18 Best UX Research Tools & Platforms in 2023

So, you are looking to change your current UX research software? Or you are just starting with your user research journey and trying to pick the right platform for your projects? Don’t worry, you’re in the right place to choose from the best UX research tools on the market today!

We spent hours researching and reviewing the best user research tools available, so there’s no way you won’t have a favorite after reading this article.

Without further ado, here is our list ⬇️

List of 18 Best UX Research Tools in 2023:

1. UXtweak
2. Userbrain
3. UserTesting
4. Optimizely
5. Lookback
6. CrazyEgg
7. UserZoom
8. Hotjar
9. UsabilityHub
10. Loop11
11. Optimal Workshop
12. Maze
13. Userlytics
14. PlaybookUX
15. UXarmy
16. Userfeel
17. TryMyUI (Trymata)
18. Useberry

In the article below, you will find a comprehensive comparison of the best UX research tools. For each UX research tool we will provide:

• List of features
• Pros and cons
• Reviews
• Pricing

At the end, you will also find a List of Free UX Research Tools.

We’ve also put together a handy comparison table, to ease the process of choosing the ideal option and save some time for you. We’ve compared their overall rating, ease of use, quality of support, and pricing. The comparison below is based on the tool’s user ratings from the well-renowned review site Capterra.

1. UXtweak

UXtweak is an all-in-one UX research tool that has grown a lot. It has all of the capabilities to take advantage of almost any research method to cover all your research needs.

The comprehensive set of remote user research tools to collect user insights, and advanced analytics options to recruit research participants, combined with a great UI, that is easy to understand even for a complete beginner – UXtweak has everything you need for your research projects and more.

Features:

• Website Usability Testing Tool 
• Session Recording with Website Heatmaps (Click, Scroll, Move, Tap)
• Mobile App Usability Testing
• Prototype Testing (Figma, Invision, Axure)
• Tree Testing Tool
• Card Sorting Tool
• Preference Tests
• 5 Second Test
• First Click Test
• Online surveys
• Competitive Usability Testing

💡Tip: Try the new feature called Own Database – a CRM-like tool for your user research projects. The tool allows you to easily manage your participants and invite them into any UXtweak. Perfect if you have a base of existing users.

Last but not least Onsite Recruiting widget with a built-in solution for participant incentives and the 155M+ participant pool – User Panel are additional useful features that will save you from participant recruiting struggles.

Try UXtweak user testing tools as a respondent in these demos ⬇️

Try Website Usability Testing 🔥

Website Testing

Try Prototype Usability Testing ✅

Prototype Testing

Pros:

• UXtweak allows you to do as many usability tests as you like.
• For smaller tasks, there is a free plan available, or you may design a custom plan to meet your needs.
• Even a total newbie will find it simple to use.
• It provides powerful analytics that are simple to understand and digest into actionable insights.

Cons:

• Supports only 10 languages

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.9/5

Ease of Use – 4.8/5

Customer Service – 5/5

Pricing

UXtweak offers a free starting plan that includes an unlimited number of live studies and no study time restrictions, making it ideal for smaller research projects.

You may also choose between Plus plan aimed at solo researchers for $80 per month (annual billing) or a Business plan with up to 11 seats. If that is not enough you can get your custom Enterprise plan tailored to your specific requirements.

UXtweak caught your attention? Try it!

Effective user research tools for improving the UX of your products, from prototypes to production, website or mobile.

Try for free

2. Userbrain

Another option for a UX research tool is Userbrain. Test anything, ask questions, and get results in the form of their voice-over videos. You may also annotate the recordings, tag them for better organizing, and share links with your coworkers. Userbrain is famous for its flexible non-committing pricing model. A good option for remote research.

Features:

1. Website Testing
2. Automate User Testing

Pros:

• Provides access to a pool of vetted research participants

Cons:

• Missing live test session
• Adding in-team testers costs $49 per month.

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.3/5

Ease of Use – 4.6/5

Customer Service – 4.6/5

Pricing

 Or $299/month for a Pro plan or $2990/year. They also offer a pay-as-you-go option, where you can pay $39/per tester.

3. UserTesting

UserTesting is one of the oldest UX research tools on the market that is very famous for its large User Panel. Insight Core, Product Insight, and Marketing Insight are their three main products. When utilized together, these three components may help with practically any type of research process.

Features:

1. Website testing
2. Mobile application testing
3. Prototype testing
4. Card sort & Tree test
5. Preference test
6. 5 second test
7. Survey tool
8. 1:1 interviews with testers

Pros:

• Allows you to talk to your testers while they’re using your site
• Instant insights
• Advanced targeting

Cons:

• Expensive plans
• Weak reports
• Lots of non-qualified testers
• The small non-English speaking user base

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.5/5

Ease of Use – 4.4/5

Customer Service – 4.4/5

Pricing

Upon request, starting at $30,000K/year. Annual subscription only.

If you are looking for similar tools, visit our list of UserTesting alternatives.

