user research tools

Product Design (UX/UI) Bundle and save

User Research New

Content Design

UX Design Fundamentals

Software and Coding Fundamentals for UX

• UX training for teams
• Hire our alumni
• Student Stories
• State of UX Hiring Report 2024
• Our mission
• Advisory Council

Education for every phase of your UX career

Professional Diploma

Learn the full user experience (UX) process from research to interaction design to prototyping.

Combine the UX Diploma with the UI Certificate to pursue a career as a product designer.

Professional Certificates

Learn how to plan, execute, analyse and communicate user research effectively.

Master content design and UX writing principles, from tone and style to writing for interfaces.

Understand the fundamentals of UI elements and design systems, as well as the role of UI in UX.

Short Courses

Gain a solid foundation in the philosophy, principles and methods of user experience design.

Learn the essentials of software development so you can work more effectively with developers.

Give your team the skills, knowledge and mindset to create great digital products.

Join our hiring programme and access our list of certified professionals.

Learn about our mission to set the global standard in UX education.

Meet our leadership team with UX and education expertise.

Members of the council connect us to the wider UX industry.

Our team are available to answer any of your questions.

Fresh insights from experts, alumni and the wider design community.

Success stories from our course alumni building thriving careers.

Discover a wealth of UX expertise on our YouTube channel.

Latest industry insights. A practical guide to landing a job in UX.

The 10 best UX research tools to use in 2023

In this guide, we introduce 9 of the best UX research tools on the market right now. We’ll also share some advice on how to choose the most suitable tools for your work.

Free course: Introduction to UX Design

What is UX? Why has it become so important? Could it be a career for you? Learn the answers, and more, with a free 7-lesson video course.

All good UX begins with user research—and all good user research relies on the right tools. 

But, with so many tools to choose from, where do you even start? 

Look no further. In this guide, we introduce 9 of the best UX research tools on the market right now. We’ll also share some advice on how to choose the most suitable tools for your work.

What is UX research and why does it matter?

• 9 of the best UX research tools available in 2023

How to choose the right tools for your UX research

Ready to become a user research pro? Let’s begin. 

[GET CERTIFIED IN USER RESEARCH]

Before we explore the best tools for the job, let’s recap on what exactly UX research is—and why it’s so important.

UX design is all about solving a real problem for real, human users. UX research helps you to identify the problem you need to solve, and to understand how best to solve it based on what you know about your users. 

Without user research, you’re basing your work on assumptions. This inevitably leads to a mismatch between the user experience and the people you’re designing it for—i.e. bad UX!

That’s why all good designers start their UX process with research. UX research involves:

• Conducting interviews, surveys, card sorting exercises and focus groups (to name a few!) with real or representative users to see what they expect from the user experience and what pain-points they currently encounter
• Analysing the data gathered to uncover key themes and user problems
• Defining the scope of the problems uncovered and determining what to prioritise
• Sharing your findings with key stakeholders
• Continually testing and iterating on your designs to optimise the user experience

You can learn more about what UX research is in this dedicated guide .

What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

As you consider what tools to use for your UX research, it’s important to distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research. 

Quantitative user research gathers objective, measurable data that can be quantified (i.e. counted). Some examples of quantitative data might be the number of clicks it takes a user to complete their desired task on a website, or the percentage of users who bounce in a given time frame.

Qualitative user research isn’t concretely measurable, but it can give you much deeper insights into how your users think, feel and behave. For example, if you conduct interviews to find out how your users feel about a particular product, that’s qualitative research. Likewise, if you observe a user trying to navigate an app and note down that they get really frustrated, that’s qualitative data. 

UX designers tend to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research for a broad and detailed picture of their users. 

What’s the difference between moderated and unmoderated user research?

Another distinction to be aware of is that between moderated and unmoderated research. 

Moderated UX research takes place with the user researcher present. If you’re interviewing a user live via video call, or observing them while they complete a certain task and asking follow-up questions, you’re conducting moderated UX research.

Unmoderated UX research takes place without your supervision. This includes things like surveys which the user answers in their own time, or usability tests where the user might record their screen while they interact with your website.

What are the best UX research tools?

Now we know about the different types of user research you might conduct, let’s explore some of the best UX research tools on the market right now. 

1. Optimal Workshop for card sorting, tree testing and first-click testing

Optimal Workshop isn’t just a user research tool—it’s an entire toolbox. You can use it to conduct both qualitative and quantitative user research, and to recruit participants.

Optimal Workshop allows you to see participant responses as they come in, and to view your data in the form of easy-to-understand visualisations—ideal for sharing your insights with others. 

You can use Optimal Workshop to conduct card sorting exercises, tree testing, first-click testing, and surveys. 

Optimal Workshop comprises 5 tools:

• OptimalSort , a card sorting tool that shows you how your users categorise information. This is useful when mapping out the information architecture of a website or app.
• Treejack , a tree testing tool that shows you how easily people can find information on your website or app—and where they get lost.
• Chalkmark for first-click testing. This enables you to test the usability of an existing design. You can upload screenshots, sketches or wireframes and test to see if users are able to navigate with ease.
• Questions for creating and sending out online surveys. You can attach wireframes or sketches for more specific feedback.
• Reframer for note-taking and documentation. This is useful for organising all your qualitative research insights in one place. Reframer is actually number 8 on our list, so more on that later!

Main features at a glance:

• 1 platform, 5 tools for card sorting, tree testing, first-click testing, surveys, and documenting qualitative research insights
• Participant recruitment service (available in 70+ languages)
• View participant responses as they come in
• Data visualisations accessible via the Optimal Workshop dashboard

How much does it cost?

Optimal Workshop offers a free plan with no requirement to upgrade. If you do want more functionality, paid options include:

• The Starter plan for small-scale research projects at $99/month (approx. €88).
• The Pro plan for unlimited studies at $166/month (approx. €150) for 1 user.
• The Team plan for unlimited studies at $153/month per user (approx. €140) for up to 3 users. 

2. Looppanel for user interviews and usability tests

Looppanel is an AI-powered research analysis & repository product that makes it 5x faster to discover and share user insights.

Looppanel acts like your research assistant: it records, transcribes, creates notes, and organizes your data for easy analysis.

Teams like PandaDoc, Huge Inc., Airtel, and others use Looppanel to streamline research analysis and build their insights repository.

Main Features at a glance

• Automatically generated notes for user interviews
• 90%+ accuracy transcription in 8 languages
• Integrations with Zoom, Google Meet, Teams to auto-record calls
• Time-stamped notes taken live during interviews
• Ability to tag and annotate on transcripts
• 1-click to create shareable video clips
• Analysis workspace to view project data by question or tag
• Search across projects

Looppanel offers a free 15-day trial. After that, you can choose from a range of paid plans:

• Starter (for small teams / solo researchers): An affordable starter plan for $30/month that includes 10 transcription hours / month
• Teams: For teams of 3+ researchers, this plan is priced at $350/month and comes with 30 transcription hours / month
• Business: For organizations with large teams or significant security requirements, the business plan costs $1,000/month for 120 transcription hours / month
• Custom: For enterprise teams of larger sizes

3. Lookback for user interviews 

Lookback is a video research platform for conducting both moderated and unmoderated user interviews and usability tests. 

The collaborative dashboard allows you to sync all your research, tag your teammates, and create highlight reels of all the most useful insights. You can set up virtual observation rooms, record users’ screens as they navigate your app or website, and transcribe your user interviews. 

• Moderated and unmoderated video interviews and user testing sessions
• Timestamped notes captured live during sessions
• Virtual observation rooms: Invite stakeholders to observe user research sessions and chat with each other in a separate virtual room
• Screen capturing: Watch and record participant touches on mobile screens during interactions
• Create highlight videos and compile them into highlight reels
• Collaborative dashboard 

Lookback offers a free 14-day trial. After that, there are a range of paid plans to choose from:

• Freelance: An affordable solo plan for $17/month (approx. €15). Includes 10 sessions/year.
• Team: $99/month (approx. €90) for 100 sessions/year. 
• Insights Hub: $229/month (approx. €205) for 300 sessions/year. 

4. Typeform for surveys

Surveys are a UX research staple, offering a quick, easy and inexpensive way to gather user insights. When sending out surveys for UX research, you’ll usually ask questions about the respondents’ attitudes and preferences in relation to the product or service you’re designing. 

Typeform is one of the most popular survey tools among UX designers. With Typeform, you can design your own surveys from scratch or choose from a range of templates. After you’ve distributed your survey, you can see responses and completion rates and generate shareable reports. 

• Dozens of UX research templates, including a user persona survey template , a product research survey template and a product feedback template
• Conditional logic to ensure that users only see relevant follow-up questions based on their previous answer
• Shareable reports after survey completion
• Integrations for Google Sheets, Slack, Airtable and more

Typeform has a free plan with unlimited forms, 10 questions per form, and 10 responses per month. You can stay on the free plan for as long as you like, or upgrade for additional features:

• Basic: €21/month (1 user, unlimited typeforms, up to 100 responses/month)
• Plus: €46/month (3 users, unlimited typeforms, up to 1,000 responses/month)
• Business: €75/month (5 users, unlimited typeforms, up to 10,000 responses/month)

View all price plans and features on the Typeform website .

5. Maze for user surveys, concept validation, and wireframe & prototype testing

Maze is another UX research all-rounder with a focus on rapid testing. You can use it for card sorting, tree testing, 5-second tests, surveys, and to test wireframes and prototypes on real users. 

Maze integrates with all the industry-standard UX tools like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD and InVision. It’s even got a built-in panel of user testers, promising user insights in less than 2 hours. 

Maze also handles the analytics, presenting your research insights in the form of a visual report. 

• Prototype testing to validate your designs before developing them
• Tree testing to ensure your information architecture is user-friendly
• 5-second testing to assess user sentiment when first interacting with your product
• Surveys to scale your UX research
• Card sorting to help plan or test your product’s information architecture
• Built-in panel of over 70,000 testers
• Analytics and visual reports

[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]

6. UserZoom for surveys, card sorting, click testing, and usability tests

Similar to Optimal Workshop and Maze, UserZoom is a complete UX research toolbox used for card sorting, usability testing, surveys, click testing, tree testing, and user interviews. The platform also includes a fully-integrated participant recruitment engine with over 120 million users worldwide. 

• Moderated and unmoderated usability testing
• Surveys for quickly gathering user feedback at scale
• Click testing to evaluate early stage concepts
• Open and closed card sorting to inform your information architecture and understand your users’ mental models
• Interviews to gather self-reported insights from your users
• Tree testing to assess your information architecture
• Participant recruitment engine with over 120 million users worldwide
• Integrations with Adobe XD, Miro, Jira, Mural, Typeform and more

UserZoom offers custom price plans depending on your needs. Find out more here .

7. dscout for remote user interviews and diary studies

A versatile suite of research tools, dscout is ideal for conducting remote user studies. 

There are four main pillars of the dscout platform: Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express. 

Diary is a remote diary studies tool which allows you to gather contextual, qualitative insights into user behaviour and experiences. If you’re new to diary studies, dscout has put together a helpful guide on how and why to conduct diary studies here . 

Live is a user interview tool, and Express is a flexible user survey solution. Recruit is the final piece in the puzzle: a panel of over 100 thousand users you can enlist for your UX research.

• Diary for conducting remote diary studies
• Live for user interviews with auto-transcribe, real-time note-taking and screen-sharing capabilities
• Express for user surveys
• Recruit, a built-in panel of 100 thousand user research participants
• Research synthesis and analysis: automatically generate charts and word clouds
• Loads of guides, resources and templates to help you get started

dscout offers customisable subscription plans depending on your needs. You can learn more about the different plans and request a quote here .

8. Hotjar for analytics and heatmaps

Hotjar is a powerful behaviour analytics tool that enables you to really see how your users engage with an existing product. 

You can use Hotjar to send out surveys, capture and watch screen recordings of people interacting with your website, create heatmaps, and gather real-time user feedback. Hotjar is all about stepping into your users’ shoes and improving the user experience accordingly!

• Heatmaps to see where users click and how they navigate your site. This is helpful for identifying any usability issues or UX flaws
• Screen recordings to see first-hand how people interact with your product
• Real-time user feedback via a suggestion box integrated into your website
• Surveys and survey templates 
• Integrations with Slack, Miro, Jira, Asana and more

Hotjar’s basic free plan is pretty extensive, offering up to 35 daily sessions, unlimited heatmaps, and up to 1,050 recordings per month. For more research capability, paid plans include:

• Plus: €31/month —ideal for small teams
• Business: €79/month —for growing companies and websites
• Scale: €311/month —for large companies and websites

See Hotjar’s price overview for more information.

9. Reframer for analysing qualitative research

Reframer is part of the Optimal Workshop suite of UX research tools (number 1 on our list), but we think it’s worth a special mention. As UX designer Carrie Nusbaum notes in her own review of Reframer : “There are many tools that support the act of actual user testing, and many that facilitate design. Relatively few tools, however, specifically support some important steps that take place in between, namely: data organisation, research synthesis, and presentation of findings.”

Reframer seeks to fill this gap. It’s a unique tool dedicated to capturing all your qualitative research notes in one place, helping you to analyse and make sense of them. It’s your “qualitative research sidekick”, bringing some much-needed structure to the often messy task of qualitative research. 

• Directly capture research observations straight into Reframer; no Post-it notes or separate Google Doc needed
• Theme builder: easily construct a coding system with tags and build out themes for your research findings
• Chord and bubble charts to visualise your findings and easily spot patterns and trends
• XLS export: you can export your research as a .xls file, enabling you to transfer it to other tools and platforms if needed

You can use Reframer as part of the Optimal Workshop toolbox. Optimal Workshop offers a free plan which you can use for as long as you like. For increased functionality, the following paid plans are available:

10. Asana for planning and organising your UX research

Asana isn’t a UX research tool per se, but it’s an excellent tool for organising and keeping track of all your research projects. 

With the Timeline feature, you can create project plans to see exactly what’s happening and when, or visualise your workflow with a Kanban-style board . This allows you to drag and drop cards into different columns depending on their status (e.g. in progress, awaiting feedback, done). 

You can add multiple collaborators to different projects, assign various tasks to individual team members, and provide updates via the commenting function. 

Asana essentially has everything you need to manage your research projects collaboratively from start to finish. 

• Shared team calendar for an overview of who’s working on what, and when
• Visual project management in the form of lists or boards, with the ability to break projects down into smaller subtasks and assign them to different stakeholders
• Project briefs and templates to standardise and streamline your workflows
• In-platform communication via task comments or private messaging
• Integrations with Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, email, and more

You can use the free basic version of Asana for as long as you like, with extensive capabilities (ideal for individuals and smaller teams). For more robust project management, Asana offers two paid plans:

• Premium at €10.99/user per month
• Business at €24.99/user per month

You’ll find more information on Asana’s pricing overview page .

Ultimately, the tools you choose to work with will depend on the UX research methodologies you want to use, and on the scale of your research. 

If you’re conducting small-scale research with just a few participants, you may not need an entire suite of tools with recruiting and analytics built in—a good survey tool and reliable video conferencing software should suffice. 

But, if you’re conducting large-scale research with dozens or even hundreds of participants, and working as part of a team, you’ll want a set of UX research tools that are collaborative and versatile, covering everything from recruiting to synthesis and analysis. 

You can mix and match your research tools, too: you might use Typeform for surveys, Lookback for user interviews, and Asana to collate all your findings. Before you settle on a specific tool, try it out with a free trial, read up on what other designers have said about their experience with the platform, and compare it to a few alternatives on the market. 

Hopefully this guide has given you a good starting point from which to build out your UX research toolkit. If you’d like to learn more about UX tools, check out this complete guide to the best tools for every stage of the UX design process .

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the best UX insights and career advice direct to your inbox each month.

Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter

You'll now get the best career advice, industry insights and UX community content, direct to your inbox every month.

Upcoming courses

Professional diploma in ux design.

Learn the full UX process, from research to design to prototyping.

Professional Certificate in UI Design

Master key concepts and techniques of UI design.

Certificate in Software and Coding Fundamentals for UX

Collaborate effectively with software developers.

Certificate in UX Design Fundamentals

Get a comprehensive introduction to UX design.

Professional Certificate in Content Design

Learn the skills you need to start a career in content design.

Professional Certificate in User Research

Master the research skills that make UX professionals so valuable.

Upcoming course

Build your UX career with a globally-recognised, industry-approved certification. Get the mindset, the skills and the confidence of UX designers.

You may also like

The 10 best user interface (UI) design tools to try in 2024

The 6 Best AI Tools for Content Design in 2024

AI for UX: 5 ways you can use AI to be a better UX designer

Build your UX career with a globally recognised, industry-approved qualification. Get the mindset, the confidence and the skills that make UX designers so valuable.

8 October 2024

36 Best UX Research Tools in 2024: Pricing, Pros, Cons, Reviews

Navigating the vast sea of UX research tools can be daunting. As 2024 unfolds, the array of tools available to UX professionals is more diverse and sophisticated than ever. From deep analytics to intuitive testing environments, these tools are essential for delving into user behavior and enhancing user experiences. This guide walks you through the 36 best UX research tools and platforms, each a key to unlocking valuable user insights.

36 Best UX Research Tools in 2024

1. userbrain – the best ux research tool in 2024 .

Userbrain stands out from the crowd because of its streamlined approach to user testing. With a focus on simplicity, and rapid results, it’s the go-to UX research tool for teams that need quick insights without any hassle. Userbrain is all about discovering important user insights with minimal fuss, and that’s why Userbrain tops our list of the best UX research tools.

Userbrain Pricing

• Pay-as-you-go at $39 per test.
• Subscription plans start from $79/month for the Starter plan.
• Custom Enterprise options available upon request.

