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.
UserTesting reviews
These are the UserTesting reviews based on the information by Capterra:
Overall Score – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.5/5
Customer Service – 4.4/5
Value for money – 4.5/5
Here are the reasons people may choose UserTesting:
Trust
UserTesting is a tool that offered the first unmoderated user testing online. As such, it has had a lot of time to evolve and better itself. It is a market leader and many people trust that sort of expertise implicitly.
A large pool of respondents
According to 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 drawbacks of UserTesting:
Low-quality respondents
The biggest and the most noticed disadvantage of the platform is a big number of unhelpful respondents. Even though UserTesting boasts an impressively large pool of respondents, it seems that a substantial 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 and makes analyzing the results difficult.
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.
Excessive private data collection
It might not be as big of an issue as the previous ones, however many people have remarked on it. You are required to fill in many fields of private information such as a phone number, company mail, company name, the number of employees, and business use cases, in order to register. Having to disclose all that information just to request a trial might be a discouraging point.
UserTesting features
- Moderated & Unmoderated usability studies
- Prototype testing
- Mobile app testing
- Card Sorting & Tree Testing
- Preference testing
- 5 second test
- Surveys
Some of these features are however only available in the enterprise-level plan – such as card sorting and tree testing
Are the tools below UserTesting competitors?
“There are only two sources of competitive advantage: the ability to learn more about our customers faster than the competition and the ability to turn that learning into action faster than the competition.” — Jack Welch
The majority of these substitutes are actually software for distinct use cases rather than Usertesting alternatives. There is also a couple of quality control software. While many of these tools have different tool kits, they are still considered to be UserTesting competitors as they offer some great substitutes for important UserTesting features. If you are additionally interested in other options, you can check out our UX research tools alternatives list.
Why you should consider UserTesting competitors:
- Pricing. UserTesting has a fairly high pricing policy, for a more affordable price and without losing the quality you can use other platforms.
- The number of features. UserTesting has an extensive number of functions. But they are not irreplaceable and can be found on other alternatives with even better functionality.
- Quality of reports. People frequently complain that UserTesting’s reports are challenging to read and examine. This is a significant disadvantage when it comes to summing up and analyzing research data. Other competitors have fewer problems in this part.
- Competent respondents. Although UserTesting has a large number of respondents, many of them are unqualified as participants and can bring inaccurate information that will have a negative impact on your study. Most modern user research platforms provide User Panels you’re welcome to switch to.
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
- Optimal Workshop
- Hotjar
- Loop11
- Userfeel
Below, we provide a detailed overview of each tool with all the features, pros and cons, pricing, reviews, and a one-on-one comparison with UserTesting.
Before we delve into that, here’s a quick comparison table of all the UserTesting alternatives, based on tools’ reviews from Capterra:
Rating | Ease of Use | Quality of Support | Pricing | |
UXtweak | 4.8 | 5.0 | ✓ Free plan Plus plan - $80/month Billed annually | |
Userbrain | 4.6 | 4.6 | ✗ No free plan Pro plan - $2490/year | |
Lookback | 3.5 | 2.1 | ✗ No free plan Pro plan - $229/month Billed annually | |
UserZoom | 4.5 | 4.7 | ✗ No free plan Upon request, starting at $50K/year | |
UsabilityHub | 4.8 | 4.8 | ✓ Free plan Pro plan - $75/month Billed annually | |
Maze | 4.2 | 3.5 | ✓ Free plan Pro plan - $75/month Billed annually | |
Userlytics | 4.5 | 4.9 | ✗ No free plan Pro plan - $399/month Billed annually | |
PlaybookUX | 5.0 | 5.0 | ✗ No free plan Pro plan - $228/month Billed annually | |
Optimal Workshop | 4.0 | 5.0 | ✓ Free plan Pro plan - $166/month Billed annually | |
Hotjar | 4.6 | 4.5 | ✓ Free plan Plus plan - $32/month Billed annually | |
Userfeel | 4.6 | 4.1 | ✗ No free plan Min - $30 Per Tester |
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
- Only supports 10 languages.
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 the 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 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
- A 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 the 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 another great alternatives 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.
9. Optimal Workshop
Optimal Workshop is a user research platform with a collection of usability tools to enhance website navigation, design information architecture, comprehend first-clicks, and record qualitative data.
Features
- Card sorting
- Tree testing
- Online surveys
- Qualitative research
- First-click testing
Pros
- There are multiple test types available, and you have many options for adjusting them to meet your needs.