4. Optimizely

Optimizely’s most well-known feature is A/B testing. One of the most tempting characteristics of their user research software is the ease with which new studies can be created. Everything is immediately available on the user’s dashboard. It’s very fast and efficient.

Features:

1. A/B testing
2. Multivariate Testing
3. Tracking of clicks and conversations

Pros:

• A variety of tools for managing the workflow of many teams within the application
• For designers, Optimizely provides a visual editor, as well as a number of extensions, APIs, and code choices
• Additional user accounts may be simply created, as well as project organization

Cons:

• No free plan
• Small feature list

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.5/5

Ease of Use – 4.3/5

Customer Service – 4.4/5

Pricing

There is no pricing available online. For the full-price list, you need to contact Optimizely directly.

5. Lookback

Another user testing platform you may want to try is Lookback. They specialize in moderated and unmoderated user tests. It’s a great option when you already have the testers for your study, as they don’t provide any help with recruiting test participants.

Features:

1. Offers stakeholder observations – Lookback allows multiple people to observe your study and even take their own notes.
2. Live broadcasts – Lookback has a specific feature you can use for broadcasting your studies to colleagues and discussing them in live mode.
3. Unlimited participants

Pros:

• All of its plans come with a 14-day trial period.
• Compatible with Native Apps
• The ability to timestamp and write notes during the recordings

Cons:

• Poor connection – Noted by multiple users, connection drops might happen from time to time.
• No user panel – Lookback might be the right tool for you when you already have the participants for your research, as they don’t offer help with that.
• Problems with the mobile version and IOS testing

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 3.3/5

Ease of Use – 3.5/5

Customer Service – 2.1/5

Pricing

Lookback doesn’t have a free plan, however, they do offer a free 60-day trial. After that their prices start from $25 per month with a limit of 10 sessions per year. Their professional “Insights Hub” plan is $344 per month (annual billing).

6. CrazyEgg

CrazyEgg is a usability testing and website optimization tool that uses a click-based interface. It enables you to generate heat maps and track your website visitors’ every move. CrazyEgg helps you understand your customers’ journey on your website by using Snapshots and Recordings.

Features:

1. Snapshot reporting 
2. Heatmaps and scroll maps 
3. Session recordings 
4. Demo dashboard

Pros:

• Set up 30-day trials on all of its plans quickly and easily.
• Allows traffic from ad campaigns to be analyzed.
• 30-day money-back guarantee 

Cons:

• No free trial 
• Limited usability testing tools

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.5/5

Ease of Use – 4.5/5

Customer Service – 4.1/5

Pricing

Its basic plan starts at $29/month, billed annually. 

7. UserZoom

UserZoom is a UX research tool for doing enterprise-level user experience research and testing. It may be used to test prototypes and websites, follow the activities of remote testers, do market research, and more. It allows you to personalize your plan by adding a choice of extra features based on your requirements.

Features:

1. Usability testing
2. Interviews
3. Click Testing
4. Participant Recruitment

Pros:

• Unlimited screening questions
• Large user panel
• Great reports and analytics

Cons:

• Not recommended for individuals or small businesses.
• Pricey
• Can be hard to use  – The UI of the platform is known to be a little complicated and not the most intuitive for a complete beginner.
• Though detailed, study instructions can sometimes be confusing
• No free trial plans 

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.4/5

Ease of Use – 4.5/5

Customer Service – 4.7/5

Pricing

Upon request, starting at $70,000/year.

Can’t decide between UserTesting and UserZoom? Read our comparison.

8. Hotjar

Hotjar is a user feedback platform that combines a variety of analytics tools and capabilities with a variety of feedback choices. Their products allow you to conduct usability testing on your app or website while also providing actionable behavioral data. It can keep track of and display clicks, motions, and scrolling. Viewing visitor logs allows you to see how people behave on your website in real-time.

Features:

1. Heatmaps
2. Visitor recordings
3. Conversion funnels
4. Feedback polls
5. Incoming feedback

Pros:

• Attributes and triggers that help you target effectively
• There is no limit to the number of people on your team that may access the platform because each feature has an unlimited number of replies

Cons:

• Limited feature set compared to other UX research tools. 
• Doesn’t offer user recruitment tools

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.7/5

Ease of Use – 4.6/5

Customer Service – 4.5/5

Pricing

Up to 35 sessions per day, unlimited heatmaps, and 1,050 recordings per month are all included in Hotjar’s basic free subscription. The fee-based plans start from $32.

Since the focus of HotJar is mostly on session recording and heatmaps you might

9. UsabilityHub

UsabilityHub is a remote user research platform based in Australia that delivers rapid customer experience feedback using a variety of research methods.

Features:

1. First Click Test
2. Survey
3. Preference Test
4. Five Second Test

Pros:

• Built-in participant panel
• Free starter plan

Cons:

• Textual response to study questions
• Can’t observe how the participants engage with the product

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.7/5

Ease of Use – 4.8/5

Customer Service – 4.8/5

Pricing

Free starter plans offer you the option to test up to 2 minutes long. For basic tests and solo researchers, the plan starts at $89 per month (billed annually). 