Userbrain Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Affordable and flexible pricing options .
• Large pool of over 125,000 quality-assured testers.
• AI Insights for quick and easy user test analysis.
• Real-time analysis with video feedback.
• Optimized for prototype, mobile app , and website testing.
• Unlimited team members on all plans.
• No live chat support (coming soon).

Userbrain Reviews

Users commend Userbrain for its straightforward user testing process and quick results. The platform’s ease of use and diverse tester pool are frequently highlighted, with many noting the high quality of actionable insights provided. – via G2

Considering Userbrain for user testing?

Well, you’re in luck. You can start testing in minutes and get results in hours, with no credit card required, thanks to Userbrain’s generous free trial. Start testing! ?

2. UX Tweak

UX Tweak delves deep into usability testing, offering an impressive suite of tools for understanding user interactions. With its robust analytics capabilities, UX Tweak is a research tool to consider for those who want to dissect every aspect of user behavior.

UX Tweak Pricing

• Free plan available with limited features.
• Paid plans start from $99/month.
• Custom pricing for enterprise solutions.

UX Tweak Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• A comprehensive suite of user testing tools.
• Detailed website analytics and reporting.
• Supports prototype testing.
• It can be overwhelming for beginners due to extensive features.

UX Tweak Reviews

UX Tweak is appreciated for its detailed analytics and comprehensive testing tools. Users find it valuable for in-depth user behavior analysis, despite a bit of a learning curve due to its extensive features. – via Capterra

Considering UX Tweak alternatives for usability testing?

Did you try UX Tweak, and it wasn’t your cup of tea? We’ve compiled a list of the best UX Tweak alternatives for user testing – have a browse! ?

Hotjar is a quantitative-focused UX research tool, that provides a holistic view of user interactions. It’s a valuable platform for those who seek a comprehensive understanding of the numbers behind how users interact with their websites and apps. Therefore, it’s highly recommended to combine quantitative UX research from Hotjar, with qualitative user insights from Userbrain.

Hotjar Pricing

• Basic plan is free with limited access.
• Plus plan starts at $39/month.
• Business and Scale plans with advanced features and custom pricing.

Hotjar Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Visual heatmaps for user interaction insights.
• User feedback tools like surveys and session recordings.
• Easy to set up and use.
• Limited in-depth analytics compared to more advanced platforms.

Hotjar Reviews

Hotjar earns praise for its blend of analytics and feedback tools, particularly its heatmaps. Users like its intuitive interface, though some wish for deeper analytics. – via TrustRadius

Considering Hotjar alternatives for product testing?

If you’re looking for UX research tools similar to Hotjar, read through our guide on the  best Hotjar alternatives for product testing. ?

Maze is a champion of efficiency in prototype and wireframe testing. It stands out for its ability to deliver quick, actionable insights, particularly useful for prototype testing and short-and-snappy user surveys.

Maze Pricing

• Free trial available.
• Paid plans start from $25/month.
• Custom pricing for larger teams and enterprises.

Maze Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Rapid testing capabilities for quick insights.
• User-friendly interface for surveys and prototype testing.
• Integrates with design tools like Figma and Sketch.
• Limited qualitative data compared to other platforms.

Maze Reviews

Maze is favored for quick testing and actionable insights, with users appreciating its integration with design tools and user-friendly interface. – via GetApp

5. Lookback

Lookback offers a real-time user testing experience, which is great for gathering rich, qualitative insights. Its interactive capabilities make it a favorite for teams seeking a deeper, more conversational approach to understanding user behavior.

Lookback Pricing

• Free trial available for 14 days.
• Paid plans start at $99/month.
• Custom enterprise solutions available.

Lookback Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Real-time, interactive user testing capabilities.
• Live session recording and playback.
• Supports remote and in-person testing.
• Requires stable internet connection for live sessions.

Lookback Reviews

Lookback receives positive feedback for its real-time user testing and depth of qualitative insights. While connectivity issues are noted, its live session capabilities are highly valued. – via Software Advice

Considering Lookback alternatives for user testing?

While there are many fans of Lookback, it’s not for everyone. That’s why we’ve written an article outlining the best Lookback alternatives for user testing. Flick through it and find the best option for your user testing needs. ?

Loop11 is a robust web-based platform for usability testing, known for its generous feature set. As such, it’s mainly suited for broad user analysis, offering a depth of data that is sufficient to inform UX strategies.

Loop11 Pricing

• Rapid Insights plan at $179/month (billed annually).
• Pro plan at $358/month (billed annually).
• Enterprise plan with custom pricing.

Loop11 Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Offers both moderated and unmoderated testing.
• Detailed analytics with heatmaps and clickstreams.
• Supports large-scale testing projects.
• Interface may be less intuitive for new users.

Loop11 Reviews

Loop11 is recognized for its effective usability testing features, with users highlighting its detailed analytics and ease of use. Some users mention a desire for a more modern interface, but overall, it’s valued for its comprehensive testing capabilities. – via G2

Considering Loop11 as a UX Designer?

Not so fast. If you’re a UX Designer looking for a quality UX research tool, Loop11 is a decent place to start. However, there might be better UX research tools on the market for your needs. Therefore, we strongly advise you check out our guide to the  best Loop11 alternatives  before making a commitment either way. ?

7. UserTesting / UserZoom

The merger of UserTesting and UserZoom has created a powerhouse in the UX research world – some might even say it is too powerful! UserTesting is a treasure trove of human insights, with an extensive range of testing options suitable for large-scale, diverse research needs. Undoubtedly, this platform is one of the best UX research tools on the market today for those with the budget to afford it.

UserTesting Pricing

• Custom pricing based on specific needs.
• Contact sales for a tailored quote.
• No standard pricing information available on the website.

UserTesting Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Extensive range of testing options.
• Large global tester community.
• Advanced analytics and reporting features.
• Pricing lacks transparency and is not as affordable as other UX research tools.

UserTesting Reviews

UserTesting is lauded for its extensive tester pool and depth of insights. Users appreciate the platform’s robust testing options, though some note the high cost as a consideration. – via TrustRadius

Looking for more affordable UserTesting alternatives?

Don’t get us wrong: UserTesting is a fantastic tool for UX research. However, that performance comes at a price – a price which might be too ambitious for your UX budget. If you’re looking for UX research tools that pack a similar punch to UserTesting at a fraction of the cost, read through our  best UserTesting alternatives  list. ?

8. Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg excels in visualizing user interactions through heatmap analytics. Similar to Hotjar, Crazy Egg will interest UX researchers who prefer a data-driven approach to understanding user behavior, offering clear, actionable insights for website optimization.

Crazy Egg Pricing

• Basic plan starts at $24/month.
• Plus plan at $49/month.
• Pro and Custom plans with advanced features.

Crazy Egg Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Visual heatmaps for website analysis.
• Easy setup and user-friendly interface.
• A/B testing and conversion optimization tools.
• Limited capabilities for in-depth UX research.

Crazy Egg Reviews

Crazy Egg receives positive feedback for its heatmap analytics and user-friendly interface. Users find it helpful for website optimization, though some wish for more advanced features. – via Capterra

Need an alternative to Crazy Egg for UX research?

Crazy Egg is a great weapon to have in your arsenal for quantitative research. However, there are better UX research tools on the market for qualitative research. If you’re looking for a one-stop solution that can balance quantitative and qualitative user research, dive into our article on the best Crazy Egg alternatives for UX research. ?

9. Userfeel

Userfeel ‘s main strength lies in its multilingual user capabilities, making it a good choice for global research projects. Its ability to cater to a diverse user base makes it a valuable UX research tool for teams looking to understand international audiences.

Userfeel Pricing

• Pay-as-you-go option at $30 per test.
• Subscription plans start from $89/month.
• Custom enterprise solutions are available.

Userfeel Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Multilingual testing capabilities.
• Wide range of demographic filters for testers.
• Supports both moderated and unmoderated tests.
• Limited advanced analytics features.

Userfeel Reviews

Userfeel is praised for its multilingual testing capabilities and ease of use. Reviewers appreciate the platform’s flexibility and range of testing options, making it a versatile choice for UX research. – via GetApp

10. Testbirds

Rounding off our top 10 UX research tools is Testbirds . Testbirds specializes in crowdtesting, providing real user feedback across various devices and platforms. This platform best suits UX researchers who want to test their products in the German market, ensuring good coverage and diverse user feedback.

Testbirds Pricing

• Custom pricing based on project requirements.
• Contact for a tailored quote.

Testbirds Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Extensive crowdtesting network for diverse feedback.
• Covers a wide range of devices and platforms.
• Specializes in real-world testing scenarios.
• Pricing and plan details are not transparent.

Testbirds Reviews

Testbirds is commended for its crowdtesting approach, offering diverse and real-world feedback. Users value the platform for its thorough testing across various devices and scenarios. – via G2

Dscout shines in mobile diary studies and contextual user insights, making it a pretty good tool for UX research. Its focus on capturing user experiences over time offers a different perspective on user behavior and preferences.

Dscout Pricing

• Custom pricing based on research needs.

Dscout Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Specializes in mobile diary studies and contextual insights.
• Longitudinal research capabilities.
• User-friendly platform for qualitative research.
• Pricing lacks transparency and can be higher than competitors.

Dscout Reviews

Dscout is well-regarded for its mobile diary studies and in-depth user insights. Users appreciate its user-friendly nature and the depth of data it provides, though some desire more transparent pricing. – via Product Hunt

12. Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub)

Lyssna , previously known as UsabilityHub , offers a standard suite of tools for quick and effective user testing. Its straightforward approach will be appreciated by those who need fast insights without the complexity of more elaborate setups.

Lyssna Pricing

• Free plan available with basic features.
• Paid plans start from $79/month.

Lyssna Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Suite of tools for quick usability testing.
• Supports first-click and five-second tests.
• User-friendly interface for surveys and preference tests.
• Limited session recording and advanced analytics.

Lyssna Reviews

Lyssna  is praised for its quick usability testing tools and user-friendly interface, making it a popular choice for fast insights. – via TrustRadius

UXCam offers an insightful peek into mobile app user behavior, making it a reasonable choice for mobile app analytics. Its ability to capture detailed user interactions within apps makes it a useful tool for those focused on optimizing mobile user experiences.

UXCam Pricing

Uxcam pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• In-depth app analytics for detailed user behavior insights.
• Session replay feature to understand user interactions.
• Heatmaps for visualizing user engagement on mobile apps.
• Pricing lacks transparency and can vary based on requirements.

UXCam Reviews

UXCam is favored for its detailed app analytics and user interaction insights. Users value its session replay and heatmap features for mobile app analysis. – via G2

14. PlaybookUX

PlaybookUX is a versatile platform that delivers user interviews, usability testing, and concept testing. Its comprehensive approach makes it a worthy contender for teams with varying UX research needs.

PlaybookUX Pricing

• Pay-as-you-go option starting at $49 per participant.
• Subscription plans available with custom pricing.
• Contact sales for more detailed pricing information.

PlaybookUX Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Versatile platform supporting user interviews, usability testing, and concept testing.
• Intuitive interface for easy test setup and analysis.
• Comprehensive testing capabilities for diverse insights.
• Pay-as-you-go option can be expensive for larger studies.

PlaybookUX Reviews

PlaybookUX receives positive feedback for its comprehensive user testing and research capabilities, with users highlighting its versatility and ease of use. – via Software Advice

15. RapidUsertests

Targeting the German-speaking market, RapidUsertests thorough usability testing tailored to the DACH region. It’s suitable for UX researchers looking to understand and engage with German-speaking audiences.

RapidUsertests Pricing

Rapidusertests pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Specialized in the German-speaking market, offering localized insights.
• Wide range of usability testing services.
• Ideal for businesses targeting the DACH region.
• Limited appeal for non-German-speaking audiences.

RapidUsertests Reviews

RapidUsertests is appreciated in the German market for its localized usability testing and user feedback, offering valuable insights for the DACH region. – via OMR Reviews

16. Userlytics

Userlytics combines qualitative and quantitative research tools, offering a well-rounded suite for UX research. Its ability to provide a holistic view of user experiences makes it a valuable asset for comprehensive UX research.

Userlytics Pricing

• Pay-as-you-go plans starting at $49 per participant.
• Subscription plans ranging from $399/month to $999/month.
• Custom plans for specific projects and unconventional profiles.

Userlytics Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Suite of user research tools including card sorting and tree testing.
• Automated and multilingual transcriptions available.
• Quantitative metrics like time on task, SUS, NPS, and SUPR-Q.
• The user interface is considered outdated and less intuitive.

Userlytics Reviews

Userlytics is commended for its suite of user research tools and automated transcriptions, offering a well-rounded approach to UX testing. – via G2

17. Optimizely

Optimizely is renowned for its experimentation platform, enabling A/B testing and personalization at scale. It’s a tool that empowers teams to make data-driven design decisions, optimizing user experiences based on robust testing.

Optimizely Pricing

Optimizely pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Robust A/B testing and personalization features.
• Scalable for large enterprises and complex experiments.
• Data-driven approach for UX optimization.
• Pricing can be expensive for smaller teams.

Optimizely Reviews

Optimizely is recognized for its powerful A/B testing and personalization features, with users valuing its data-driven approach to UX optimization. – via Gartner

18. Useberry

Useberry offers a leftfield approach to prototype analysis and user testing. Its focus on interactive prototypes makes it an interesting option for UX designers looking to test and refine their designs in the early stages of development.

Useberry Pricing

• Free plan with basic features.
• Growth plan at $67/month (billed yearly).

Useberry Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Focus on interactive prototype testing.
• User-friendly platform for quick insights.
• Affordable pricing for small to medium-sized teams.
• Limited features in the free plan.

Useberry Reviews

Useberry earns praise for its focus on interactive prototype testing, with users appreciating its user-friendly platform for quick insights. – via Product Hunt

19. Optimal Workshop

Optimal Workshop is a leader in website optimization tools, including card sorting and tree testing. Its quantitative focus makes it an essential tool for designing intuitive and user-friendly navigation structures.

Optimal Workshop Pricing

Optimal workshop pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Specializes in information architecture tools like card sorting and tree testing.
• User-friendly platform for designing intuitive navigation structures.
• Suitable for both small-scale and large-scale research projects.
• Limited features in the free plan compared to paid subscriptions.

Optimal Workshop Reviews

Optimal Workshop is highly rated for its specialized information architecture tools, particularly its card sorting and tree testing features. – via Capterra

20. Ballpark

Ballpark is known for its user-friendly approach to user testing, making research fast, easy, and inclusive. It’s a solid choice for teams that value simplicity and efficiency in their UX research platforms.

Ballpark Pricing

• Starter plan at $100/month (billed annually).
• Business plan at $184/month (billed annually).

Ballpark Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• User-friendly platform for small-scale research.
• Includes recruitment minutes and unlimited video recording.
• Figma prototype testing and conditional logic features.
• Limited active projects in the Starter plan.

Ballpark Reviews

Ballpark is favored for its user-friendly approach to user testing, making it an excellent choice for teams that value simplicity and efficiency. – via G2

21. Userpeek

Userpeek offers various user testing services, including remote usability testing and moderated user interviews . Its flexibility makes it a versatile choice for UX teams with diverse research needs.

Userpeek Pricing

• No standard pricing information is available on the website.

Userpeek Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Wide range of user testing services.
• Flexible platform for diverse research needs.
• Supports usability testing and user interviews.

Userpeek Reviews

Userpeek is noted for its range of user testing services and flexibility, with users appreciating its comprehensive approach to UX research. – via G2

22. User Interviews

User Interviews excels in participant recruitment, offering a comprehensive platform for managing UX research participants. It’s best suited for large UX research teams looking to streamline the recruitment process and focus on running many studies simultaneously across various platforms.

User Interviews Pricing

User interviews pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Comprehensive tester recruitment platform.
• Streamlines UX research logistics.
• Efficient management of research testers.

User Interviews Reviews

User Interviews receives high marks for its efficient participant recruitment and management, making it a go-to for streamlined UX research logistics. – via Capterra

23. Wondering

Wondering provides AI-powered user insights, simplifying the process of conducting and analyzing user research. Its AI-driven approach is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it might work for UX research teams looking to try an alternative approach.

Wondering Pricing

Wondering pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• AI-powered user insights for efficient research.
• Simplifies conducting and analyzing user research.
• Innovative approach with AI-driven feedback.

Wondering Reviews

Wondering is praised for its AI-powered user insights, offering an innovative approach to user research and feedback analysis. – via SaaSworthy

24. Kissmetrics

Kissmetrics focuses on event analytics, offering deep insights into user behavior for web and mobile platforms. Its detailed analytics capabilities make it a powerful UX research tool for understanding and optimizing user journeys.

Kissmetrics Pricing

Kissmetrics pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• In-depth event analytics for web and mobile platforms.
• Detailed insights into user behavior and journeys.
• Powerful tool for optimizing user experiences.

Kissmetrics Reviews

Kissmetrics is recognized for its detailed event analytics and user behavior insights, particularly valuable for web and mobile platform optimization. – via G2

25. Typeform

Typeform makes data collection fun with its interactive forms and surveys. Its engaging and user-friendly approach makes it an excellent tool for UX research teams looking to gather feedback in a more conversational and engaging manner.

Typeform Pricing

• Paid plans start from $35/month.

Typeform Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Engaging and interactive forms and surveys.
• User-friendly interface for data collection.
• Customizable options for unique feedback gathering.
• Limited advanced analytics and reporting features.

Typeform Reviews

Typeform earns acclaim for its engaging and interactive forms, making it a favorite for user-friendly and conversational data collection. – via TechRadar

26. SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is a widely recognized platform for creating surveys, offering a range of tools for data collection and analysis. Although not considered a UX research tool in the traditional sense, SurveyMonkey’s versatility and brand recognition make it a popular choice for UX research teams across various industries.

