule, selecting Basic + Test Plans for the relevant Microsoft Entra group.^3^

Licensing considerations

• Basic + Test Plans is normally paid per user.
• Equivalent Test Plans access is included with eligible Visual Studio Enterprise, Visual Studio Test Professional, or MSDN Platforms subscriptions.^4^
• Basic is sufficient to execute tests, record outcomes, and view reports. Creating and managing test plans, suites, configurations, and test cases requires Basic + Test Plans or equivalent subscription access.^5^

Project permissions after licensing

If the user has Basic + Test Plans but still cannot manage test artifacts, a Project Administrator must grant the necessary project or area-path permissions:

• Project settings → Project configuration → Areas → … → Security
• Set Manage test plans and Manage test suites to Allow
• Under Project settings → Permissions, grant other required permissions such as Create test runs, Manage test configurations, or Manage test environments.^6^

The labels “IT Customer” and “Commercial Project” do not determine who can assign the license; the relevant authority is organization owner/PCA for access levels and Project Administrator for project-level test permissions.

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References

1. Manage paid access for users
2. Manage your organization or collection
3. Assign access levels with group rules
4. Manual test access and permissions
5. Test Plans FAQs
6. Set permissions and access for testing