Research is critical to any business.
But “doing” user research on product experiences can get tricky (and overwhelming) fast: what to measure, what projects to prioritize, what tools to use for user testing, how to interpret data, and how to monitor and optimize with new data over time.
That’s why the marketplace for user testing platforms and tools has grown exponentially in the last decade. We’ve been tracking the full landscape of user experience (UX) research tools since 2019, and even since then the increase in the number and variety of solutions has been truly eye-opening. With so many choices, it can be hard to sift through your options.
To help you, we’ve created this curated list of user testing tools to check out for 2024.
Why user research matters to business
Consulting company McKinsey found that companies who prioritize the design of their product, service, and digital experiences see an increase in both revenue and shareholder value. Specifically, companies highly rated in their Design Index report increases in revenue of up to 7% and total returns to investors/shareholders of up to 9%.
In other words, good research informs good design, which is good for business too.
A note on "all-in-one" tools
Many of the tools featured below are so-called “all-in-ones” because they often support multiple aspects of the research process: recruitment, testing, analysis, storage, etc. Although these can be helpful for some, they are not for every team or organization.
We believe that teams of all sizes can get more ROI from their tools budget by not investing entirely in a single platform. Security, flexibility, use case fit, and cost savings are all reasons to buy best-in-class rather than all-in-one.
Tools for participant recruitment and management
Participant recruitment and management tools support multiple aspects of recruitment for user research, from sourcing and screening to scheduling and incentive payments. These platforms integrate with the many of the testing and analysis tools reviewed below, but do not themselves offer such methods.
Mechanical Turk (MTurk)
An online marketplace managed by Amazon for unmoderated tasks called HITs (Human Intelligence Task). Participants (called “Workers”) are incentivized via Amazon gift cards. Workers review and apply for projects via a dedicated Marketplace promotion page.
Pricing: The offered incentive plus a 20% fee, which increases for certain segments/tasks.
Respondent
Offers a panel of nearly 3 million people and supports moderated and unmoderated study types. Includes features for session scheduling, incentives, messaging, participant characteristic targeting, screening, and document processing and management.
Pricing starts at $39/session for B2C and $65/session for B2B
H6: Read more: Comparing User Interviews to Respondent for participant management.
TestingTime
Offers participants for tests across a variety of design and method types. Supports profile-based targeting, pre-study screening, and incentives. Additional features include private pools for targeting unique customer types or creating customer pools.
Pricing ranges from $7 for a survey tester to $64 for an interview or focus group. Pre-paid packages are also available.
User Interviews
With a proprietary participant panel of over 4 million people, flexible support for just about any research method, automations for session scheduling, direct integrations with best-in-class tools, and incentives processing via Tremendous, User Interviews is trusted by hundreds of user research and product teams.
In addition to the Recruit tool for finding and connecting with qualified B2B or B2C participants, User Interviews’ Research Hub offers an easy way to build and scale a panel with your own customers.
Pricing starts at $49/session for Recruit; Contact for information about Research Hub.
Tools for evaluative testing and analysis
Evaluative testing and analysis platforms support a range of methods, including usability and prototype testing, card sorts, tree tests, and click/flow analyses. Read on for a brief description and pricing breakdown for each.
Check out this Field Guide a breakdown of how to conduct evaluative research.
Applause
Applause offers website testing and optimization as well as onboard testing recruitment. Tests include manual, automated, and integrated functional varieties. Applause is a full-service company with hands-on support. As a result, pricing is not publicly available and requires contact with their sales team for information.
Ballpark
Ballpark is a product feedback and research platform, offering use cases like surveys, prototype testing, first-click tests, preference tests, and onboard recruitment. Features include no-install website and app testing, real-time summaries, and templates.
Pricing starts at $125/month.
Centercode
This platform offers a range of testing types: product launch, continuous user, employee, and competitive. Focuses on automations, robust metrics and reporting, and a wide range of integrations across numerous platform categories. Also offers full-service options.
Centercode offers a free “Starter” plan with 20 testers; all other plans require sales.
dscout
An all-in-one platform with a companion app for participants, dscout supports moderated and unmoderated research designs. Its usability testing feature offers design templates, desktop and mobile experiences, and hands-on customer support.
Contact sales for pricing information.
Entropik
Entropik has two products, with one—Qatalyst—focused on DIY user research. This all-in-one supports ideation, prototype testing, journey mapping, information architecture testing, and product experience tests. Other features include AI automation and recruiting.
Contact sales for pricing information.
Fable
Fable is a digital accessibility testing platform. Its “Engage” product offers self-guided tasks, prototype reviews, compatibility testing, and QA sessions. It offers a variety of assistive technology configurations, mobile and desktop testing, and video session recording.
Contact sales for pricing information.
Hotjar
Hotjar is a website analysis and optimization tool, focused on recording user behavior, producing heat maps, surfacing in-platform surveys, and even 1:1 interviews. It also captures metrics like clicks, sessions, sentiment, and other on-page performance.
Pricing is broken out by feature set (e.g., heatmaps/recordings, surveys/feedback, and interviews) and starts at $39/month billed monthly. There is a free tier for each feature set.
LambdaTest
Although LambdaTest is marketed for software engineering and development teams, its testing suite offers accessibility, A/B, and mobile app testing. Its wide variety of technical and back-end testing might be useful for more data-intensive or complex experiences.