- Platform has various useful resources, recommendations for best practices, and advice on how to make the most of their products.
Cons
- There is still room to make the tools more user-friendly since study participants occasionally struggle with the UI during sessions.
Pricing & Plans
Optimal Workshop has a free plan with a limit of 10 participant responses per study. And fee plans start at $166 per month, billed annually.
User reviews & rating
The ratings below are solely based on tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.4/5
Ease of Use – 4.0/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
Optimal Workshop vs. UserTesting
Optimal Workshop is a great alternative to UserTesting and can also help you find participants for your research. It is definitely cheaper than UserTesting. Furthermore, Optimal Workshop does have a free plan.
10. Hotjar
Hotjar is a cloud-based customer experience management platform that enables companies of all sizes to track and examine website visitors’ tap, scroll, and click actions using heatmaps. On the basis of navigational frameworks, marketing professionals can observe anonymous user sessions and identify usability issues.
Features
- Feedback
- Surveys
- Heatmaps
- Recordings
Pros
- You can choose the session recordings and users that best fit your needs using a variety of filtering options.
- It is easy to navigate and has a straightforward user interface.
- The support team seems to be on hand at all times to provide assistance and support.
Cons
- The number of recordings that are available is limited by restricted plan tiers.
- Sometimes the recordings get stuck and you can’t see the full user path.
User reviews & rating
Based on the information provided by Capterra:
Overall Score – 4.7/5
Ease of Use – 4.6/5
Customer Service – 4.5/5
Pricing & Plans
Hotjar’s basic free subscription includes 1,050 recordings per month, unlimited heatmaps, and up to 35 sessions per day. The cost-based plans begin at $32.
Hotjar vs. UserTesting
Compared to UserTesting, Hotjar has session recordings as well as heatmaps. It’s a lot cheaper, the basic plan is free and the business plan is $80 per month. They also have an option of customized pricing.
11. Loop 11
In order to examine user experience across websites, and mobile/web applications, firms can employ the cloud-based software Loop11 to build, launch, and manage custom usability tests. The software enables testers to create specialized activities and questions concentrating on the target audience to learn about user interactions and behavior.
Features
- A/B Usability Testing
- Mobile & Tablet Testing
- Prototype Testing
- Benchmarking
- Information Architecture Testing
Pros
- It is easy to understand the data it provides about the usability and speed of your website/website app.
- You can record both video and audio.
Cons
- It’s been stated by some users that certain pages load slowly.
- No screening – without screening, you can’t tell if the responders to your survey are the intended audience.
User reviews & rating
These Loop11 reviews are based the on the information provided by G2:
Overall Score – 3.5/5
Ease of Use – 8.3/10
Pricing & Plans
When compared to several other well-known platforms on the market, Loop 11’s cost is relatively high. There is a 14-day free trial available, but all subsequent tests will cost money. The basic plan’s monthly cost is $199.
Loop11 vs. UserTesting
Loop 11 is definitely cheaper than UserTesting. The platform also has a wide range of features. Both tools, however, do not offer a free plan, but Loop11 has a 14-day free trial.
12. Userfeel
Userfeel is a service for distant usability testing that provides over 150 000 testers that may analyze your website or mobile app in the scenario you’ll build while speaking 40 different languages. You’ll get a reply, as well as a video of them using the product and their comments.
Features
- Unmoderated & Moderated Tests
- Tester Panel
- Video Clips & Notes
- Voice Transcription
Pros
- Platform has a significant number of testers, which makes it possible to complete tests fast.
- Offers unlimited screener questions to discover testers who share your visitors’ hobbies and demographics.
Cons
- You may come across respondents who are not qualified enough to perform the task.
- The user interface is difficult to use while looking for your session highlights, and extracting them requires a few more steps.
User reviews & rating
These Userfeel reviews are based on the information by Capterra:
Overall Score – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.6/5
Customer Service – 4.1/5
Pricing & Plans
On this platform, you pay for each tester separately. If it’s your tester then $30, if they find you a tester then $60, this is for unmoderated testing. Moderated testing has a higher price tag.
Userfeel vs UserTesting
Userfeel is a great alternative to UserTesting and can also help you find participants for your research. Moreover, Userfeel is cheaper and offers a wide range of languages.
So which UserTesting alternative shines the most?
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.
We hope our list provided you with a comprehensive overview of your options if you are looking to make the change and step away from UserTesting. Hopefully, by now you have picked the one that appealed to you the most.
If you want to try UXtweak, you can register for free and run your first test on a new platform today without any hassle!