SurveyMonkey Pricing

• Standard plan starts at $99/year.
• Advantage and Premier plans with advanced features.

SurveyMonkey Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Wide range of survey creation tools.
• Easy to use with a user-friendly interface.
• Suitable for various industries and research needs.
• Limited customization options in the free plan.

SurveyMonkey Reviews

SurveyMonkey is well-regarded for its versatile survey creation tools and ease of use, suitable for a wide range of industries and research needs. – via PCMag

Ethnio specializes in participant management, providing software that is designed to streamline the process of recruiting and scheduling testers. It’s a decent tool for UX research teams looking to manage their UX research logistics more efficiently.

Ethnio Pricing

Ethnio pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Specializes in participant management for UX research.
• Streamlines recruiting and scheduling processes.
• Efficient tool for managing research logistics.

Ethnio Reviews

Ethnio is appreciated for its specialized focus on participant management, streamlining the UX research process for teams. – via G2

UXArmy offers remote user testing and a variety of UX research tools, including card sorting and tree testing. Its generous suite of tools makes it a useful solution for Asian companies with diverse UX research needs, from unmoderated usability testing to card sorting.

UXArmy Pricing

Uxarmy pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Offers remote user testing and diverse UX tools.
• Focused on Asian markets.
• Supports card sorting and tree testing.
• There are better-suited UX research tools for non-Asian markets.

UXArmy Reviews

UXArmy is commended for its remote user testing capabilities and comprehensive suite of UX tools, offering a one-stop solution for research needs. – via G2

29. kardSort

kardSort is an online tool dedicated to conducting card sorting studies, which are useful for designing information architecture. Its niche focus makes it a valuable tool for UX research teams working on structuring and categorizing content.

kardSort Pricing

Kardsort pros & cons vs. other ux research tools.

• Specialized in card sorting studies for information architecture.
• Valuable tool for content structuring and categorization.
• Ideal for teams focusing on user-friendly navigation.
• Pricing lacks transparency.

kardSort Reviews

No legitimate published reviews could be found for kardSort.

Zoom , the popular video conferencing platform, is also effectively used for remote moderated UX research. Its widespread adoption and ease of use make it a convenient choice for conducting remote interviews and moderated usability tests.

Zoom Pricing

• Free plan with a 40-minute limit on group meetings.
• Pro plan at $14.99/month per user.
• Business and Enterprise plans with additional features.

Zoom Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Widely used for video conferencing and remote UX research.
• Easy to use with a broad adoption rate.
• Supports screen sharing and session recording.
• Limited UX research-specific features.

Zoom Reviews

Zoom is highly popular for its video conferencing capabilities, also effectively used for remote UX research due to its widespread adoption and ease of use. – via Forbes

31. Google Meet

Google Meet offers a straightforward and reliable platform for remote moderated UX research. Its integration with Google Workspace and features like live closed captions make it a practical choice for teams looking for a simple yet effective moderated research tool.

Google Meet Pricing

• Workspace plans with advanced features starting at $6/month per user.
• Enterprise solutions with custom pricing.

Google Meet Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Simple and reliable platform for remote UX research.
• Integrated with Google Workspace for seamless collaboration.
• Live closed captions feature for accessibility.
• Mobile users need to download an app for access.

Google Meet Reviews

Google Meet is noted for its straightforward and reliable platform, ideal for remote UX research with features like live closed captions. – via The Ascent by The Motley Fool

32. Jotform

Jotform is an online form builder, great for creating surveys and forms for UX research. Its user-friendly interface and customization options make it a solid tool for gathering user feedback in a structured and engaging way.

Jotform Pricing

• Bronze plan at $29/month.
• Silver and Gold plans with advanced features and higher limits.

Jotform Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• User-friendly online form builder for surveys and feedback.
• Customizable forms with various templates.
• Suitable for diverse data collection needs.
• Limited advanced analytics in the free plan.

Jotform Reviews

Jotform is favored for its user-friendly form builder, offering customizable options for surveys and feedback collection. – via G2

33. Qualaroo

Qualaroo offers user feedback software with innovative technology, which is famed for collecting non-intrusive, real-time feedback. While not a traditional UX research platform, Qualaroo’s ability to gently prompt users for feedback makes it a useful tool for capturing user insights.

Qualaroo Pricing

• Essentials plan starts at $80/month.
• Premium plan with advanced features at $160/month.

Qualaroo Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Innovative Nudge™ technology for non-intrusive feedback.
• Real-time user feedback collection.
• Suitable for gathering genuine user insights.
• Can be expensive for smaller teams or individual researchers.

Qualaroo Reviews

Qualaroo is recognized for its innovative Nudge™ technology, providing non-intrusive, real-time user feedback collection. – via TrustRadius

34. SurveySparrow

SurveySparrow isn’t just another survey tool; it turns surveys into conversations, offering an engaging platform for collecting user feedback. Its fun, conversational interface is designed to increase response rates and gather more insightful feedback, and that’s why we’ve included it in our list of the best UX research tools.

SurveySparrow Pricing

• Paid plans start from $19/month.

SurveySparrow Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Conversational interface for engaging surveys.
• High response rates due to user-friendly design.
• Versatile platform for diverse feedback collection.

SurveySparrow Reviews

SurveySparrow receives praise for its conversational interface, enhancing response rates and gathering more insightful user feedback. – via Capterra

35. Dovetail

Dovetail is a customer insights hub, centralizing customer data for in-depth analysis and insight management. Its comprehensive approach to managing customer insights makes it a valuable CX and UX research tool for teams focused on data-driven decision-making.

Dovetail Pricing

• Starter plan at $100/month.
• Team and Business plans with advanced features.

Dovetail Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Centralized hub for customer insights and data analysis.
• Comprehensive approach to managing customer insights.
• Ideal for data-driven decision-making.

Dovetail Reviews

Dovetail is lauded for its comprehensive approach to managing customer insights, making it a valuable tool for data-driven decision-making. – via G2

36. FullStory

FullStory provides a window into the digital experiences of users, making it a useful tool for UX professionals. Rounding off our list of the best UX research tools, FullStory is praised for its session replay and heatmap features, offering detailed insights into user interactions, and helping teams uncover issues and opportunities for improvement.

FullStory Pricing

• Free plan available with essential analytics features.
• Advanced, Business, and Enterprise plans with custom pricing.

FullStory Pros & Cons vs. other UX Research Tools

• Detailed session replay and heatmap features for UX insights.
• Comprehensive data capture for in-depth analysis.
• Privacy-by-default settings for user data protection.
• Advanced features are limited to higher-tier plans.

FullStory Reviews

FullStory is appreciated for its session replay and heatmap features, offering detailed insights into digital user experiences. – via G2

Wrapping Up: 36 Best UX Research Tools & Platforms

As we wrap up our journey through the diverse landscape of the best UX research tools, it’s clear that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Each tool we’ve explored brings its unique flavor to the table, much like the varied tastes of a well-curated UX palette. Whether you’re a seasoned UX Researcher or just starting to dip your toes into the deep user experience waters, the right tool can make all the difference in crafting digital experiences that resonate with your users.

Why is Userbrain the Best UX Research Tool?

At Userbrain, we believe in keeping things simple yet effective. Our focus is on providing you with straightforward, actionable insights that help you connect deeper with your users. Remember, the best UX research tool is the one that aligns seamlessly with your project goals, team dynamics, and, most importantly, the needs of your users.

Next Steps with Userbrain: Start your Free Trial ?

It’s time to make your first steps and  start your free trial  at Userbrain. Let’s create digital experiences that aren’t just functional but truly delightful, together.

Next Steps with Userbrain: Schedule a Call ?

Your Userbrain free trial is just a click away, but if you need some hands-on advice, or if you have any questions, the Userbrain Team is always available to help you out. Schedule a call with us today!

• Highest Rated
• Easiest To Use

Best User Research Tools

What are user research tools.

User research tools, also known as user experience testing software, allow organizations to create deeper empathy for their customers by understanding what they think, feel, say, and do at different points in the customer journey. These tools help an organization understand how (and why) users behave, make decisions, and interact with a brand by observing and interviewing people on digital platforms and/or in physical locations, using recorded video interviews, surveys, photos, and notes. Together, these insights can help organizations accelerate innovation, improve customer satisfaction, shape messaging, and design user experiences (UX) that are effective, easy, and enjoyable.

User research tools are leveraged by research teams, design teams, marketing teams, developers, and product managers. Participants can be intercepted in the moment or recruited through third-party panels and internal customer lists. Unlike in-person user research, which can be extremely expensive and take weeks due to recruiting and scheduling, modern user research software enables organizations to easily conduct entire studies and obtain results in as little as a few hours.

User research software is closely related to enterprise feedback management software , and products may integrate with or share features of tools in that category for gathering and analyzing customer insights. These tools may engage with users/visitors through features related to survey software , consumer video feedback software , and mobile marketing software . Information gathered from user research software may be utilized within customer journey analytics software .

To qualify for inclusion in the User Research category, a product must:

Best User Research Tools At A Glance

• All Segments (160)
• Small Business (34)
• Mid Market (31)
• Enterprise (24)
• English (45)
• German (20)
• French (18)
• Spanish (18)
• Japanese (14)
• Portuguese (14)
• Chinese (Simplified) (14)
• Russian (13)
• Italian (12)
• Swedish (11)
• Danish (10)
• Norwegian (10)
• Chinese (Traditional) (10)
• Indonesian (8)
• Romanian (8)
• Vietnamese (8)
• Finnish (7)
• Turkish (7)
• Bulgarian (6)
• Catalan (6)
• Hungarian (6)
• Slovenian (6)
• Croatian (5)
• Latvian (5)
• Lithuanian (5)
• Ukrainian (5)
• Bengali (4)
• Estonian (4)
• Persian (4)
• Kannada (4)
• Georgian (4)
• Malayalam (4)
• Serbian (4)
• Tagalog (4)
• Afrikaans (3)
• Azerbaijani (3)
• Gujarati (3)
• Armenian (3)
• Icelandic (3)
• Central Khmer (3)
• Marathi (3)
• Macedonian (3)
• Sinhala (3)
• Swahili (3)
• Belarusian (2)
• Bosnian (2)
• Mongolian (2)
• Punjabi (2)
• Maltese (2)
• Amharic (1)
• Assamese (1)
• Cebuano (1)
• Esperanto (1)
• Galician (1)
• Haitian (1)
• Javanese (1)
• Kurdish (1)
• Burmese (1)
• Albanian (1)
• Sundanese (1)
• Deals  | Available (1)
• Pricing Available (35)
• Survey (13)
• Text/Notes (10)
• Recruitment Pool (8)
• Video Snippets (7)
• On-Site (7)
• Video Interview (6)
• Photo Submission (3)
• G2 Score Information Checkmark
• Satisfaction
• Overview Expand/Collapse Overview

Glassbox (TASE:GLBX) is the premier provider of AI-fueled customer intelligence solutions, working with the world’s smartest digital brands to revolutionize the way companies engage and connect with t

• Digital Analyst
• Business Analyst
• Financial Services
• 75% Enterprise
• 19% Mid-Market
• Pros and Cons Expand/Collapse Pros and Cons
• User Satisfaction Expand/Collapse User Satisfaction
• Seller Details Expand/Collapse Seller Details

UserTesting is fundamentally changing the way digital products and experiences are built and delivered by helping organizations get insights from customers–from creation through execution. Built on to

• UX Researcher
• Product Designer
• Computer Software
• 40% Enterprise
• 38% Mid-Market

dscout is a qualitative remote research platform for unlocking in-context user insights. Hundreds of the world’s most innovative companies trust our suite of remote research tools to collect “in-the-m

• Senior UX Researcher
• Information Technology and Services
• 58% Enterprise
• 25% Mid-Market

Prolific is a platform that enables researchers to collect high-quality human-powered data at scale from a large, vetted pool of research participants and taskers. Using the Prolific platform resear

• Higher Education
• 42% Enterprise
• 38% Small-Business

Discuss stands as an all-in-one qualitative research platform, driving next-gen human centricity. We believe in the transformative impact of truly listening, understanding, and valuing customers' expe

• Market Research
• Consumer Goods
• 47% Small-Business
• 31% Mid-Market

A real-time marketplace for sourcing and scheduling research interviews with anyone, anywhere in the world. A powerful way for conducting sales research, competitive research, identifying problems,

• 63% Small-Business
• 22% Mid-Market

Wynter is an on-demand market research platform for B2B. Wynter tells you what your category buyers think, need, and want. Insights at a fraction of the speed of traditional market research. ⦿ B2B

• Product Marketing Manager
• Marketing and Advertising
• 49% Mid-Market

Hi, hello, so nice to meet you. We're Marvin, the #1 user research repository on G2 for four quarters in a row! Looking for a more formal introduction? We can do that, too: HeyMarvin is a qualitati

• 51% Mid-Market
• 33% Small-Business

Suzy is an end-to-end consumer insights platform that integrates quant, qual, and high quality audiences into a single connected research cloud. Suzy’s suite of products allows you to conduct robust a

• 39% Mid-Market
• 34% Enterprise

Sprig is an all-in-one product experience platform that empowers teams to optimize product adoption, retention, and satisfaction at scale. Next-gen companies like PayPal, Figma, and Dropbox rely on Sp

• 53% Mid-Market
• 31% Enterprise

Rally UXR is a User Research CRM that enables Research and Product teams to recruit, manage and conduct research directly with their users.

• 51% Enterprise
• 45% Mid-Market

User Interviews helps teams make better business and product decisions by making user research easier, faster, and more joyful. Researchers want to spend more time actually doing research, and we help

• Project Manager
• 64% Small-Business
• 20% Mid-Market

Userlytics is a full featured state of the art user experience research platform with a global participant group of almost 2 million panelists. Since 2009, Userlytics has been helping enterprises and

• UX Designer
• 50% Mid-Market

Create polls to test your product designs, images and copy to find out which version your target market likes best. Whether you’re an Amazon seller, e-commerce store, mobile app developer, book autho

• 95% Small-Business
• 5% Mid-Market

Survicate is an intuitive yet powerful survey software, perfect for collecting continuous customer insights at scale and across multiple channels. Measure customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promote

• Product Manager
• 48% Small-Business

• Next ›
• Last »

G2 Grid® for User Research

User research topics, what are the common features of user research tools, what are the benefits of user research tools, who uses user research tools, what are the alternatives to user research tools, challenges with user research tools, which companies should buy user research tools, how to buy user research tools, learn more about user research tools.

User research tools, also known as UX research software, are leveraged by businesses to gather feedback from customers on the overall user experience. User research is conducted for product prototypes, website usability testing and functionality, mobile app functionality, and other customer and user experiences. During these user feedback sessions, businesses gather key insights into where their product is performing well, where there are gaps, and areas for improvement.

UX research platforms can provide a few different research methods and feedback tools. Many solutions facilitate customer testing by providing access to a recruitment pool of candidates who are willing to test functionalities throughout the customer journey. Companies select the demographic criteria of the persons they would like to test their product. Test user candidates are selected by age, gender, geographic location, and other criteria. Once a test user candidate is chosen, companies select exactly what functions or features they want the user to test. This ranges from something as simple as how easy it is to check out an item on an online store to how a customer might feel about a new brand marketing campaign. During the research process, the respondent completes a screen-recorded session and provides real-time feedback to the business. User research software allows businesses to conduct these virtual focus groups and gather valuable user insights remotely. As an alternative to live sessions, many user research software solutions allow test users to complete the tasks on their own time and send the completed video recording on a deadline specified by the business sending out the test.

Instead of live or pre-recorded feedback sessions, some user research tools allow businesses to intercept active website visitors or app users to capture in-the-moment feedback about the customer journey. These products more commonly offer features for respondents to submit text-based feedback and screenshots when they encounter bugs within a product or areas of frustration.

User research tools offer a variety of features to help businesses select research participants, collect qualitative and quantitative data, and collaborate on research with different stakeholders within the organization.

Participant selection: UX research platforms offer varying methods for recruiting and selecting research participants. Some vendors have a proprietary database or recruitment pool of participants, while others provide features for intercepting users browsing a website or using a mobile application.

Usability tests: One of the core features of user research software is the ability to provide live video user testing. This feature allows the business and customer to connect over a live video stream and show the business in real time how the test user navigates a website. During the live session, test users ask the business questions that may help uncover more valuable insights for the business.

Video conferencing : User interviews are another core functionality for most user research tools. One-on-one video conferencing allows businesses to speak directly with participants and conduct more in-depth qualitative research.

Surveys : Text-based surveys or quizzes can be used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data related to user experiences. With surveys, users may be asked to rate certain features or provide feedback in an open text field.

Test plan: Businesses set a plan that they would like the test user to follow throughout the test. This is a set of tasks that a user must complete by the end of the test. This allows businesses to focus on the most relevant user feedback that they’re looking for.

Self tests: Self tests are a good option for users that feel more comfortable completing the tests on their own time and not on video. With self-tests, businesses send over a link to the test with instructions and a deadline, and then users complete the test at their comfort.

Mobile functionality: Testing mobile applications is equally as important as testing desktop functionality. For this reason, the user research software a company selects must support the types of mobile devices needed.

Notes and collaboration tools : Notes and tagging are both important features in user research software that allow users to collaborate with other stakeholders on a team. Within a recorded video, users tag teammates at relevant specified times. If it is a development issue, product managers may tag a developer, or if it’s a marketing issue, product managers can tag a marketing team member.

Other features of User Testing Software: In-App Capabilities , On-Site Capabilities , Photo Submission , Video Snippet Submission

User research platforms allow businesses to better understand how users experience the customer journey. This gives businesses a better context as to how they might improve website design, marketing and branding, and the overall product they’re offering.