Pricing starts at $19/month for manual tests. There is a free tier for a limited number of tests.
Watch expert panels on topics like AI, research impact, and scaling insights.
Lookback
Lookback is a qualitative research platform—focusing on rich media and open-ended data—with a usability testing use case. It supports both desktop and mobile experiences. Additional features include session recording, onboard note-taking, and collaboration tools.
Pricing starts at $25/month billed annually.
Loop11
A usability testing platform that is low/no code, offering DIY test design, onboard or bring-your-own recruitment, rich media collection (audio and video) and interactive reporting. Other features include UX-specific metrics (SUS, NPS) and heatmaps.
Pricing starts at $199/month. There is a 14-day free trial.
Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub)
An all-in-one platform supporting use cases across qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. Supports card sorting, tree tests, click and preference testing, and prototypes. Additional features include onboard recruitment and a range of automatic analyses.
Pricing starts at $89/month. There is a free tier available.
Maze
Maze brings together recruitment, testing, and analysis features for product testing. The company offers usability, prototype, tree, and card sort testing, and feedback via surveys or interviews. This includes a robust template library, heatmaps, session recordings, and in-app prompts.
Pricing starts at $99/month. There is a free tier for 1 study/month.
MuIQ
MuIQ is the testing platform offered by MeasuringU, a full-service research firm. It supports usability studies, IA testing, surveys, and experiments. Additional features include heat and click maps, onboard recruitment, training/support, and path analyses such as link or tree.
Schedule a demo for pricing information.
PlaybookUX
PlaybookUX offers a full suite of DIY features and tools for user testing and analysis. They support recruitment, collection, and analysis, as well as onboard collaboration tools. Use cases include card sorts, tree tests, and unmoderated studies.
Pricing starts at $290/month for their subscriptions; there is a pay-as-you-go option.
Proven by Users
A user research platform supporting a range of UX and design insight needs. Methods offered include first click, preference, card sorting, tree testing, and surveys. Tests are enabled fully within the browser and require no extension installation.
Pricing starts at $49.95 for one month. There is a free tier available.
Sharewell
Sharewell is a fully-remote user testing option for mobile and desktop experiences. Testers can be recruited from their own panel or brought by customers. Other features include customizable tester filtering and the ability to share recordings from session tests.
Pricing starts at $26/tester. There is a free trial with one’s own users.
Conducting qualitative research? Try our free sample size calculator.
Sprig
Sprig is a product experience management platform focused on surveys, user session replays, and customer feedback capture. Tests can be automatically triggered based on a participant’s behavior and they offer AI analysis to surface key themes.
Pricing starts at $75/month billed annually. There is a free tier available.
Trymata (formerly TryMyUI)
Trymata’s platform supports usability, user interface, and UX testing. Experiences can be mobile or desktop-based, and they offer specialized features for ecommerce portals and retail websites. Onboard recruitment, dashboards, and session recordings are also offered.
Pricing for usability testing starts at $399/month.
useberry
An all-in-one platform for product testing and research, including usability, prototype, user flows, and onboard recruitment. Also supports tests like tree, first-click, 5-second, and single task. Offers task completion workflows for specific UI task completions.
Pricing starts at $79/month. There is a free tier available.
Userbrain
Focused on user testing for websites, apps, and prototypes, Userbrain offers onboard recruiting, a range of test and question types, and automatic reporting from analyses. The company offers testing of desktop or mobile experiences, automatic transcripts, and templates.
Pricing starts at $39/per tester or $99/month for a Starter subscription.
Userfeel
Userfeel is another all-in-one usability testing platform, offering moderated and unmoderated tests, onboard recruitment with customizable screeners, multi-device support, a question library, and video editing functionality.
Pricing is based on the length and type of test, starting at $60 per session credit.
Userlytics
An all-in-one option that offers a range of evaluative testing methods for both mobile and desktop experiences. This includes moderated and unmoderated testing, participant recruitment, and international support teams.
Pricing starts at $3,500/year plus participant recruitment and incentive costs.
UserQ
UserQ’s testing platform specializes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, supporting Arabic languages and offering country-specific recruiting. Available tests include prototype, tree, card sorting, surveys, preferences, first click, and five second.
Pricing starting at $10/study. There is a free tier available.
UXArmy
An all-in-one tool for a range of product and user testing types. Offers unmoderated and moderated testing, card sorting, and tree testing. Their platform supports both desktop and mobile experiences, and has features like metrics, heatmaps, recorded sessions, and paths.
Contact sales for pricing information.
UserTesting
An all-in-one platform that includes capabilities across recruitment, testing, analysis, and insight storage. In addition to their DIY research platforms (which include UserZoom and EnjoyHQ), UserTesting offers full-service research support, consulting, and design.
Contact sales for pricing information about UserTesting, UserZoom, or EnjoyHQ.
UXtweak
UXtweak supports usability testing and UX research methods, including interviews, card sorts, tree tests, and quantitative metrics like preference and five second tests. They support mobile and desktop experiences, onboard recruitment, and session recording.
Pricing starts at $99/month. There is a free tier available.
1000+ UXRs told us how AI is affecting their work. Read the report.
More resources on user research tools
- Explore the complete landscape of UX research tools
- Compare the ROI of research and recruiting tools
- The steps to building an integrated Research Ops tool stack
- Important distinctions between all-in-one vs. best-in-class tech stacks
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