It’s not easy to choose the best platform for improving your website’s UX. And even if you do choose a great platform, like UserTesting for example, you may still face some unexpected issues. But don’t be concerned! We created this article with a pricing and feature comparison of some of the UserTesting alternatives to help you evaluate your options.
If you’re looking for UserTesting alternatives, you’re probably already familiar with this platform. In case you are not, UserTesting is a US-based company that offers an online platform for gathering rapid customer experience feedback with the help of various research methods.
The platform makes it simple for you to get to know your users, watching them interact with your product, learn more about them, and collect data for future improvements. Being one of the most popular platforms on the market, UserTesting for sure has its advantages.
Here are the reasons people may choose UserTesting:
Large pool of respondents
Judging by their own statistics, their user panel has roughly 2 million members.
Fast results
Thanks to a large number of responders available, you can get all the results of your study in the shortest amount of time. However, just like everything else in this world, UserTesting isn’t a perfect tool, and there are several downsides that may stop you from using it in your research. Although it is a solid platform for testing your customers, it is definitely not for everyone.
These are 3 main reasons why users look for an alternative to UserTesting:
Unqualified respondents
The biggest and the most noticed disadvantage of the platform is a big number of unhelpful respondents. As well as UserTesting offers a handful of participants in their pool, it seems that a solid part of them is not qualified for attending serious research. Some respondents are impatient, cheat or just appear inactive, which really messes up the whole impression of the testing experience.
Weak reports
People often say UserTesting’s reports are hard to read and analyze. This is a huge downside when it comes to summarizing and evaluating the research data. Some even claim the results to be inaccurate and sometimes lead to technical errors.
Pricing model
And the last thing that has already made so many people reconsider their choice of testing platform is UserTesting’s pricing. For some unknown reason, the pricing options are far from being user-friendly. With their basic plan, you can only test 15 participants. If you need more (which you probably do for good research), you will have to contact their sales team and get an Enterprise plan with customized pricing.
UserTesting features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
- Card Sorting & Tree Testing
- Preference testing
- 5 second test
- Surveys
So what are the best alternatives to UserTesting?
We created a list of great tools you can try instead of UserTesting. These are the platforms that we personally recommend, as they have already been proven to be successful by a large number of people and can provide you with some fantastic information!
- UXtweak
- Lookback.io
- Userbrain
- Userlytics
- UserZoom
- UsabilityHub
- Maze
- PlaybookUX
Here’s a quick comparison table of all the UserTesting alternatives, based on tools’ reviews from Capterra:
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Plus plan – $80/month Billed annually |
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Pro plan – $229/month Billed annually |
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Upon request, starting at $50K/year |
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Pro plan – $75/month Billed annually |
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Pro plan – $75/month Billed annually |
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Pro plan – $399/month Billed annually |
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Pro plan – $228/month Billed annually |
Let’s take a closer look at each of them to choose the right one for your case:
1.UXtweak
UXtweak provides powerful tools for usability testing of websites and web apps, from prototypes to production, including information architecture research and user behavior analytics. This platform has everything you need and more combined in one place.
Features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
- Card Sorting & Tree Testing
- Preference testing
- 5 second test
- Surveys
- First click testing
- Session recording
Pros
- Advanced analytics that are easy to read – UXtweak offers a variety of data visualizations that will give you plenty of insights about your users’ behavior.
- 155M+ User Panel to recruit participants from
- Recruiting Widget – allows you to turn real website visitors into testers
- Intuitive UI and easy set-up
- Free plan
Cons
- Mobile testing only available on iOS.
Pricing & Plans
While UserTesting is too pricey and complicated, UXtweak offers a variety of plans for any type of project.
Our free plan is unlimited in time for small projects. You can also choose a pro plan only for $80/month, billed annually.
Judging by these numbers we can say that UXtweak is one of the most affordable user testing platforms out there, which makes it a great UserTesting alternative. See for yourself! Create a free account now and choose one of the plans which suits you the best!
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.9/5
Ease of Use – 4.8/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
UXtweak vs. UserTesting
For starters, UXtweak is definitely a cheaper option. While pricing at UserTesting starts at 15K/year, you can have UXtweak’s Pro plan for $80/month. Additionally, UserTesting doesn’t offer a free plan like UXtweak does.
UXtweak also offers a bigger set of research tools.
2. Lookback.io
Another great platform to run moderated and unmoderated user tests online is Lookback. This tool is a perfect alternative to UserTesting, especially if you don’t need any extra help with recruiting the participants.
Features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
Pros
- Stakeholder observations – Lookback allows multiple people to observe your study and take their own notes
- Live broadcasts – Lookback has a specific feature you can use to broadcast your studies to colleagues and discuss them in live mode.
Cons
- No user panel to recruit from
- Small range of research tools
- No free plan
- Problems with the mobile version and IOS testing
- Connection drops
Pricing & Plans
Lookback doesn’t have a free plan, however, they do offer a free 14-day trial. After that their prices start from $99 per month with a limit of 100 sessions per year. Their professional “Insights Hub” plan is $229 per month.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 3.3/5
Ease of Use – 3.5/5
Customer Service – 2.1/5
Lookback vs. UserTesting
Lookback is a great alternative to UserTesting when you already have the participants for your research and want to conduct simple moderated or unmoderated tests. It’s definitely cheaper than UserTesting. Both tools, however, do not offer a free plan.
3. Userbrain
Userbrain is known for its no-strings-attached plans and relatively low costs. They’re new to the market and don’t offer anything extra, but it’s a nice UserTesting alternative when you need to run some basic unmoderated prototype testing.