Unbiased perspective: Most employees at a company understand the basic functionality and usability of their website. Since they use it every day, most functions are second nature to them and they understand how to navigate the site to find what they want. For this reason, a business’s employees are often not the most objective test subjects for understanding how a site or product can be more functional. The best test user is an unfamiliar, unbiased person who navigates a website for the very first time and provides a fresh take on what needs to be improved.

Save money: Live, in-person user testing costs businesses a great deal of money. User research solutions provide the same user feedback a company would garner from in-person testing but at a fraction of the cost since the tests are conducted virtually and are generally cheaper to carry out.

User research tools are used by employees of any job function but is typically used by those who work on aspects involved with customer interaction. This software is used by product developers, front-end designers, marketers, executives, and more.

Product managers: Product managers are responsible for identifying customer needs and how their product offerings fulfill those needs through continuous improvement and excellent product functionality. As such product managers must gather user feedback as often as possible to identify gaps and areas for improvement.

UX designers: User experience designers are responsible for creating a seamless experience for customers when they interact with their brand and product. They heavily focus on the usability and design of a website, as well as mobile applications. For example, if a customer is looking to filter a product by color, or by price, the UX designer needs to understand how intuitive this filtering function is for the customer. User research tools provide these granular insights by allowing customers to rate UX design as they navigate the website in real time.

Marketers: Aside from the usability of a website, most sites are full of branded messages and other marketing efforts such as customer testimonials. Similar to how a UX designer or product manager would utilize user research software, marketers also test how customers perceive their messaging and brand. Additionally, test subjects provide feedback on email marketing campaigns and share insight as to how engaging and effective the messages are, as well as how likely the customer would be to enroll in a loyalty program. This feedback provides valuable customer insight into how marketers can improve their overall messaging and marketing campaigns for their target audience.

Alternatives to user research tools can replace this type of software, either partially or completely:

Enterprise feedback management software : Enterprise feedback management software allows companies to create, distribute, and analyze customer surveys. While UX research platforms focus on collecting data for product development and user experience, enterprise feedback management tools are more commonly used to analyze customer experiences through text-based surveys and ratings like net promoter score (NPS). As such, these products are most often used by customer service and marketing departments.

Consumer video feedback software : Also known as video survey software, consumer video feedback software allows businesses to collect and analyze video feedback from their customers or outside audiences. These solutions focus on assisting businesses with qualitative research for branding, marketing, and product development. In addition to collecting video feedback, these products offer video analysis features such as transcription and sentiment analysis.

User research repositories software : User research repositories software provide product teams with a central hub for storing, analyzing, and collaborating on user research to aid product improvement. These solutions do not necessarily include capabilities for gathering user feedback. While many user research platforms provide features for storing and managing user feedback, some businesses may prefer to conduct user interviews and tests through other tools, and analyze their collected qualitative and quantitative data within a UX repository.

Software Related to User Research Tools

Related solutions that can be used together with user research software include:

Product analytics software : Companies that develop and sell digital products should use product analytics in addition to user research tools. Product analytics software tracks user interactions with a digital product, including visits, usage, events, and interactions. Many platforms also create heat maps to visualize where users are clicking, hovering, and scrolling on the page. These solutions allow product managers and developers to understand which features of a product are engaging users, and which features may cause paint points or lead to churn. Like user research software, product analytics can help a business improve the overall product experience.

A/B testing software : A/B testing, or split testing, is the process of deploying different versions of digital content in real time and tracking which version performs the best. Marketers and web developers use A/B testing software to test different types of content, such as images, calls to action, or text, and determine which content provides the best outcome. Like user research software, A/B testing offers the benefit of optimizing user experiences.

Prototyping software : Prototyping software is used to create incomplete or preliminary versions of software and applications. The prototype simulates the final product to test, documents errors and delivers feedback. This is a perfect integration for user research software since the two are both geared toward user feedback and testing. Once the two are integrated, a user may simply go into the prototype software and begin user tests through that platform. This makes it a one-stop-shop for gathering feedback on designs that are in the process of being launched.

When user research software is implemented for remote interviews or usability testing, technical difficulties and challenges with interpersonal communication are to be expected. Communicating with research participants and providing clear instructions prior to an interview can help alleviate these challenges. Businesses should also be aware of potential issues in selecting participants from a research panel.

Wrong test subjects: User research software generally acts not only as a software but also as a service platform that helps businesses identify the right test users for a particular test. Sometimes the user research database does not screen candidates to the highest level a business requires. To mitigate this issue, businesses should conduct their own screening of the test user candidate on top of the service provided through the user research software.

Professional testers: Sometimes the opposite of an under-qualified user may occur and businesses may run into “professional testers.” Businesses generally don’t want test users who are familiar with user tests because it does not give an accurate reflection of how a new user might interact with their website. To mitigate this issue, it is important for users to once again screen test user candidates

UX research benefits companies that create and sell products, whether they are digital or physical. Product design teams, UX designers, and marketers at these businesses leverage user research software to collect feedback from their target audiences to improve product design, usability, and messaging.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies: SaaS companies often look to user testing software to collect real-time feedback from users which can inform product development and design. User research tools are helpful for every step of the product development process, from ideating a new product to new feature development for existing products. Remote interviews, surveys, live intercepts, and usability tests allow SaaS developers and designers to identify problems with a digital product and ensure the product is meeting the target user’s needs.

Business-to-consumer (B2C) companies: The insights gathered through user research platforms can also benefit companies that create and sell products or experiences to consumers. This includes businesses in industries such as retail, e-commerce, travel and hospitality, media and entertainment, education, and financial services. These types of B2C businesses may purchase user research software to test new product offerings, websites, or mobile applications. Recruitment pools and participant search criteria make it easy for companies to find respondents in their target markets.

Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for User Research Tools

Before comparing products, the buyer or software selection team should create a list of requirements for the software and determine which requirements are the highest priority. Requirements may include features such as access to a recruitment pool, interview scheduling, or live intercepting. The list of requirements should also include any integrations necessary for collecting, managing, or analyzing user insights.

Compare User Research Software Products

Create a long list

Using the list of requirements, the buyer should create a list of no more than 10 products that appear to meet the business’s most critical needs. Some essential features that should be evaluated include:

• Participant sourcing
• Moderated or unmoderated interviews
• Scheduling and communication
• Research methods such as surveys, live interviews, usability testing, card sorting, A/B testing, and visual feedback
• Data management and analysis
• Integrations

Create a short list

After creating the long list, buyers should delve deeper into more specific features, use cases, and considerations to narrow down the list of products. At this point, buyers may wish to include pricing, customer support, and region in their considerations. For example, businesses might prefer to work with a vendor in the same region to facilitate more efficient implementation or customer support. 

Conduct demos

At this point, buyers should reach out to the vendors on their short list to request product demonstrations. The demo is one of the most important parts of the buying journey since it is usually the buyer’s first opportunity to experience the product’s features first hand. The buyer should supply the vendor with their list of requirements to ensure the demo covers all the necessary features. During the demo, the buyer should pay close attention to the product’s interface, usability, and workflows, as these aspects can indicate how easy the platform will be for users to adopt. 

Selection of User Research Tools

Choose a selection team

User research platforms will be used primarily by members of a company’s product, design, UI/UX, and marketing teams. The selection team should consist of individual contributors, administrative users, and managers from these departments so that all the relevant stakeholders can be involved in the decision-making process. An executive sponsor may also be required to ensure buy-in from the company’s leadership team.

Negotiation

If the products on the buyer’s short list may look very similar, negotiation on contracts and pricing will likely have a strong influence on the final decision. Most user research solutions are sold on a subscription basis and billed monthly, but the exact cost will depend on several factors. For example, in addition to extra features or add-ons, the product’s final cost may also incorporate the number of researcher seats, the number of research sessions conducted each month, and the level of customer support. 

Final decision

After the cost, discounts, and contract have been negotiated, the final decision requires buy-in from everyone on the selection team. Each member of the selection team should evaluate their decision based on the determination that the product will meet the business’s requirements and will provide a return on investment (ROI).

Best 21 UX Research Tools in 2024

Selecting the right UX research tools transforms how product managers, CPOs, and product designers tackle the complex field of user experience (UX) design.

These tools streamline the path through team collaboration, deep user understanding, precise feedback collection, and the crucial task of feature prioritization. Navigating this process effectively means distinguishing between a product that meets the mark and surpasses expectations.

Solution: Remote user research or remote usability testing

Enter the era of all-in-one feedback tools crafted with UX research in mind. These platforms offer a unified solution, making them indispensable for anyone looking to enhance the user experience without the hassle of juggling multiple tools. 

An all-in-one user research tool that simplifies every phase of UX research, from initial data gathering to the final stages of analysis and insight generation, ensuring that every product decision is informed and impactful.

1. Usersnap

2. usertesting, 3. optimal workshop, 4. lookback, 6. usabilityhub, 7. crazy egg, 9. qualtrics, 10. dovetail, 11. userzoom, 12. validately, 13. indigo.design, 14. fullstory, 15. usabilla, 17. userlytics, 19. sessioncam, 21. user interviews, step 1. understanding users: user research, step 2. connecting with users: user interviews, step 3. remote ux research: bridging the gap, step 4. data analysis and actionable insights, try usersnap for streamlined feedback collection.

Usersnap stands out as a top-tier, all-in-one feedback and UX research tool designed to cater to the dynamic needs of product managers, CPOs, and CTOs. This platform revolutionizes how teams capture feedback , understand user needs, and prioritize features through a seamless, integrated approach.

Best Features:

• UX Rating Micro Surveys: Quickly gauge user satisfaction levels to identify poor experiences for improvements.
• Polls for New Features: Engage specific user groups to gather insights and research ideas for new features.
• Capture and annotate screenshots to pinpoint issues and optimize user experience.
• Record user interactions for specific user groups to gain deeper insights into their needs and behaviors.
• Seamlessly connect with popular project/product management tools ( Jira , Azure DevOps etc.) to ensure feedback and tasks flow smoothly into existing workflows for further action.
• Create tailored feedback forms and surveys to address specific research goals and gather high-quality insights.
• Utilize templates for efficient feedback collection and analysis.
• Gain insights about new features to inform product development decisions.
• Track survey response rates and user engagement metrics to gain UX insights faster and make data-driven decisions.

Usersnap offers several pricing plans tailored to meet the needs of different organizations:

• Startup Plan: $69/month annually or $79 monthly. 
• Company Plan: $129/month annually. 
• Premium Plan: $249/month annually.

UserTesting empowers teams with real-time feedback from actual users, making it an indispensable tool for UX research that demands depth and authenticity. Its platform facilitates the gathering of rich, qualitative insights, enabling product managers and UX researchers to make informed decisions confidently.

• Live Video Feedback: Access to live sessions where users interact with your product, offering unfiltered reactions and valuable insights.
• Audience Targeting: Ability to target feedback from specific user demographics, ensuring relevance and precision in the research process.
• Rapid Results: Offers quick turnaround times for feedback, enabling agile response to user needs and market demands.
• Additionally, UserTesting excels in facilitating qualitative research by capturing deep user insights, which is crucial for understanding user behavior and feelings in UX design and user experience.
• Validation: $199 per month to validate products with micro surveys
• Essentials: $799 per month to log feedback on behalf of customers

Pro: $999 per month to collect ideas through an in-app widget and web portal

Optimal Workshop offers tools that empower UX researchers and designers to make informed, data-driven decisions. It simplifies user research through a comprehensive set of tools designed for testing and improving website usability.

Variety of Testing Tools: From card sorting to tree testing, Optimal Workshop provides multiple methods to uncover user insights and improve information architecture.

• Real-Time Analytics: Instantly access data and insights from your research, allowing for agile adjustments to your UX strategies.
• Participant Recruitment: This company offers an integrated participant recruitment service, making connecting with target users for research studies easier.

Pricing: 

• Team Plan: This plan starts at $191 per month per user and provides features suitable for teams to collaborate and conduct UX research​​.
• Individual Plan: This plan, priced at $208 per month per user, is tailored for professionals who need access to advanced UX research tools​​.

Lookback provides a powerful platform for UX researchers aiming to capture and analyze user interactions in real time. This tool is specially designed for teams that prioritize direct observation of user behaviors and feedback, facilitating remote user testing sessions with ease.

• Live Remote Testing: Conduct live interviews and usability tests, allowing teams to observe user reactions and behaviors as they happen.
• User Session Recording: Automatically records all user sessions, providing invaluable insights into user experience and identifying potential usability issues.
• Interactive Prototypes: Supports testing of interactive prototypes, making it ideal for validating design concepts with real users before full-scale development. Lookback excels in facilitating remote user research, offering features like live remote testing and session recording to support moderated or unmoderated interviews and usability testing conducted remotely.
• Freelance: $25 per month, 10 sessions per year, with a 24/7 help center and free 60-day trial
• Team: $149 per month, 100 sessions per year, and includes core features.

Hotjar is an intuitive tool for understanding user behavior on websites and apps. Blending analytics with feedback tools offers a clear window into how users interact with digital products, making it indispensable for UX researchers focused on optimizing user experience.

• Heatmaps: Visualize user clicks, taps, and scrolling behavior, uncovering how users navigate and interact with your site.
• Session Recordings: Capture real user journeys through your website or app, identifying usability issues and opportunities for improvement.
• Feedback Polls and Surveys: Directly engage with users to collect qualitative data, providing deeper insights into user satisfaction and areas for enhancement.
• Essential: Free, includes essentials like unlimited heatmaps and 5k monthly sessions.
• Plus: Aimed at small teams for $32/month, offering 7k sessions and more insights.
• Business: Best for growing companies at $56/month, with 10k sessions and advanced features, including funnels and all integrations.

UsabilityHub, now known as Lyssna, emerges as a vital tool for UX researchers focused on making informed design decisions. This platform enables quick and practical testing of design concepts, ensuring that products are user-friendly and aligned with audience needs from the outset.

• Five-Second Tests: Measure first impressions of your designs to gauge what users remember and see in just five seconds.
• Preference Tests: Help determine which design variations resonate most with your audience, guiding your design choices.
• Task Analysis: Pinpoint how users navigate your designs and where they encounter issues, enabling targeted improvements.
• Free Plan: Ideal for getting started with user research. It lets you run basic tests, surveys, and interviews with limitations on length, collaborators, and responses.
• Standard Plan: It starts at $75/month (billed annually) and is suitable for small extents. It extends limits on test duration, collaborators, and storage, and it also allows it. 
• Pro Plan: Starts at $175/month (billed annually). Ideal for scaling research. Includes everything in the Standard plan, with increased limits,  custom branding, and more management features.
• Enterprise Plan: Requires contacting Lyssna for a custom quote. Geared towards large organizations with specific needs.

Crazy Egg is a powerful tool for UX researchers and website owners who want to understand and enhance user engagement. With its suite of visual tools, Crazy Egg demystifies user behavior, making it more straightforward to optimize websites for better performance and user satisfaction.

• Heatmaps: Offer a color-coded representation of how users interact with your site, highlighting high and low engagement areas.
• Scroll Maps: Show how far down users scroll, helping identify where you’re losing their attention.
• A/B Testing: Allows testing different page versions to see which performs better, ensuring data-driven design decisions.
• Essential: $24/month 
• Standard: $49/month 
• Plus: $99/month 
• Pro: $249/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for large organizations

Maze empowers UX researchers and designers with rapid testing and actionable research insights, bridging the gap between ideation and validation. This platform stands out for its agility in facilitating user testing, ensuring products meet and exceed user expectations.

• Unmoderated User Testing: Conduct tests without real-time supervision, allowing participants to complete tasks conveniently.
• Prototype Testing: Seamlessly integrates with design tools like Sketch and InVision, making it easy to test designs at any stage of development.
• Insightful Reporting: Generates clear, actionable reports highlighting user behavior patterns, preferences, and obstacles, guiding informed design decisions.
• Free Plan: Suitable for individuals and teams starting with light research.
• Professional Plan: Priced at $99 or $75 per month when billed annually.
• Organization Plan: Custom pricing is available for enterprise-level teams.

Qualtrics manages experience management, offering UX researchers unparalleled insights into customer, product, brand, and employee experiences. Its comprehensive suite, powered by sophisticated analytics and predictive intelligence, enables organizations to drive improvements across all touchpoints.

• Advanced Survey Capabilities: Tailor surveys with complex logic to gather deep insights, ensuring high response rates and actionable feedback.
• Experience Management (XM) Platform: Leverages AI and predictive analytics to measure and optimize experiences across interactions.
• Integration Ecosystem: Easily integrates with existing business systems, allowing for streamlined data flow and insights application across platforms.

Qualtrics is a subscription-based service that requires annual renewal. Plans start at $1,500 yearly and go up to $5,000 yearly.

Dovetail emerges as a beacon for UX researchers seeking to dive deep into user insights and drive impactful product decisions. With its robust qualitative data analysis capabilities and survey tools, this platform enhances the understanding of user needs, behaviors, and experiences, fostering a user-centered design approach.

• Rich Text Analysis: Offers powerful tools for analyzing user interviews, survey responses, and feedback, turning qualitative data into actionable insights.
• Collaborative Workspace: This enables teams to collaborate seamlessly, sharing insights, tagging themes, and building a cohesive understanding of user data.
• Intuitive Design Repository: Stores all research data in one place, making it easy to access, search, and leverage insights across projects.
• Dovetail’s compatibility with various UX research methods, including wikis, centralizes research, documents learnings, and edits data from user interviews, enhancing the analysis of qualitative data.

Dovetail offers a single pricing plan at $99.00 per month.

