diff --git a/src/AsyncTask.php b/src/AsyncTask.php
index 4b24ee5..a2abd6a 100644
--- a/src/AsyncTask.php
+++ b/src/AsyncTask.php
@@ -114,6 +114,21 @@ public function __construct(Closure|AsyncTaskInterface $theTask, string|null $ta
         $this->taskID = $taskID;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns an instance of a fake AsyncTask with the same task parameters and task ID.
+     * @return FakeAsyncTask The fake AsyncTask object for testing.
+     */
+    public function fake(): FakeAsyncTask
+    {
+        $fakeTask = new FakeAsyncTask($this->theTask, taskID: $this->taskID);
+        if ($this->getTimeLimit() === null) {
+            $fakeTask->withoutTimeLimit();
+        } else {
+            $fakeTask->withTimeLimit($this->timeLimit);
+        }
+        return $fakeTask;
+    }
+
     public function __serialize(): array
     {
         // serialize only the necessary info to reduce runner cmd length
@@ -131,6 +146,18 @@ public function __unserialize($data): void
         ] = $data;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns a status object for the started AsyncTask.
+     * 
+     * If this task does not have an explicit task ID, a new one will be generated on-the-fly.
+     * @return AsyncTaskStatus The status object for the started AsyncTask.
+     */
+    protected function getTaskStatusObject(): AsyncTaskStatus 
+    {
+        $taskID = $this->taskID ?? Str::ulid()->toString();
+        return new AsyncTaskStatus($taskID);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Inside an available PHP process, runs this AsyncTask instance.
      * 
@@ -192,8 +219,7 @@ public function run(): void
     public function start(): AsyncTaskStatus
     {
         // prepare the task details
-        $taskID = $this->taskID ?? Str::ulid()->toString();
-        $taskStatus = new AsyncTaskStatus($taskID);
+        $taskStatus = $this->getTaskStatusObject();
 
         // prepare the runner command
         $serializedTask = $this->toBase64Serial();
diff --git a/src/AsyncTaskStatus.php b/src/AsyncTaskStatus.php
index c1c6699..c1862e1 100644
--- a/src/AsyncTaskStatus.php
+++ b/src/AsyncTaskStatus.php
@@ -50,6 +50,15 @@ public function __construct(
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns an instance of a fake status object with the same task ID.
+     * @return FakeAsyncTaskStatus The fake AsyncTaskStatus object for testing.
+     */
+    public function fake(): FakeAsyncTaskStatus
+    {
+        return new FakeAsyncTaskStatus($this->taskID);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns the task ID encoded in base64, mainly for result checking.
      * @return string The encoded task ID.
diff --git a/src/FakeAsyncTask.php b/src/FakeAsyncTask.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..090e91b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/FakeAsyncTask.php
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync;
+
+use Closure;
+
+/**
+ * The fake AsyncTask class for testing.
+ */
+class FakeAsyncTask extends AsyncTask
+{
+    /**
+     * Creates a FakeAsyncTask instance.
+     * 
+     * @param \Closure|AsyncTaskInterface $theTask The task to be executed in the background.
+     * @param string|null $taskID (optional) The user-specified task ID of this AsyncTask. Should be unique.
+     * @see AsyncTask::fake() an alternative way of creating FakeAsyncTask instances.
+     */
+    public function __construct(Closure|AsyncTaskInterface $theTask, string|null $taskID = null)
+    {
+        parent::__construct($theTask, taskID: $taskID);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Dummy overriding method to prevent the FakeAsyncTask object from actually running the specified background task.
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function run(): void
+    {
+        // don't do anything!
+        return;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Fakes the AsyncTask being started in the background, but does not actually start the task.
+     * @return FakeAsyncTaskStatus The status object for the fake-started FakeAsyncTask.
+     */
+    public function start(): FakeAsyncTaskStatus
+    {
+        return $this->getTaskStatusObject()->fake();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/FakeAsyncTaskStatus.php b/src/FakeAsyncTaskStatus.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94e6b16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/FakeAsyncTaskStatus.php
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync;
+
+/**
+ * The fake AsyncTaskStatus class for testing. Fake async tasks are presumed to be running by default.
+ */
+class FakeAsyncTaskStatus extends AsyncTaskStatus
+{
+    private bool $fakeIsRunning = true;
+
+    /**
+     * Constructs a fake status object. Fake async tasks are presumed to be running by default.
+     * @param string $fakeTaskID The task ID of the fake async task.
+     */
+    public function __construct(string $fakeTaskID) {
+        parent::__construct($fakeTaskID);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether the fake task is currently "running".
+     * @return bool The faked "task is running" status.
+     */
+    public function isRunning(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->fakeIsRunning;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Force the fake task to become stopped.
+     * 
+     * Note: once stopped, the fake async task cannot be made running again. Use a new status object if the fake task needs to be restarted.
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function fakeStopRunning(): void
+    {
+        $this->fakeIsRunning = false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/FakeAsyncTaskTest.php b/tests/FakeAsyncTaskTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a95125e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/FakeAsyncTaskTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync\Tests;
+
+use Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync\AsyncTask;
+use Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync\AsyncTaskStatus;
+use Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync\Tests\Tasks\DummyAsyncTask;
+use Vectorial1024\LaravelProcessAsync\FakeAsyncTaskStatus;
+
+// a series of tests that ensure the fake tasks are indeed fake while still look like the same
+class FakeAsyncTaskTest extends BaseTestCase
+{
+    public function testFakeTaskDoesNotRun()
+    {
+        // the fake task should not even run
+        $testFileName = $this->getStoragePath("testFakeTaskDoesNotRun.txt");
+        $task = new AsyncTask(new DummyAsyncTask("Hello world!", $testFileName));
+        $fakeTask = $task->fake();
+
+        // fake start it
+        $fakeTask->start();
+        sleep(1);
+        // there should have no file outputs
+        $this->assertFileDoesNotExist($testFileName);
+    }
+
+    public function testFakeTaskSameParams()
+    {
+        // the fake task should preserve its parameters
+        $testFileName = $this->getStoragePath("testFakeTaskSameDetails.txt");
+        $task = new AsyncTask(new DummyAsyncTask("Hello world!", $testFileName));
+        $randomDuration = rand(1, 10);
+        $task->withTimeLimit($randomDuration);
+
+        // fake it...
+        $fakeTask = $task->fake();
+        // ...and the parameters stay the same
+        $this->assertEquals($task->getTimeLimit(), $fakeTask->getTimeLimit());
+
+        // it is difficult to test the task ID since it would be exposing something that should not be exposed, so we will just have to believe it.
+    }
+
+    public function testFakeTaskStatus()
+    {
+        $taskID = "testFakeTaskStatus";
+        $taskStatus = new AsyncTaskStatus($taskID);
+        $fakeTaskStatusFromFake = $taskStatus->fake();
+        $fakeTaskStatusFromNew = new FakeAsyncTaskStatus($taskID);
+
+        // should have same task ID
+        $this->assertEquals($taskStatus->getEncodedTaskID(), $fakeTaskStatusFromFake->getEncodedTaskID());
+        $this->assertEquals($taskStatus->getEncodedTaskID(), $fakeTaskStatusFromNew->getEncodedTaskID());
+    }
+}