Features
- Unmoderated testing
- Prototype testing
Pros
- No commitment – UserBrain has a pay-as-you-go option where you may pay for a single test without having to commit to a monthly subscription.
- 85K+ user panel
Cons
- Customer service – There’ve been several complaints that customer service is not very responsive and is quite slow.
- Limited demographics – UserBrain’s demographics section might be improved to provide additional information about your testers. You can currently filter by age, gender, location, and device type. It’s also worth noting that you can’t choose testers from specific cities or provinces.
- No free plan
Pricing & Plans
The prices at UserBrain are pretty reasonable and a lot cheaper than UserTesting. You can either pay $35/tester with their pay-as-you-go option or $2490/year.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 4.3/5
Ease of Use – 4.6/5
Customer Service – 4.6/5
Userbrain vs. UserTesting
Userbrain is a great UserTesting alternative that also helps with recruiting the participants for your study. Both tools don’t have free plans. The toolset at Userbrain is not as big as UserTesting’s, but it’s a great option for simple unmoderated tests, especially for those on a budget.
4.Userlytics
Userlytics is another good option for user testing. They are known for their wide range of functionalities and competitive pricing model. A great platform to keep in mind, especially if visual aspects of the tool don’t matter for you as their UI is quite old-fashioned.
Features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
- Card Sorting & Tree Testing
Pros
- 1M+ User Panel
- Automated and multilingual transcriptions – you can get AI-generated transcriptions of your tests
Cons
- No PDF reports
- Old-fashioned UI – their user interface could use some improvements as it is outdated and not very intuitive
- Audio issues – several clients reported audio issues during testing and claimed the process to be a little bit too slow.
- No free plan
Pricing & Plans
Compared to UserTesting, Userlytics have some great pricing options. It’s a lot cheaper, basic Quick & Easy plan is $49 per participant and Enterprise plan is $69 per participant. They also have an option of customized pricing. Their Pro plan subscription is $399/month, billed annually.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.5/5
Customer Service – 4.9/5
Userlytics vs. UserTesting
Compared to UserTesting, Userlytics offer almost the same feature set for a much better price. They also offer help with recruiting. Both tools don’t offer a free plan.
5. UserZoom
UserZoom is another alternative option for UserTesting for both moderated and unmoderated usability testing. They offer similar tools to UXtweak for analyzing your website’s information architecture, however, they are a little more expensive.
Features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
- Card Sorting & Tree Testing
Pros
- Advanced analytics
- 120M+ user panel
Cons
- Can be hard to use – The UI of the platform is quite complicated and is not the best choice for a complete beginner.
- Study instructions are both detailed and confusing for the testers
- Very expensive compared to some other alternatives
Pricing & Plans
UserZoom’s pricing is a little bit more expensive than UserTesting, therefore it may not be the best choice if your company is on a tight budget. Their pricing is available upon request, but it usually starts at $50K/year. UserZoom doesn’t offer a free plan.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 4.4/5
Ease of Use – 4.5/5
Customer Service – 4.7/5
UserZoom vs. UserTesting
UserZoom pricing is significantly more expensive than UserTesting. This tool would be a great fit for larger enterprises with bigger research teams. However, they offer less tools than UserTesting does.
Want a more details? We prepared a comparison of UserTesting vs Userzoom and UXtweak.
6. UsabilityHub
Features
- Prototype Testing
- Preference testing
- 5 second test
- Survey
- First click testing
Pros
- 340K+ user panel
- Free plan
Cons
- Textual response to study questions
- Can’t observe how the participants engage with the product
Pricing & Plans
UsabilityHub starter plan allows you to run tests up to 2 minutes long. Their paid plan starts at $75 per month (billed annually).
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 4.7/5
Ease of Use – 4.8/5
Customer Service – 4.8/5
UsabilityHub vs. UserTesting
Unlike UserTesting, UsabilityHub offers a free plan and a much cheaper pricing. With that tool, however, you’re able to run usability tests only on prototypes.
7. Maze
Features
- Prototype testing
- Card sorting & tree testing
- 5 second test
- Survey
Pros
- 70K+ user panel
- Free plan
Cons
- Small list of features
- Only basic analytics
- Limited surveying capabilities
Pricing & Plans
Maze offers a free plan. Their Pro plan starts at $75/month.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 4.0/5
Ease of Use – 4.2/5
Customer Service – 4.5/5
Maze vs. UserTesting
Maze offers some basic capabilities of UserTesting, but unfortunately, it could not fully replace the tool. However, unlike UserTesting they offer a free plan and reasonable pricing.
8. PlaybookUX
Features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
- Card Sorting & Tree Testing
Pros
- Intuitive UI
- Flexible pricing options
Cons
- No free plan
- No user panel
Pricing & Plans
Playbook UX does not offer a free plan. THeir paid solutions start at $228/month when billed annually.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall score – 5/5
Ease of Use – 5/5
Customer Service – 5/5
PlaybookUX vs. UserTesting
Playbook UX offers a significant part of the tools that UserTesting does. It’s a great alternative for a much better cost. However, they don’t have a free plan nor a user panel, to help you with recruiting.
The more you try the more you learn
Finding the perfect usability testing platform for your needs might seem extremely difficult sometimes. Our first pick does not always live up to the high expectations we set, which is why having alternatives is so beneficial.
That’s why we are here for you and always ready to change the way users perceive your website for the best. Run your first test with UXtweak today and let your customers decide what works best for them!