UserZoom offers a comprehensive solution for UX researchers looking to streamline their processes from start to finish. Known for its versatility, this tool facilitates a wide range of user research tools and methods, from usability testing to surveys and card sorting, ensuring that every aspect of user experience is thoroughly examined and optimized.

• Versatile Research Methods: Supports various UX research techniques, allowing teams to adapt their approach based on project needs.
• Integrated Analytics: Delivers deep insights with advanced analytics tools, enabling researchers to measure and track user behavior and satisfaction quickly.
• Scalable Participant Recruitment: This service offers access to a global panel of participants, simplifying gathering diverse and relevant user feedback.
• UserZoom GO: The essential plan starts at $250 per month and includes a free trial
• Custom Plans: These cater to enterprises with more features and functionalities. Pricing likely varies depending on chosen features and functionalities.

Validately stands as a key player for UX researchers aiming to simplify the collection and analysis of user feedback. Specializing in usability testing online surveys and user interviews, this tool makes connecting with users easier and gathering meaningful insights that drive product improvement and innovation.

• Easy Usability Testing: Facilitates moderated and unmoderated usability tests, enabling researchers to capture authentic user interactions with prototypes or live sites.
• Efficient User Recruitment: A built-in user recruitment feature reduces the time and effort needed to find and schedule participants for research studies.
• Insightful Analysis Tools: Offers robust tools for analyzing test results, helping to quickly identify trends, pain points, and opportunities for enhancement.

The starting price is $250 per month for one researcher or $3,000 per year. It does not offer a free plan, but it does have a free trial. 

Indigo.Design provides a unique solution that bridges the gap between design and development. Integrating UX research tools with a powerful design-to-code platform enables teams to create, test, and iterate on designs before seamlessly translating them into production-ready code.

• Usability Testing on Real Designs: This method allows for testing interactive prototypes with real users and collecting feedback directly on the design.
• Design to Code Conversion: Innovatively converts design elements into usable code, significantly speeding up development.
• Collaborative Workspace: This workspace facilitates collaboration, enabling designers, developers, and researchers to work efficiently on projects.
• Design Essentials: This plan starts at $39 per month.
• Indigo Studio: This plan costs $99 per month.

FullStory stands at the forefront of digital experience insights, offering UX researchers a comprehensive toolkit to understand and optimize user interactions. Its platform goes beyond traditional analytics, providing a deep dive into user behavior, frustrations, and successes across websites and apps.

• Session Replay: Captures every click, scroll, and interaction, allowing teams to replay user sessions and understand the nuances of user behavior.
• Digital Experience Intelligence: Leverages machine learning to identify trends, anomalies, and areas of friction, guiding targeted improvements.
• Conversion Analysis: Tracks user paths to uncover what drives conversions and where potential users drop off, informing strategic design and development decisions.
• Tiered Pricing: FullStory uses a tiered system based on the number of recorded user sessions per month.
• Estimated Costs: Full-featured plans start around $2,000 annually. Enterprise plans with advanced features and support can range from $10,000 to over $50,000 annually.
• Additional Factors: Pricing is also influenced by the number of users (seats) and how long you want to retain data (data retention period).

Usabilla empowers UX researchers and marketers with real-time feedback capabilities to enhance digital experiences across web, mobile, and email channels. This platform excels in gathering actionable insights directly from users, facilitating swift optimizations to improve overall satisfaction and performance.

• Voice of Customer Insights: This service collects user feedback through targeted surveys and feedback buttons, enabling a deep understanding of user needs and preferences.
• Visual Feedback Tools: Allows users to highlight specific elements on a webpage or app, providing clear, context-rich feedback that teams can act on immediately.
• Integration Ease: Seamlessly integrates with various analytics and marketing tools, ensuring feedback data enriches broader business insights and strategies.

Usabilla offers a freemium model that includes basic features with limited functionality. Paid plans start at around $49 monthly, while enterprise plans are custom-priced.

Morae sets the benchmark for usability testing, offering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for UX researchers focused on in-depth analysis and improvement of user interactions. It’s the go-to solution best user research tools for those who require robust, detailed insights into user behavior, preferences, and pain points.

• Rich Recording Capabilities: This feature captures detailed user interactions, including clicks, keystrokes, and spoken comments, providing a complete picture of the user experience.
• Powerful Analysis Tools: Features advanced tools for analyzing usability tests, including automated graphs, charts, and video highlights that pinpoint critical moments in the user journey.
• Real-Time Remote Observation: Enables stakeholders and team members to observe usability tests in real time from anywhere, facilitating immediate feedback and collaborative analysis.
• Additionally, Morae is perfectly suited for conducting focus groups, thanks to its rich recording capabilities and real-time observation features, making it an essential tool for both remote and in-person research settings.

Morae offers tailored pricing based on your project’s specific needs and scope.

Userlytics emerges as a pivotal tool in UX research, offering an intuitive usability and user experience testing platform. It enables brands to connect with their target audience, gathering valuable insights through interactive testing sessions that cover websites, apps, prototypes, and more.

• Flexible Testing Framework: This framework supports various tests, including usability, prototype, and app testing, ensuring comprehensive insights across all user touchpoints.
• Global Participant Pool: Access a diverse global audience for testing, ensuring feedback comes from a representative sample of your user base.
• Intuitive Analytics Dashboard: This dashboard delivers detailed analytics and video feedback from tests, making it easy to uncover user pain points, preferences, and behaviors.
• Pay As You Go: They have two options here:
• Quick & Easy: This plan starts at $49 per user.
• Enterprise: This plan offers more features and costs $69 per user.
• Subscription Plans: These offer a set monthly price with a certain number of users included.
• Starter: This plan starts at $399 per month.
• Premium: This plan starts at $499 per month.
• Advanced: This plan starts at $999 per month.

Ethnio emerges as a groundbreaking tool for UX researchers seeking to engage directly with participants in real time. Specializing in intercepts, recruitment, and scheduling remote user interviews, it streamlines connecting with users for various research activities, from interviews to usability tests and surveys.

• Screening and Recruitment: Filters potential research participants in real-time, directly from your product or any website, ensuring you connect with the most relevant users.
• Automated Scheduling: Simplifies the logistics of setting up research sessions with a computerized scheduling system, reducing the administrative burden on teams.
• Versatile Research Support: Facilitates a broad range of research methods, enabling teams to conduct everything from remote usability testing to in-person interviews and everything in between.
• Little: This plan costs $79 or $66 monthly if billed annually.
• Big: This plan is priced at $179 or $149 monthly with annual billing.
• Pro: The Pro plan costs $349 or $289 monthly if billed annually.

SessionCam offers advanced session replay and website optimization tools, allowing businesses to gain deep insights into user behavior. This platform is ideal for UX researchers seeking to understand user interactions at a granular level, enabling them to identify pain points and optimize the user experience effectively.

• Session Replay: Provides detailed replays of user sessions, allowing researchers to see exactly how users navigate through their website or application.
• Heatmaps : Offers heatmaps that visualize user interactions, helping identify areas of interest, engagement, and friction. 
• Conversion Funnels : Tracks user journeys through conversion funnels, enabling researchers to pinpoint drop-off points and optimize conversion rates.
• Glassbox Basic: Up to 50,000 monthly sessions, 10 user seats (web or mobile) – priced at $50,000 annually.
• Glassbox Standard: Up to 100,000 monthly sessions, 15 user seats (web or mobile) – priced at $75,000 annually.
• Glassbox Enterprise: Starts from 100,000 sessions (web and mobile), with a custom quote provided upon contacting them.

Pendo stands out in the UX research tool landscape by offering a comprehensive research platform that gathers user feedback and provides in-depth analytics, in-app guidance, and road mapping capabilities. It’s tailored for product teams eager to understand and improve the user journey within digital products.

• In-Depth User Analytics: Delivers granular insights into how users interact with your product, identifying trends, drop-off points, and opportunities for engagement.
• Guided Tours: Enables the creation of in-app messages and walkthroughs to help users navigate and adopt new features more effectively.
• Feedback Collection and Prioritization: This process integrates user feedback directly into the product development process, facilitating prioritization based on user needs and behaviors.

Pendo offers a freemium pricing model with three paid tiers. 

User Interviews specializes in streamlining the process of finding and managing participants for UX and research projects. This platform matches researchers with the ideal participants, ensuring that every study yields meaningful, actionable insights. It’s designed for UX professionals who value depth and quality in the feedback they collect.

• Robust Participant Recruitment: Offers access to a vast pool of participants, allowing for precise targeting based on demographics, behaviors, and more.
• Efficient Project Management: Facilitates the entire research process, from participant recruitment to scheduling and compensation, all within one intuitive platform.
• Insightful Participant Profiles: Provides detailed participant profiles, ensuring researchers can select individuals who best match their study criteria.
• Free Plan: They have a free plan that allows you to Screen and recruit a limited number of participants and Conduct basic interviews with limited features.
• Pay As You Go (Recruit): This plan costs $40 per interview session and is suitable for occasional research needs.
• Subscription Plans (Recruit & Hub): These plans offer several monthly interview sessions and additional features. There are 60 sessions per year, which cost $125/month (Recruit) and $175/month (Recruit & Hub).

4 Steps for an Easy-to-Understand UX Research Process

Undertaking a UX research journey provides teams with the necessary insights to create user-centered products. This process is crucial for comprehending the essence of user experience and comprises four fundamental steps. 

User research lays the foundation for a solid UX strategy. Engage in diverse user research methods and techniques to grasp the full spectrum of user needs and behaviors. 

Focus on both qualitative and quantitative data to obtain a well-rounded understanding of your users. This approach illuminates user preferences, pain points, and the overall user journey, guiding the subsequent phases of product development.

Conduct user interviews to investigate the insights gathered during the research phase. Compelling interviews reveal the why behind user actions and decisions. 

Approach these conversations with open-ended questions and a keen ear for detail to extract valuable insights that quantitative data alone cannot provide. This connection with users uncovers underlying motivations and unmet needs, enriching the design process with nuanced user perspectives.

In today’s digital-first world, remote UX research plays a pivotal role in understanding users across geographies. Utilize remote usability testing to evaluate how users interact with your product in their natural environment. 

Leverage tools designed for remote UX research to conduct studies efficiently, overcoming the constraints of distance and time zones. This flexibility ensures diverse user feedback, making your UX research more comprehensive and inclusive.

Data analysis translates raw data into actionable insights. Meticulously analyze qualitative and quantitative data to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies. 

This step demands a critical eye and a strategic mindset to distill vast data into coherent, actionable insights. Such insights inform design decisions, prioritize feature development, and guide iterative improvements, ensuring your product evolves in response to real user needs.

Integrating Usersnap into your toolkit revolutionizes how you collect and manage user feedback. This all-in-one platform enables seamless feedback collection through diverse features, catering to research needs and user scenarios. 

Centralize feedback for effortless management, making tracking, analyzing, and acting on user insights easier. Analyze feedback with powerful tools, drawing actionable insights that drive UX enhancements. 

By harnessing Usersnap, you enhance the user experience through iterative improvements, ensuring your product meets and exceeds user expectations. Embrace Usersnap to streamline your customer feedback and collection process, elevating your product’s user experience.

Resolve issues faster with visual bug reporting.

And if you’re ready to try out a visual bug tracking and feedback solution, Usersnap offers a free trial. Sign up today or book a demo with our feedback specialists.

You might be also interested in

15 Best Product Discovery Tools 2024

17 Excellent Open Source Bug Tracking Tools in 2024

10 powerful things you didn’t know about CSS3

15 Bug Report Templates & Examples To Improve Your QA Process

Are you an agency specialized in UX, digital marketing, or growth? Join our Partner Program

Learn / Guides / UX research guide

Back to guides

11 UX tools for organizing, researching, and synthesizing data

You’ve got a great product. You're seeing conversions, generating solid revenue, and hitting your forecasted sales quota. But you’re also seeing a steadily increasing bounce rate, high cart abandonment rate, and user complaints about a bug-infested product experience (PX).

What to do?

Last updated

Reading time.

To continue to provide customer delight, your business must identify user experience (UX) issues and fix them for the user. But conducting UX research can be a complex, time-consuming process—you need to plan your research, and collect, organize, and synthesize data to inform UX priorities. 

Using UX tools helps you automate repetitive tasks, streamline processes, unearth rich data, and make research insights accessible across different teams. If you’re confused about which tools to pick for your unique research needs, this article is here to help. We list the best UX research tools and show you how they can help you provide a stellar experience for your customers at different stages in the research process.

You don’t have to collect, analyze, and distribute UX research data manually

Hotjar’s tools provide qualitative and quantitative insights to improve UX.

The benefits of different UX research tools

“Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” is bad advice for UX research. You want to find out exactly what’s blocking your customers from finding what they need to purchase your products—and fix it.

Instead of relying on manual UX research, you can automate different aspects of the process using specialized tools that help you streamline workflows.

UX research tools help you:

Extract rich data and insights : UX research tools give you access to high-quality data you can analyze and convert into actionable insights. They offer granular data that would be difficult to unearth manually.

Cut down on time manually searching for insights : many research tools come with integrations and workflow management features that help you automate time-consuming and repetitive tasks, so you can focus more on implementing UX improvements than on managing research data.

Organize and centralize research : UX research is not a one-person task. It requires organizational synergy and cross-functional collaboration. UX research tools act as the go-to resource for all team members, allowing them to easily access data, validate their ideas, and manage task coordination. This makes the process more efficient, eliminating bottlenecks and delays so you can deliver excellent experiences faster.

UX research tools can help you create customer delight, but it’s important to know which tools to use at different stages of the research process.

Let’s look at the different types of UX research tools and how they can help you with different aspects of UX design in your journey to enhance the customer experience (CX).

Tools to plan, organize, and manage the UX research process

The first step in the UX research process is planning and organizing: the way you start your research defines the kind of insights it’ll help you uncover.

You want tools in this phase to help you manage the entire process in a single space , build a repository to manage your data, create journey maps, and specify the who, what, why, and when of your UX research to centralize your findings and make them accessible to stakeholders and team members. This process helps designers and product teams separate the wheat from the chaff, decide what needs to be prioritized, and manage the entire process in a goal-driven way. 

Here are our top planning, organizing, and project management tool picks: 

What it is 

Notion is an all-in-one workspace from where teams can manage their tasks, create their product roadmap, store their research data, and more.

How it helps 

Notion is the platform at the center of your UX research process, thanks to products that complement each other: 

Projects : manage the entire process (even beyond the UX research phase) regardless of the size of your team, view it as a timeline, table, or calendar, filter and sort tasks, and create and visualize dependencies

Wikis : centralize your research into a single source of truth, document your learnings, easily find and edit the data from user interviews and other UX research methods

Docs : go beyond text and bullets points and communicate more efficiently with flexible building blocks and 50+ content types, collaborate with your team

Beyond this, Notion integrates with more tools (some of them on this list 😉) to automate your workflows, and the tool’s integrated AI assistant further helps you be more efficient throughout the entire process. 

Notion is free for individuals. Paid plans start at $8/mo (billed annually).

2. Airtable

Airtable is a cloud-based platform that combines spreadsheets and databases. It’s a low-code tool with a neat interface that offers templates for multiple use cases like project management, timesheets, and planners.

Airtable is a user-friendly solution for storing raw data and organizing it systematically in line with your goals. The tool's automation capabilities synthesize your user research data and insights into meaningful dashboards. 

What’s more, Airtable helps you arrange your data points and easily map out the next steps. You can leverage the platform’s multiple view options to visualize your data from different perspectives.

Free for up to five creators. Paid plans start at $10 per seat/month (billed annually).

Miro is a visual platform that lets your team connect, collaborate in real-time, and create together. Essentially a whiteboard, this collaborative tool has versatile capabilities for diagramming, mind mapping, and creating flowcharts and presentations. 

Packed with unique features for documenting data and ideas, Miro helps users brainstorm and creatively compose ideas. It doubles as a database, allowing you to present your research and highlight meaningful patterns. You can also use affinity diagramming to categorize both qualitative and quantitative data thematically.

Free for up to three editable boards and unlimited team members. Paid plans start at $8 per member/month (billed annually).

Condens is a research repository ideal for storing and analyzing your data seamlessly. The tool helps structure the raw information you’ve collected from multiple sources by creating intuitive patterns. 

How it helps

With its focus on boosting real-time collaboration, Condens strengthens your UX data analysis using AI-assisted tagging and powerful segmentation to elevate your research process. The tool also offers automatic transcription, participant panel management, and highlight reels to add more depth to your research.

15-day free trial. Paid plans start at €30/month (billed annually).

Tools to collect user data and feedback

Throughout the UX research process, you’ll come across two types of data: qualitative and quantitative . While qualitative data is language-based and more subjective, quantitative data gives you a measurable numerical value for a key performance indicator (KPI).

In the context of UX research, quantitative insights help you understand user behaviors through numbers, which is the first step in knowing what you can do to achieve your desired result. Qualitative data, on the other hand, helps you understand why users behave the way they do.

Let’s look at the best user research tools for collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data to improve the user experience. 

5. Hotjar Observe and Ask

Hotjar (hello there 👋) is a multi-product, digital experience insights platform that collects and analyzes both qualitative and quantitative data which you can use to enhance the user experience. Its many tools and features generate in-depth insights about user behavior and customer feedback to give you a data-informed picture of your product or website analytics , so you discover the what and the why , all in the same place. 

Hotjar provides your team with actionable, holistic insights to better understand your users and their behavior. Built with privacy in mind from day one, the industry leader makes the UX research process more efficient, saving you time and money by gathering all the insights you need in an easy-to-use central platform. Here’s how Hotjar Observe and Ask help you collect user data and feedback:

Hotjar Observe : spot patterns in user behavior to improve your site with confidence, zoom in and out from high-level behavior patterns to recordings of real user experiences, and put yourself in the customer's shoes to make changes that matter. 

Heatmaps : see a visual representation of where users click, move, and scroll on your site

Recordings : watch replays of real user sessions to understand exactly how people interact with your site, and filter recordings by Frustration and Engagement Score, events, path, and much more

Pro tip: with engagement zones in Heatmaps , understanding the layout, content, and usability of a page has never been easier. Visualize engagement patterns from where users click, move, and scroll with a grid overlay highlighting the most (and least) engaged zones on the page.

Once you know what is happening on the page, watch session replays of frustrated users to spot UX issues. Filter Recordings by Frustration Score to understand why users are rage clicking or u-turning.

Hotjar Ask : collect voice-of-the-customer (VoC) feedback and discover how users feel as they experience your site or product.

Surveys : capture in-the-moment user feedback with on-site and external surveys, learn more about what users and customers love (or hate) about your site or product—and why—and get started with 40+ survey templates

Feedback : understand what users really think about your site, let them highlight specific parts of the page they have feedback on, and spot which pages do not match their expectations

Pro tip: received negative feedback? Watch the user’s session replay to understand what went wrong and spot UX improvement opportunities.

Use Hotjar's Microsoft Teams or Slack integration to be alerted as soon as a user has answered one of your surveys, and align your entire team around user feedback.

In addition to all this, Hotjar is packed with more useful features—like Highlights to share key user insights, Trends to spot overarching behavior patterns, Integrations to automate your work, and Funnels to spot where users drop off in your most important flows. 

Get started for free. Or choose one of the paid plans to unlock more features. The best part? You pay only for the products you need!

Loop11 is a remote UX research tool that facilitates moderated and unmoderated interviews to help you learn about your users' experience with your product. Through dedicated features for collecting, organizing, and visualizing your insights, it offers a comprehensive and collaborative research platform. 

Loop11 contributes to your qualitative research with user and usability testing tools that let you test prototypes and live websites (on mobile, desktop, or tablet). It’s a great UX research software for: 

Usability testing: analyze your site’s usability with users performing actual tasks

Benchmarking: compare your site or product’s usability against your competitors

Prototype testing: test wireframes and prototypes to validate new products or features before actually developing them

A/B testing: test multiple designs against each other to determine which one offers the best UX and converts better

Information architecture testing: design and refine your information architecture by observing how users navigate your site

Loop11 allows you to bring your own research participants into their usability testing platform. If you don’t have any, the tool makes participant recruitment easy by tapping into their own pool of testers.

14-day free trial, then plans start at $179/mo (billed annually).

Pro tip: test your prototypes and wireframes with a concept testing survey to gather feedback from real users.

7. Hotjar Engage

Hotjar Engage (hey again 👋) is a user interview tool that lets you recruit the right users for your UX research and tests and allows you to spend less time on admin tasks, and more time turning insights into action. It empowers design, product, marketing, and UX teams to research user behavior, identify improvement opportunities, and validate assumptions.

Hotjar Engage enables remote usability testing and remote user research by letting you:

Recruit participants from a pool of 175,000+ verified research participants, or add your own usability testers

Automate scheduling and hosting of moderated interviews

Download transcripts of your video calls, so you can focus on gathering insights from your users during the interview 

Share and download highlights and time-stamped notes with your team and create video clips of key insights

Bring in additional observers and moderators

What’s more, Engage syncs with the other products on the Hotjar platform. After each interview, watch recordings and heatmaps to get deeper insights into what participants did—and why.

Get started for free and pay as you go, or unlock more features with a paid plan, starting from €72/mo (billed annually).

Maze ’s toolkit makes it a comprehensive UX research platform helping teams develop better products. It lets you build a cross-company research process and validate product designs, messaging, usability, and more.

Maze provides a comprehensive UX research solution with features that include prototype testing, tree testing, card sorting, in-product prompts, and more. The platform lets you:

Test : experiment with and validate prototypes, wireframes, concepts, copy, and more

Integrate : work seamlessly with the best design tools to validate ideas and speed up the design process

Report : get actionable user insights with automated metrics and reports

Reach : send targeted research campaigns to your tailored participant database

Free for one active project and 300 responses per year. Paid plans start at $75/mo (billed annually).

Tools to create new designs or features to solve user problems

Now that you've gathered your UX research data, it’s time to make improvements to your site or product. Of course, before the development phase, you need to prototype and wireframe changes.

Design tools are essential to the UX research process, as they let you bring your ideas to life and turn the precious user feedback that you collected beforehand into new products and features.

Here are our top 3 UI design tools that build new products and features:

Figma is a collaborative UI design tool that helps teams stay aligned throughout the research and development processes. It enables teams to ship new products faster.

Figma’s powerful all-in-one design platform allows UX teams to prototype while they design, and vice versa, with powerful features:

Interactive prototypes : go beyond UI design and turn static files into an interactive experience to give testers a taste of the real thing.

Share and collect feedback : toggle between your design file and live prototype, then share the latter and enable comments so user feedback stays in the same place

Fasten development : take the guesswork out of the equation for your developers by including animations and transitions

Figma also integrates with other UX research tools on this list like Notion and Maze, simplifying your workflows.

Free for 3 Figma files. Paid plans start at €12 per editor/month.

10. Adobe XD

Adobe XD is premium collaborative UI design software, downloadable for Windows or macOS. You can subscribe to Adobe XD as a standalone app or as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite, which also includes Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. 

Adobe XD’s collaborative vector-based experience design platform provides tools to craft prototypes that look and feel like the real thing:

Components and States : create design elements once and reuse them multiple times, or create variations to simulate interactions

3D transform : simulate 3D effects when creating immersive and interactive experiences, and rotate objects to view mockups in perspective

Share designs and prototypes : collaborate with stakeholders and designers in a centralized platform

Start for free. Paid plans start at $9.99/month (billed annually).

Pro tip: use Anima to add Hotjar to Figma and Adobe XD to your prototypes.

Sketch is a complete design platform for Mac users, boasting thoughtful features and an intuitive UI.

Sketch provides design tools to help you create early wireframes, prototypes, and flexible design systems:

Flexibility : sketch your whole design from canvas to code

Consistency : turn your elements and components into templates and reuse them everywhere

Collaboration : design with your team in real-time, test your prototypes, and improve your workflows with hundreds of plugins and integrations

30-day free trial. Plans start at $9 per editor/month.

Use UX research tools to prioritize brilliantly 

UX research is extremely important in improving the user experience, allowing you to go beyond guesswork and instinct, and base your decisions on data-informed insights. UX research tools facilitate this process by simplifying and automating tasks and offering a birds-eye view of all your research discoveries so you can prioritize the UX elements that matter most to your users. 

By identifying the right tools to use at each stage of the UX research process, you can save time, streamline your workflow, and create a better user experience.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best ux research methods.

It’s best for product and design teams to use a wide range of research methods as groundwork for improving user experience. The best UX research methods include:

Usability testing

Field studies

Moderated/unmoderated interviews

Product session recordings 

Your choice of a UX research method should be closely aligned with your goals and will depend on the challenges you’re addressing.

What do UX tools help with?

UX tools play a crucial role throughout the product development lifecycle. These tools assist with initial product planning and organizing when you are orchestrating your research campaign, helping you collect useful quantitative and qualitative insights and run user testing.

These tools also help with making realistic, dynamic prototypes, equipped with complete functionality for testing and iterating.

What is UX research analysis?

UX research analysis is the process of analyzing and structuring your UX research data so it generates actionable user-centric insights and informs your decisions. This process includes carefully categorizing and organizing data to identify patterns and highlight important findings. UX research analysis helps with prioritization and guides the product team in taking the next steps.

UX research questions

Previous chapter

UX research examples

Next chapter

• Book a Demo

20 Best UX Research Tools for User Researchers [2024]

List of tools for user research, including moderated research tools, unmoderated research tools, research repositories and more!

Are you trying to level up your UX research game?

With the right tools in your arsenal, you can uncover game-changing insights faster and create products that truly resonate with your users.

In this article, we've compiled a list of the 20 best UX research tools that every researcher should know about. From conducting interviews and surveys to analyzing data and recruiting participants, these tools will help you streamline your research process and get the answers you need.

We’ll cover:

What is UX research, and why does it matter?

Best quantitative and qualitative tools for ux research in 2024, ux research platforms: what's missing from the current offerings.

But before we dive in tooling, let's take a step back and look at the different methods of UX research.

Not sure which research method is right for you? Check out this guide on UX Research Methods.

UX research is the process of understanding your customers, their needs, motivations, and how they  interact with your product or service. By leveraging user research tools and techniques, you can uncover valuable insights about user behavior, preferences, and pain points, enabling you to create experiences that resonate with your target audience.

How do I prepare for UX research?

First, figure out what you want to learn about your users. Think about who you want to study and how you'll find them. Pick the right ways to do your research (we'll talk about those later) and get your questions ready.

Make sure all your tools are set up before you start. It's no fun to be fixing things when people are waiting to help you!

How do you collect user research?

Collecting user research involves using a mix of user experience research tools to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Researchers often start with surveys or questionnaires, then conduct in-depth interviews or focus groups. Usability testing, where users interact with a product while researchers observe, is crucial.

Field studies or contextual inquiries involve observing users in their natural environment. Digital tools like analytics software and heatmaps provide data on user behavior. The key is to use a combination of the best tools for user research that fits your goals and resources, including online user research tools and free UX research tools.

What are the research methods for UX? ‍

There are two main types of UX research : qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative methods, such as interviews and usability testing, provide in-depth insights into user experiences, while quantitative techniques, like surveys and A/B testing, offer broader, data-driven perspectives. To conduct your own UX research, you’ll need to define your goals, select the appropriate UX research tools, recruit participants, and analyze your data to identify actionable insights. 

Not sure where to get started? Create a research plan in 7 easy steps

What is a user research tool? ‍

A user research tools are apps or platforms that helps UX researchers gather and analyze data on how people use products. These tools make it easier to collect information about what users need and want, as well as how they behave when using a product.

There are different kinds of user research tools for different parts of the research process. You may use recruiting products to get access to users, tools to run your research session, survey, or test, and tools to analyze and store your research findings in one place.

In this article we’ll give you an overview of the best of each type of user research tool.

In this section, we'll explore the best quantitative and qualitative tools for UX research in 2024. This includes:

• Participant recruitment solutions
• Survey platforms
• UX research tools for usability testing
• Product analytics tools
• Information architecture testing tools for UX
• Unmoderated testing tools
• UX research repository tools

Here’s an overview of the 20 of the most popular and best UX research tools in 2024 for you to consider:

I. UX Research Platforms

What is a ux research platform.

A UX research platform is like a toolkit that has everything a researcher needs. It's one place where you can do many different research tasks. These platforms usually help you find people for your research, create studies, collect information, analyze it, and share what you learned. Many let you test products remotely, make surveys, and do video interviews. Some even use smart computer programs to help make sense of all the information you collect. The great thing about these platforms is that they make it easier to manage your research, work with your team, and keep all your findings in one place.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one qualitative research platform that can handle everything from recruitment to running moderated and unmoderated tests, and generating transcripts in one place, you may want to consider the options below.

1. UserZoom

Customer Rating: 4.2/5

This platform is a UX research tool designed for UX researchers, marketers, managers and UX designers to get insights on websites, apps, products, and prototypes by conducting studies like 1:1 live interviews, moderated and unmoderated usability tests, click tests, surveys, tree tests and card sorts. 

‍ Looppanel’s Review

UserZoom has now been acquired by UserTesting.com, which is an interesting case of the two biggest user research platforms merging. In our view this is the value you’ll get from UserZoom:

• Ability to recruit users
• Run unmoderated tests
• Get transcripts & videos

If you don’t have a budget constraint and want one tool to handle multiple parts of the research flow, UserZoom is a good option.

Keep in mind, you will need to use other tools for analysis so it’s not really an all-in-one platform. Also, with great options like UserInterviews.com , Maze and Looppanel (self-plug, we know 😂), UserZoom is an incredibly expensive alternative with limited additional value.

UserZoom has custom pricing—you will need to get in touch with the sales team to learn how much a subscription will set you back.

• It auto-generates transcripts in the language you choose. Check the UserZoom’s study languages here !
• You can make clips and add notes to your transcripts.
• It lets you conduct mixed methods research since it supports quantitative as well as qualitative research. 
• The study limit is 40 per year (for Quick Start Plans), which might not be enough for mature UX teams. The Enterprise plan does let you run unlimited studies. 
• UserZoom comes with a hefty price tag—if you’re considering the product, be prepared to cough up at least 5 figures for access.

2. UserTesting

Customer Rating: 4.5/5

UserTesting is an end-to-end research platform that lets you conduct everything from live interviews to brand and messaging testing, usability testing, tree testing, card sorting and clickstream tracking. 

Looppanel’s Review

Similar to UserZoom, UserTesting’s main value is in recruiting participants for you, as well as bringing multiple research processes to one place. Their moderated tests are now run on Zoom, which makes you wonder whether it’s worth paying their high price tags just for recruiting users.

Pro Tip: We’ve heard they have a problem with “professional testers” who are so used to testing for $ that they’re zipping through your tests and leaving bad data behind. If you’re trialing UserTesting.com—watch out for this!

If you’re looking for a tool that manages multiple processes in one place, UserTesting.com may be for you, just bring a big check book.

UserTesting pricing is based on factors like the number of users who need access to the product, business needs and the specific features you want to include. Like UserZoom, they offer custom pricing plans based on your requirements. To understand the price of each plan, you will need to contact their sales team. 

• It is easy to recruit participants from all over the world. As a bonus, they eliminate users not paying attention to surveys/questions etc.
• The platform seamlessly conducts moderated interviews and unmoderated research, all in one place.
• Ironically, the platform can be clunky to use at times.
• The screener function is not diverse enough to add a variety of questions. 
• Once again, UserTesting.com comes with a significant price tag. Unless you have a significant budget to spend on tooling, UserTesting may not be a viable option for you.
• In some cases, customers have reported the presence of “professional testers” in their panel (people who are randomly answering questions on your tests, just to get paid). This of course can deeply bias your results.

II. Participant Recruitment Tools for UX Research

Recruiting research participants is easily one of the hardest parts of UX Research. It’s probably the most boring part as well.

The easiest way to recruit research participants is by using an existing research panel.

A research panel/participant recruitment tool is a UX research tool that gives you access to potential research participants, offering them compensation in exchange (usually in the form of money or Amazon gift cards). The benefit of using a panel is that you can recruit the right “persona” of users within a very short amount of time (often within 24 hours), with limited scheduling efforts on your side.

💡 Pro-tip: While research panels reduce the amount of scheduling work you’ll have to do, there are a couple of flags with these kinds of products:

• Some panels are prone to “professional testers”—people who are joining studies just for the money and often lying about what they actually do/their experience with a product
• It can be challenging to find niche participant types via these panels. If you want to recruit paediatricians in Papua New Guinea, you may struggle with the panel’s ability to provide this type of user!

To identify the right participant out of the “panel”, it’s recommended to “screen” the participants—you’ll ask participants to answer some questions that help you identify if they’re the right fit.

For example, if you’re looking for middle school teachers, your screener may look like this:

• What’s your job?
• If you have been a teacher in the last 3 years, which classes have you taught? 1. K through 5th-grade 2. 5th through 12th-grade 3. College 4. Masters/PhD
• What region do you work in?

Here are some of the best user research recruiting tools to help you find the right participants!

3. User Interviews

Customer Rating: 4.7/5 on G2

User Interviews is a UX research tool that connects user researchers and participants.

You can filter out potential participants based on different parameters like age, location, industry, etc., to find the right participants for your studies. In exchange, participants are compensated fairly, incentivizing them to contribute to the research.

User Interviews lets you:

• Use their pre-existing panel: Their “Recruit” product provides you with a pre-existing panel of potential participants. You can then filter and recruit participants from the panel.
• Make your own Panel: You can use their “Research Hub” product while recruiting your existing customers whose contact information you already have. Research Hub will manage emailing, scheduling, and follow-up reminders to users for you. With automated scheduling, their Google and Outlook calendar integration will help you monitor the upcoming sessions. Automated emails are sent to participants when you approve them to participate in your studies.

Research Hub

Userinterviews also serve those who want to manage a panel of their own participants for research studies. Let’s say you run a lot of research with existing customers of your product—you can use User Interviews’ Research Hub to store the data of these people and simplify the painful scheduling activities (emailing users, reminders, etc.).

There are multiple tiers to the ‘Research Hub’ product, based on how many contacts (participants) you have in your panel. The price of the product varies by the number of contacts in the panel as well.

UserInterviews is one of the most established and well-loved recruiting products in the industry. They ensure their panel of participants is reliable and their turn-around times for scheduling calls are amazing (often 24-48 hours!). This is definitely one of our favorite research panels to turn to in a pinch, but they can get pricey if you're on a small budget.

For Recruit (panel to recruit participants), the Pay As You Go plan is $45 per session and includes automated scheduling, incentive distribution, and research tool integrations. The Starter plan costs $175 per month and covers 60 sessions per year, adding features like custom onboarding, a screener library, customer support, and rollover sessions. The Essential plan is $325 per month for 150 sessions per year, including all Starter features plus the ability to invite previous participants.

For teams with large research volumes or custom needs, the Custom plan offers tailored pricing and includes additional support, security reviews, and project coordination, along with all Starter and Essential features.

‍ For Research Hub, the Free Forever plan is for individual researchers and includes up to 100 contacts with automated emails, scheduling, research tool integrations, and messaging tools, all for free. Essential is for small teams and adds custom branding, support, and templates, starting at $250/month for up to 1,000 contacts or $500/month for up to 5,000 contacts. Premium is designed for large teams, offering everything in Essential plus unlimited custom email themes, priced at $1,250/month for up to 5,000 contacts or $1,417/month for up to 10,000 contacts. Enterprise offers all Premium features along with custom onboarding, security reviews, and API integrations, with pricing based on custom agreements.

• For Recruit, it is quite easy to contact a large number of potential participants and if any participant drops out before the session, the software connects the next participants on the list you approved.
• Automated screening, scheduling and incentive distribution. This means you get to skip all that painful back and forth setting up a time, following up to confirm the call, and making sure your incentives are paid out (phew!).
• You can schedule the meeting through Google or Outlook 365 calendars. 
• The customer support team is great— they help researchers with any issues without delay. 
• The screener needs to be more adaptable, with rating scale questions and arrays.
• The screening capabilities lack the sophistication of non-DIY options e.g. "must say 3 of the 6 options." You have to do that manually. 

4. Respondent

Customer Rating: 4.6/5 on G2

Respondent is another participant recruiting platform that helps researchers conduct research with verified participants in person or online. This platform sources professional participants from different social networks like LinkedIn.

From everything we’ve heard, Respondent can be a more cost-effective alternative to UserInterviews.com. If you are budget constrained, try recruiting with incentive amounts lower than those suggested by the Respondent website and you may still be able to get participants.

Respondent offers two pricing options, 1) Pay As You Go and 2) Credit Bundles. 

In Pay As You Go, the service fee is 50% of your chosen incentive fee (e.g., if you are offering a $100 incentive, $50 of that goes to the Respondent). If you buy a credit bundle instead (credits can be used to “buy” a session with a participant) you pay a smaller percentage fee to the Respondent. 

• You can post your project for free and pay after the participants participate in the study. 
• It's not user-friendly and can be hard to navigate when you get started.

III. Survey Tools

Survey tools help in collecting data online from your potential audience.

How to analyze a UX survey?

First, clean up your data by removing any incomplete answers or odd responses. For questions with numbers, look at averages and how spread out the answers are. For open-ended questions, try to find common themes in what people said. Many survey tools have features to help you understand your results, but sometimes you might need to use other tools to dig deeper. Look for patterns that answer your questions, but also be open to surprising findings.

The following are the best survey tools to run studies.

5. SurveyMonkey

Customer Rating: 4.4/5

SurveyMonkey is a UX research tool that helps users and researchers conduct surveys through emails, web links and embedded forms on their website or via social media. You can conduct your surveys in multiple languages and easily collect the data in one view. 

SurveyMonkey is easy to get started with and comes ready with templates you can use to set up your study. If you’re dealing with a simple study, their analytical capabilities will be fine, but for a more complex one, you may end up spending a ton of time analyzing your data in an excel sheet.

SurveyMonkey has multiple plans you can choose from based on your team size and the scale of your survey.

The basic plan is free which is best for individuals who wish to conduct surveys on a small scale.

The Individual Plans include the Standard Monthly at $10.98/month for unlimited surveys and 1,000 responses per month, and the Standard Annual at $24.42/month for unlimited surveys and 15,000 responses per year with advanced features like data exports and A/B testing.

The Team Plans offer the Team Advantage at $18.94/month for up to 50,000 responses per year with app integrations, and the Team Premier at $46.43/month for up to 100,000 responses with advanced survey tools and machine learning analysis.

Note: All the plans are billed annually.

• Intuitive User Interface.
• Able to conduct surveys in various languages.
• Variety of survey templates and integration with tools like Google Sheets, SPSS, Mailchimp, Displayr, Zendesk and more .
• The free version is best to conduct surveys on a small scale, but the cost of paid plans can go up quickly. ‍ ‍

6. Google Forms

Customer Rating: 4.7/5

If you are looking for an easy-to-use research tool for surveys, Google Forms is the best fit. 

For basic surveys on a limited budget, Google Forms is a convenient and cost-effective option. It does lack advanced customization options, but it’s easy to get up and running with very quickly!  

Bonus: It syncs really well with Google sheets so it’s easy to port your data into a spreadsheet view and start analyzing. 

Not much to say—it's free!

• Free for use!
• No learning curve
• Doesn’t offer fancy templates. 
• No display customization options (you can’t customize font size, etc.)

IV. Moderated User Interview tools

These tools are great for 1-on-1 moderated research methods, such as user interviews and usability tests, without a huge price tag. In all likelihood, your company has access to one of them already, or you can get your hands on one for free.

7. Google Meet

People with a Google Account can use Google Meet and invite up to 100 participants for 60 minutes for free (although your focus groups probably won’t get that large!). Purchasing a business or enterprise plan lets you avail additional paid features like live streaming, recording and administrative control.

Google Meet is a favorite for many reasons—it is often already part of your company plan or is free for access and it doesn’t require participants to download additional software to join a meeting.

On the flip side, the quality of video and audio is okay at best, so depending on how tech savvy your audience is you may want to switch to Zoom. You also need to be on the paid plan to record calls directly on GMeet. 

Google Meet offers a Free Plan for 1-on-1 meetings or up to 100 participants for 60 minutes at no cost. Business Starter at $1.67/user/month includes 30 GB storage, standard support, and security controls for up to 100 participants.

‍ Business Standard at $8.99/user/month adds 2 TB storage, 150 participants, and video recording, while Business Plus at $16.78/user/month offers 5 TB storage, 500 participants, advanced security features, and attendance tracking.

• Cost-effective and compatible with businesses of all sizes.
• No plugins or software is required (aka your participants won’t have to install new software to join you on the call)
• Familiar option for users around the world (this tends to make your users more comfortable and less nervous to join an unknown link)
• The free plan doesn’t come with recording and transcription capabilities, but you can plug in a product like Looppanel to record and transcribe calls for you
• Audio and video quality can vary (we prefer Zoom for this reason)

Zoom is a video conferencing app that you can repurpose for focus groups, moderated user interviews and usability tests. Although it's not a built only for researchers, we think it's one of the most useful options across this list of UX research tools.

Zoom has high-quality audio and video streams (yay!), which makes it a popular choice for research sessions. 

But it does have some really strange UX, so if you’re new to it expect it to take a few days to get settled in.

Pro-tip: you can record sessions to your computer even on the free plan (unlike with GMeet), but free sessions will get cut off after 40 minutes so you may want to upgrade anyway.

Zoom's basic plan is free, but it caps calls at 40 minutes, which can be very awkward if your interview runs anywhere over 30 minutes. No one likes to get kicked off the call mid-interview.

Their basic paid plan comes for $150 / year which doesn't break the bank and does give you high quality conferencing capabilities and the ability to record your calls.

To get high quality recordings, transcripts, and AI-powered notes for Zoom based user interviews, you can also use a tool like Looppanel which plugs into Zoom and makes research analysis 5x faster.

• An easy-to-use, familiar option for your participants
• High-quality audio and video streams (very reliable)
• Works with great tools like Looppanel (again, very reliable)
• Zoom’s basic plan can be limiting if you’re running moderated research. Forty minutes (the limit for free calls) may not be enough to conduct an interview, for example. 
• 5GB of free storage on the paid plan runs out pretty fast. Downloading/deleting these recordings can be a pain.
• Paid plans come with transcription in English, but the quality of transcripts is moderate.

V. Unmoderated Research Tools

Unmoderated research tools are a category of UX research tools that do not require you to intervene during the actual research session. They provide instructions to users, record their actions, and should ideally be able to ask them predetermined follow-up questions.

This type of research takes less time as participants do not have to be physically present, so you can provide questions to a large number of participants at the same time to complete the test.

Let’s explore the best unmoderated research tools out there.

Customer Ratings: 4.5/5

Maze allows you to run unmoderated research on your new product or prototype. It supports tests like unmoderated usability tests, website testing, prototype testing, tree testing, surveys, and card sorting.

Looppanel's Review

Maze is pretty easy to set up and get started with. It also integrates with major prototyping tools like Figma, AdobeXD, and Invision—so you can bring your prototypes into Maze with ease.

One issue we have personally faced—Maze limits the number of prototype links you can test in a project to 1, which limits our ability to test alternatives against each other easily.

Bonus: Maze automatically creates a shareable report from your unmoderated tests which is super handy to share directly with your team, without spending a ton of time creating it.

Maze offers free features for small-scale testing, including 300 responses per year, 1 active project, and up to 10 blocks. The Professional plan at $75/month increases to 1,800 responses, 10 active projects, and unlimited blocks with access to pro templates. The Organization plan includes all professional features plus unlimited responses, projects, and custom templates, with pricing available upon request.

• Easy to link Figma prototypes for user testing purposes
• Easy to set up and launch a test in minutes
• They have a panel of participants as well, so you can skip the pain of recruiting
• Maze automatically generates a shareable report with your findings from tests—this is really nice to be able to quickly share the results with team members.
• Heatmap features don’t work perfectly. 

• Simple prototype works well, but a prototype with advanced features loads slowly for users. 
• You can only use 1 prototype link for the entire study which is limiting if you have multiple prototypes to test in a single study. 
• Their participant panel isn’t great, so you may get “professional testers” who are just trying to finish the task in order to get compensation.

10. Useberry

Customer Ratings: 4.9/5

Useberry is an unmoderated research platform that allows you to run tests across a variety of methods.

An amazing feature of Useberry is the integration of tools like Protopie, Adobe XD, Sketch, Marvel and InVision (other than a Figma integration, of course). This allows you to test more complex, realistic prototypes with your users, aside from basic Figma prototypes.

UseBerry also offers a wide range of testing methods, you can use your favourite testing methods including usabiity testing, card sorting, tree testing, 5 second tests, firstclick tests, preference tests and online surveys.

We have personally adopted UseBerry for unmoderated tests at Looppanel and we find it easy to use and effective. One challenge we have had is around recruiting: you can't get very granular with who you'd like to conduct your tests and based on the results, we've sometimes been suspicious of the quality of their panel.

Useberry's pricing plans start with a Free plan offering 10 responses per month, 1 seat, 1 project, and unlimited collaborators. The Basic plan at $33/month (billed annually) provides 100 responses, 3 projects, and CSV export. The Pro plan at $67/month includes unlimited responses, projects, versions, and screening questions. The Team plan at $84/month adds a shared team library, team workspace, and 3 seats, with additional seats available for $17 each.

Check out the detailed pricing here.

• Participant recruiting is included (one less thing on your plate!)
• Aside from integration Figma, you can also integrate prototypes from other prototyping tools like Protopie, Adobe XD, Sketch, Marvel and InVision.
• Heatmaps and basic reporting (completion rates) are automatically calculated for you.
• If you’re looking for a specific persona of users, sometimes it’s hard to find them on UseBerry. For example, we tried to recruit User Researchers and although they had a category “researchers” the results seemed to indicate that the category was murky.
• Participant filtering criteria are preset and you can’t add screener questions

VIII. Qualitative Data Analysis & Research Repository Tools

Once you’ve collected data from a user study, a research repository or user research analysis tools can be used to organize and analyze it.

What is a UX research repository?

A UX research repository is like a digital library for all the things you learn about your users. It's one place where you keep all the valuable information from your research. This can include survey results, notes from interviews, descriptions of typical users, maps of how people use your product, and final reports. The great thing about a repository is that it keeps all your insights in one place where people can easily find and use them. This helps your team build on past research, see how things change over time, and make sure user insights are helping guide decisions across your company.

How do I create a UX repository?

Start by picking a tool that works for your team - this could be a special UX research platform or even a well-organized set of folders in your company's cloud storage. Decide how you want to arrange your research - maybe by project, type of research, or user group. Come up with clear rules for naming files and adding tags so things are easy to find later. Think about who needs to see or edit different types of information. As you add research to your repository, include details like when the research was done, how it was done, and what the main findings were.

What are the different types of research repository?

Research repositories come in different shapes and sizes to fit different team needs. Some teams use simple file systems like Google Drive or Dropbox to organize their research. Others might use a wiki-style tool like Confluence, which makes it easy to connect related pieces of information. There are also special UX research tools like Dovetail or Looppanel, which are designed just for this kind of work. Some teams even create their own custom databases.

What are the research analysis tools for UX?

UX researchers use various tools to analyze data and extract insights. For qualitative data, tools like Looppanel, Dovetail NVivo or ATLAS.ti help with coding and theme identification. Quantitative analysis might use statistical software or more user-friendly tools like Excel.

AI tools for UX research like Looppanel are increasingly popular, offering advanced analysis capabilities and insights.

Here’s a beginner’s guide to Research Repositories.

VI. Information Architecture testing tools

Information Architecture (IA) testing tools help researchers understand how users navigate and find information, ensuring a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.

11. Optimal Workshop

Optimal Workshop is an online platform specializing in testing website information architecture and usability.

Optimal Workshop is really good at card sorting and tree testing, which helps make website navigation better. It's easy to set up and gives detailed analysis to improve usability. However, it can be a bit tricky to use during actual testing activities.

Optimal Workshop offers three pricing plans. The Individual plan is $107/month billed annually, ideal for solo researchers, and includes 2 live studies, tree testing, and card sorting, with optional upgrades for surveys and prototype testing. The Teams plan, with custom pricing, adds features like qualitative insights and is designed for small teams. The Enterprise plan, also with custom pricing, includes advanced security, multiple workspaces, and dedicated support, making it suitable for larger organizations.

• The setup process is easy to follow.
• It's great for exploring how people connect different ideas.
• The card sorting and tree testing features are very strong.
• The pricing is expensive and not very flexible.
• It costs a lot to recruit test participants.
• Some people finish tests too quickly, so you have to spend extra time checking which responses are real.

12. UXtweak

Customer Rating: 4.8/5

UXtweak is a complete user research tool that offers many features to improve user experience through testing and analysis.

UXtweak provides a wide range of testing options, including tree testing, first-click testing, and card sorting. It’s easy setup and robust analytics allow for quick configuration and in-depth insights. However, the user interface for study setup could use modernization.

The Starter Plan is free and suitable for small-scale projects, while the Plus Plan costs $99 per month per seat, providing additional features for solo researchers. For larger teams and businesses, the Business Plan is available at $179 per month per seat, and customizable Enterprise Plans can be arranged by contacting their sales team. 

• It offers many different types of testing features.
• The setup is user-friendly.
• The analytics are powerful and let you filter results in many ways.
• You have flexible options for building tree tests.
• There can be delays when bringing in designs from other tools.
• It doesn't have its own pool of testers, so you need to find your own.

Customer Rating : 4.7/5

Miro is a versatile whiteboarding tool that can also be adapted for card sorting and visual organization of user research data.

Here’s a Miro template you can use for card sorting, for example.

While not specifically designed for card sorting, Miro offers great flexibility for organizing and analyzing user responses. Its collaborative features and templates make it a valuable tool for creating affinity maps and user stories.

Miro starts with a free plan, with paid plans from $10/month.

•  Supports open, closed, and hybrid card sorting
•  Real-time collaboration features
•  Flexible visual organization options
•  Not specifically designed for UX research
•  May require more setup time compared to dedicated tools
•  Limited analytics for card sorting activities

VII. Product analytics tools

Product analytics tools help businesses understand how users behave, track how much they use a product, and make decisions based on data to improve their digital products and user experiences.

Customer Rating : 4.6/5

Hotjar is a remote research tool that provides real-time user behavior insights through heatmaps and screen recordings.

Hotjar offers many features to understand user behavior, including heat maps, recordings of user sessions, and surveys within the product. It's easy to use and fairly priced, making it accessible for businesses of different sizes.

Hotjar offers a free plan for up to 35 daily sessions, with paid plans starting from $39 per month.

• The interface is easy to use.
• The heat maps show a lot of information.
• The recordings of user sessions are insightful.
• It has built-in tools for getting user feedback.
• It's affordable for small businesses.
• It doesn't work well with many other tools.
• It can't predict user behavior.
• The advanced features are expensive.
• It doesn't work well with some website frameworks.
• Some users have complained about customer service.

15. Kissmetrics

Kissmetrics is a platform for analyzing events that focuses on tracking user behavior and helping businesses get and keep customers.

Kissmetrics provides person-based analytics, allowing businesses to track individual user behavior across devices and sessions. Its features for analyzing user journeys and groups of users are particularly useful for understanding the customer experience and finding areas to improve.

Kissmetrics is billed per event ($0.0025/event) or offers custom plans starting at $25.99 per month for 10,000 events.

•  Person-based analytics for detailed user tracking
•  Funnel and cohort analysis capabilities
•  Multi-channel attribution
•  Wide range of integrations
•  Unified view of customer data
•  Poor data retention policy
•  Confusing user interface at times
•  Limited features in basic funnel reports
•  Relatively high pricing
•  Dated UI and management issues

16. Looppanel

Looppanel is a research analysis & repository product that records your user interviews and generates transcripts and AI-powered notes in minutes. On top of that, we auto-create affinity maps and excel-like views where you can analyze your user interviews with ease.

Not to brag, but if you’re wondering what’s the fastest and the most inexpensive UXR tool, we've had customers tell us Looppanel saved them 10 days analyzing user interviews!

‍ Looppanel's Review

Bit biased to review your own product, I suppose?

But here's the gist of it: if you care about speed to insight and want to leverage everything AI can do for you, Looppanel is the tool for you.

Looppanel has pricing plans to meet all budgets. If you're starting out with a small team, you can get going for as little as $30 / month.

Check out our complete pricing here.

• Looppanel’s transcription is one of the best on the market, with over 90% accuracy across accents and regions.
• Our AI-powered notes are 🤌 So if you don't have a note-taker, try Looppanel's AI notes and watch them shave off hours of analysis time.
• You can use Looppanel to collaboratively take notes with your team during user interviews.
• Instantly create and share clips of your user rage-clicking (much better than writing about it in a report)
• You can also get Looppanel to automatically tag data into common themes and issues.
• Most exciting? It lets you run Google-like search across your workspace to find any data snippet or quote!
• Looppanel does not solve recruiting today (but we have it on our minds for the future!), so you’ll need to recruit participants through some other means like User Interviews or your own panel.
• Only support audio and video recordings as data input at the moment (e.g., you can’t upload a CSV to the product)
• As one user told us, you might be overwhelmed by how easy we make your job.

If you’d like to try it for free, sign up here !

17. Dovetail

Customer Ratings: 4.4/5

Dovetail is a popular web-based platform that lets you organize research data, generate and tag transcripts, and collaborate with team members. It is built on the academic approach of qualitative data analysis.

Dovetail takes a very academic, time-consuming approach to research involving complex tagging taxonomies and manual analysis of transcripts. If you're expected to run project in a matter of weeks (or if you don't love re-reading transcripts), it can slow you down significantly.

However they do support multiple types of data if you're looking to store user interviews, excel sheets, and docs in one place.

Dovetail's pricing plans start with the Starter plan at $50/month for 5 users, offering 10 transcript hours, 50 GB storage, unlimited projects and viewers, and integrations like Google Drive and Zoom. The Team plan costs $375/month for 5 users, with 50 transcript hours, 100 GB storage, project templates, and global tags. The Business plan at $1,200/month for 10 users provides unlimited transcription, storage, custom branding, and security features.

The Enterprise plan at $4,200/month for 20 users includes all Business features plus custom data retention policies and dedicated support.

• Easy transcription of videos and audio.
• Ability to create complex tagging taxonomies and tag your transcripts with them.
• Ability to store participant data in Dovetail, allowing you to build a database of people you’ve spoken with.
• Import multiple kinds of data, from audio/video recordings to Excel sheets with survey results.
• There are some serious limitations on the way you can use the product—you can’t add notes on your transcript or analyze your data by questions in your discussion guide.
• Tagging taxonomies are complex and Dovetail requires you to build them and use them across your team of researchers, and across projects for the product to be useful.
• The starting plan has a limit on the transcriptions that you’ll quickly hit. Subsequent plans can be pricey (and their pricing plans keep changing!) 

18. EnjoyHQ

Customer Ratings: 3.8/5

This research repository tool enables UX researchers to store and organize data. With the EnjoyHQ tool, you can do unlimited transcriptions, upload files of all sizes and formats with no limit, get metrics insights from your team while using the research repository, and collaborate with multiple teams.

Looppanel's review

We are yet to find someone who truly loves EnjoyHQ. Almost no one we've spoken to actually uses it for analysis. Instead, teams seem to analyze in Miro or excel and use Enjoy purely as a repository.

It's not bad for storage, but it will require manual tagging to make data discoverable, which is additional work to add to your plate. It's also quite pricey if you don't use it for analysis.

One good thing though: Enjoy has a ton of integrations—UserTesting, UserZoom, Slack, email and more.

EnjoyHQ's starter plan is free, which is great! But as soon as you need to scale you have to speak to their sales team to get a quote (we all know that means $$$$).

EnjoyHQ's Start plan that includes unlimited transcription, 2 admin seats, data visualizations, video editing, unlimited research projects, and various integrations, all for free. The Grow plan, at $1,000/month (billed annually), expands to 10 seats, adds premium integrations, user management, and data export capabilities. The Scale plan provides all Grow features with 25 seats, unlimited integrations, API access, and personalized onboarding, with pricing available upon request.

• Variety of integrations—everything from UserZoom to Jira, to Typeform—this makes it easy to move data in or out of EnjoyHQ. 
• They start with a generous free plan which works well for a small team.
• Ironically, EnjoyHQ can be a bit clunky to use—the everyday experience of using the product can become frustrating for some users.
• Once you scale past the free plan, pricing gets expensive quickly.

19. Google Sheets

Customer Ratings: 4.7/5

Google Sheets is the default data analysis and storage platform for organizations around the world. In addition to systematically organizing your data, you can add graphs, use formulas, filter out irrelevant data etc.

One of the OG default tools—if all else fails, you’ve got Sheets (or Excel if you’re still there for some reason) .

‍ Looppanel's review

We love excel sheets. Really, truly.

However, they aren't built for user research so they come with some drawbacks:

• You can't link data in a cell to your recording or transcript. So if a team member took a note and you need to find out why, you'll have to start digging through transcripts and video recordings, hunting for the right quote.
• Creating an analysis view in excel takes a lot of work . You have to re-watch every call and take notes question by question, person by person. This is literally one of the reasons Looppanel was born—you have better things to do with your time than copy-pasting data into excel sheets!
• Your data is everywhere. Initially it may feel fine to analyze in excel but as you run more studies you're going to struggle to manage them. You'll recordings in a drive, transcripts (maybe) in another tool, notes in docs, excels for analysis, PPTs for presentations! Finding any historical data will start getting difficult very quickly.

Google Sheets offers a Personal plan with 15 GB of secure cloud storage and the ability to include up to 100 participants in video and voice conferencing, all for free. The Business Standard plan provides 2 TB of cloud storage and supports up to 150 participants in Google Meet, priced at $12 per user per month.

• The easiest tool to pick up because of its familiarity and flexibility. Your company is probably already paying for it, too!
• The ability to create graphs or quickly edit data is a plus
• Everyone on your team already knows how to use it—this makes collaboration easy
• Although Excel / Google Sheets are great, they’re not actually built for research. This means things break quickly when you’re trying to remember why you took a note (it’s not linked to your transcript!) or review data across calls.
• If you’re using Google Sheets, your data is being split across multiple tools—your recording is probably stored elsewhere, notes here, transcripts in a third place. This makes it hard to review calls because you have a jigsaw puzzle of apps and windows open at any point in time.
• It can be overwhelming for collaborators to jump into. They’ve not been analyzing the calls for days. Seeing rows and rows of data in Google Sheets can make their heads spin.

Customer Ratings: 4.6/5

FigJam lets you create and organise ideas on a canvas in sticky notes. In addition, you get to leverage a  range of templates, widgets and plugins as well as their integrations with Jira, Github and Asana to streamline your research analysis workflow. 

Sticky notes are beautiful. So pretty. So easy to visualize.

But much like excel, whiteboards like FigJam weren't built for User Research. And much like excel, you'll run into some recurring challenges with FigJam boards:

• You can't link data to your recording or transcript. So if a team member took a note and you need to find out why, you'll have to start digging through transcripts and video recordings, hunting for the right quote.
• Creating an analysis view in excel takes a lot of work . You have to re-watch every call and take notes question by question, person by person. This is literally one of the reasons Looppanel was born—you have better things to do with your time than copy-pasting data into sticky notes!
• Your data is everywhere. Initially it may feel fine to analyze in FigJam but as you run more studies you're going to struggle to manage them. You'll recordings in a drive, transcripts (maybe) in another tool, notes in docs, FigJam for analysis, PPTs for presentations! Finding any historical data will start getting difficult very quickly.

‍ Pricing ‍

Figma's Starter plan is free and includes 3 Figma and FigJam files, unlimited professional files and collaborators, and access to most plugins, templates, and widgets. The Professional plan, at $3 per editor per month, offers unlimited FigJam files, open sessions, audio conversations, and voting. The Organization plan, priced at $5 per editor per month, includes all Professional features plus plugin management and single sign-on.

• A great canvas for your team to collaboratively work on. It’s particularly good for visual people—you can see your data on stickies and move them around as needed. 
• You get a set of fun features like stamps, stickers, voting, and audio conversations so you can chat with teammates while you’re analyzing. 
• Not directly built for research, FigJam comes with its limitations. For one, your data is in a separate place compared to your recordings & transcripts, making it hard to jump back to moments or double-check a note.
• It can be overwhelming for users, especially in large studies. Imagine you’re faced with 500 sticky notes—it gets daunting pretty fast!

Better research ahead! Looppanel is an AI-powered product that makes user research 5x faster Try it for free by signing up here .

When it comes to UX research platforms, researchers are often faced with a difficult choice: should they opt for best-in-class tools that excel in specific areas, or go with an all-in-one solution that covers the entire research process? On one hand, using specialized tools for tasks like transcription, analysis, and recruiting can ensure that you're getting the highest quality results in each area. These tools are often more advanced and offer more features than their all-in-one counterparts.

However, using multiple tools can also lead to a disjointed workflow and make it harder to get a comprehensive view of your research. All-in-one platforms, on the other hand, offer a more seamless experience by integrating all of your research tasks into a single tool. The trade-off is that these platforms may not excel in any one area, providing a more generalist approach. As the market for UX research platforms continues to evolve, we can expect to see more tools that strike a balance between specialization and integration, offering the best of both worlds for researchers.

Are UX research tools suitable for small businesses?

Absolutely! UX research tools come in all shapes and sizes, and there are options suitable for businesses of any scale. For example, if you're running moderated studies, Looppanel offers transcription, analysis and repository features for as little as $30 / month. For unmoderated tests, you can start with Maze or UseBerry ’s free plan. Whether you're a scrappy startup or a well-established small business, there's a UX research tool out there that can help you gather valuable insights without breaking the bank.

What are the most common user research methods?

Some commonly used UX research methods include interviews, surveys, usability testing, card sorting, and A/B testing. By incorporating these user research tools and techniques into your design process, you'll be well-equipped to create exceptional user experiences that set your product apart from the competition.

Is data privacy a concern with UX research tools?

Data privacy is always a top priority when it comes to user research. Reputable UX research tools take data privacy seriously and have robust measures in place to protect user data. Specific security measures to look out for: GDPR compliance (especially if you’re in the EU), SOC2 compliance, and privacy policies that ensure your data will not be used to train AI models.  

Is Hotjar a UX tool?

Yes, Hotjar is a powerful UX research tool that allows you to track user behavior on your website or app. With features like heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback tools, Hotjar provides valuable insights into how users interact with your product. You can see where usability issues come up and users rage click most often! 

How to do UX research without users?

While it's always best to involve real users in your UX research, there are times when it's not possible or practical. In these cases, you can still gather valuable insights through methods like customer reviews, support tickets, competitive analysis, and heuristic evaluations. These techniques involve analyzing your product or competitors' products through the lens of established UX principles and best practices. It's not a perfect substitute for user feedback, but it can still provide actionable insights.

How do I get better at UX research?

The key to becoming a UX research pro is practice, practice, practice! Immerse yourself in the world of UX research by reading articles, attending workshops, and participating in online communities. Most importantly, get hands-on experience by conducting your own research projects, even if they're small-scale. The more you practice, the more confident and skilled you'll become. 

Can you do UX research remotely?

Absolutely! In fact, remote UX research has become increasingly popular, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UserInterviews.com State of User Research Report 2023 , 87% of people conduct a majority of their research remotely. Tools like Looppanel, UserZoom, dscout, and Maze make it easy to conduct remote user interviews, usability tests, and diary studies. With remote research, you can gather insights from users all over the world without ever leaving your home office.

Can AI replace UX Designers?

While UX research tools are incredibly valuable, can a UX research tool replace the need for skilled UX designers? Short answer: No. They cannot replace the need for skilled UX designers. These user research tools provide the data and insights, but it's the UX designer's expertise that transforms them into actionable strategies. As the market continues to grow, there are endless opportunities for innovation in UX research tools. By embracing the power of these tools and combining them with the skills of UX designers, businesses can unlock new levels of user understanding and create extraordinary experiences. 

What are UX research artifacts?

UX research artifacts are tangible outputs created during the research process using various user research tools and UX research tools. These include user personas, journey maps, affinity diagrams, usability test reports, and interview transcripts. Other common artifacts are survey results, site analytics reports, and prototype designs.

These artifacts, often created with the best user research tools, help researchers and designers communicate findings, track insights, and make informed decisions throughout the design process. UX research repository tools are essential for organizing and storing these artifacts effectively.

What is the difference between Dscout and Maze?

Dscout and Maze are both popular UX research tools, but they serve different purposes. Dscout is primarily a remote research platform for collecting in-the-moment insights through video, photos, and text responses. It's great for longitudinal studies and gathering rich, contextual data.

Maze, on the other hand, focuses on rapid testing of digital prototypes. It allows researchers to create task-based tests and collect quantitative data on user flows and success rates. Both are considered among the best tools for UX research.

What is UX research vs CX research?

UX research and CX research are related but focus on different aspects of user interaction. UX research concentrates on how users interact with a specific product or feature, looking at usability, accessibility, and overall experience. It often employs specialized user research analysis tools.

CX research takes a broader view, examining the entire customer journey with a brand. It might look at customer service interactions, brand perception, and loyalty. Both use various user experience research tools, but UX tends to be more product-focused while CX is more holistic and brand-focused.

How do you conduct UX research online?

Conducting UX research online has become common, offering many advantages. Start by using online survey tools for quantitative data. For qualitative insights, conduct remote interviews or focus groups using video conferencing tools. Many online UX research tools, such as UserTesting or Maze, allow for remote usability tests.

Card sorting and tree testing can be done online using specialized tools. For ongoing feedback, use website feedback widgets or intercept surveys. Don't forget to analyze existing data from web analytics tools. The key is to choose the right mix of online user research tools that align with your goals and provide a good experience for remote participants.

How much does a UX researcher cost?

The cost of a UX researcher varies based on experience, location, and employment type. In the US, entry-level researchers might earn $60,000-$80,000 annually, while experienced researchers can command over $150,000. Freelancers might charge $50 to $250 per hour.

For outsourced research, agencies typically charge $10,000 to $80,000 per project. While good research can be expensive, it often pays for itself by preventing costly design mistakes. Investing in the best UX research tools and AI tools for UX research can also impact overall costs and efficiency.

Where can I find users for UX research?

Finding the right users for UX research can be done through various channels. For existing products, start with your current user base. Online platforms like UserTesting or Respondent.io connect researchers with participants. Social media ads can target specific demographics.

For niche audiences, industry forums or specialized online communities are valuable. LinkedIn is useful for B2B products. Traditional methods like local community outreach can also work. Some companies maintain their own user panels. The key is to find participants who represent your target users, often using a combination of free UX research tools and paid platforms.

How do you measure user research?

Measuring user research involves both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative measurements might include task success rates, time-on-task, error rates, or satisfaction scores. You can also track metrics like the number of usability issues identified and cost savings from early problem-fixing.

Qualitative measurements might assess the depth of user understanding gained or the impact of findings on design decisions. It's also important to measure business impact, such as increased user engagement or improved conversion rates. User research analysis tools and UX research AI tools can help in this process, providing deeper insights and more efficient analysis.

What is the best equipment for UX design?

The best equipment for UX design includes both hardware and software. Hardware typically involves a powerful computer with a large, high-resolution display, possibly a graphics tablet, and good quality audio-visual equipment for remote work.

Software tools are crucial and include design tools like Figma or Sketch, prototyping tools like InVision, and various user research tools. UX research repository tools are important for organizing findings. The "best" equipment often depends on specific needs and workflows, but investing in quality tools for UX research can significantly improve efficiency and output quality.

How do you organize UX research data?

Organizing UX research data is crucial for accessibility and actionability. Start with a clear folder structure in cloud storage or a dedicated research repository. Use consistent naming conventions and tag data with relevant categories for easy searching.

Keep raw data separate from analyzed insights, but ensure they're linked. Create standardized templates for research reports. Use collaborative tools to share insights across the team. Regular data audits help maintain organization. UX research repository tools are invaluable in this process, offering specialized features for organizing and accessing research data efficiently.

What software do user researchers use?

User researchers employ a wide range of software throughout the research process. This includes project management tools, survey platforms, remote user testing software, video conferencing tools, and data analysis software. Popular choices include UserTesting, Maze, Zoom, NVivo, and SPSS.

For creating and sharing research repositories, tools like Dovetail or EnjoyHQ are gaining popularity. Prototyping tools and analytics platforms are also commonly used. The specific combination often depends on the researcher's needs and preferences, but typically includes a mix of user research tools, UX research tools, and increasingly, AI tools for UX research.

How do I choose the best UX research method?

What you want to learn? Are you trying to understand how people behave, what they think, or if a specific feature works well? Also, consider where you are in your design process. At the start, you might want to do interviews or watch people use similar products. Later, you might test your own designs or do surveys. Remember to think about how much time and money you have. Often, it's good to use a mix of methods to get a full picture of what your users experience.

What is an example of user research in UX?

Let's say a team is working on a banking app for phones. They might start by talking to people about how they handle money and what problems they have with their current bank apps. Then, they could ask people to group banking features to see how users think they should be organized. As they make early versions of the app, they'd probably watch people try to do things like send money or pay bills. They might use surveys to get feedback on new features from lots of users. They could also use tools that show where people click most often or track where their eyes look on the screen. All of this helps them understand what users need and how they use the app.

User researchers employ various methods, each suited to different goals and design stages. Common methods include interviews, surveys, usability testing, card sorting, tree testing, contextual inquiry, A/B testing, focus groups, and diary studies. Analytics and heatmaps offer quantitative data on digital product interactions.

The best user research tools and UX research tools support these methods, offering features for data collection, analysis, and reporting. Online user research tools have made many of these methods more accessible and efficient. The best research often combines multiple methods, leveraging both traditional approaches and newer techniques enabled by advanced tools for UX research.

Table of Contents

Get the best resources for UX Research, in your inbox

More from looppanel, a definitive guide to the ux research repository [2024].

AI Usability Testing: Methods, Tools and Reviews

AI UX Design: Revolutionizing User Experience with Artificial Intelligence

How to use AI in UX Design & Research

9 Best AI tools for UX Designers

Top 5 Tools for AI Thematic Analysis in 2024