10. Loop 11

Australian-born, Loop 11 is also a great user research tool you should definitely look at. They offer comprehensive reports and different types of usability tests. This platform makes it easy to engage with users, get to know them better and collect user feedback.

Features:

1. Heat maps and clickstream analysis
2. Testing of live websites or prototypes
3. Benchmarking 

Pros:

• 14-day trial uses for all  plans
• Supports desktop, mobile, and tablet devices

Cons:

• Participants must be brought by the users, no participant recruitment support
• People must first download the Loop11 app to participate.
• In comparison to other plans, this one is more pricey.

Reviews & ratings

Overall rating – 4.5/5 on G2.

Pricing

Starts at $179/month for the Rapid Insights plan if billed annually.

11. Optimal Workshop

Another UX research tool you might want to consider for your research studies is Optimal Workshop. It offers 5 powerful tools that can help to streamline your user research strategy and to collect insights, valuable insights.

Features:

1. Card Sorting
2. Tree Testing
3. First Click Testing
4. Surveys
5. Qualitative research

Compare Optimal Workshop with UXtweak.

Pros:

• Easy recruiting from their 50M+ User Panel

Cons:

• The pricing model is not flexible enough and can be expensive for some people.
• Only available in English.

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.4/5

Ease of Use – 4.4/5

Customer Service – 5/5

Pricing

A free plan is available. The paid solution starts at $153/month (billed annually). 

12. Maze

Maze is UX research platform renowned for its rich set of UX resources. It is a great tool that enables agile teams to gather insights, learn, and take action quickly.

Features:

1. Prototype Testing
2. Survey
3. 5 Second Testing
4. Card Sorting 
5. Tree testing

Pros:

• 70K+ User Panel to recruit participants from
• Easy collaboration with colleagues

Cons:

• Basic analytics for your studies
• Surveying capabilities of Maze are limited

Maze is a great tool for more basic user research and product discovery. If you are looking for more advanced features you might find a suitable solution in our Maze alternatives.

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.0/5

Ease of Use – 4.2/5

Customer Service – 3.5/5

Pricing

Free plan available. The pro plan is $75/month (billed annually).

13. Userlytics

Userlytics are renowned for their rich feature set and reasonable pricing structure. Apart from the fact that their UI is rather outdated, it’s a great platform to keep in mind, especially if the tool’s visual aspects aren’t vital to you.

Features:

1. Moderated & Unmoderated Usability Testing
2. User Testing for Mobile Apps
3. Prototype testing
4. Card Sorting 
5. Tree testing

Pros:

• You can purchase automatic, multilingual, AI-generated transcriptions of your user tests.
• 1M+ User Panel to recruit participants from

Cons:

• Out-dated UI
• No PDF reports are available

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.6/5

Ease of Use – 4.5/5

Customer Service – 4.9/5

Pricing

$49/participant, but you can create a customized plan to suit your project’s needs. The cheapest plan is $499/month (billed annually).

14. PlaybookUX

A cloud-based user experience (UX) testing service called PlaybookUX aids companies of all sizes in capturing and examining client interactions with products, websites, and prototypes. They provide a handy pay-as-you-go option in addition to a 7-day free trial.

Features:

1. Moderated and Unmoderated usability testing
2. Prototype Testing
3. Mobile app testing
4. Card sorting 
5. Tree testing

Pros:

• Intuitive UI
• Flexible pricing 

Cons:

• No user panel available
• No free plan

Reviews & ratings

According to  G2:

Overall score – 4.6/5

Ease of Use – 9/10

Customer Service – 9.6/10

Pricing

Pro Plan Starting from: $228.00/month (annual billing)

Pay-as-you-go: $49.00/feature

15. UXarmy

UX research tool designed to aid user researchers, designers, and anyone involved in the development of online products.

Features:

1. Moderated and Unmoderated usability testing
2. Prototype testing
3. Mobile app testing
4. Card sorting
5. Tree testing

Pros:

• Intuitive, but outdated UI
• Fast setup

Cons:

• No way to preview the test before sending it out
• No user panel

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.3/5

Ease of Use – 4.3/5

Customer Service – 4.1/5

Pricing

In UXArmy you pay for the specific tool you choose, not the whole platform. The prices for the tools start from $59/month and go up to $99. Some of the tools go together with a free plan, some only allow a free trial.

16. Userfeel

A usability testing tool called Userfeel provides videos of user interviews with actual people talking about their experiences using your website or app.

Features:

1. Moderated usability testing
2. Unmoderated usability testing

Pros:

• 150K user panel to recruit from
• Voice Transcription

Cons:

• You have to pay $30 to bring your own testers

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 4.5/5

Ease of Use – 4.5/5

Customer Service – 4.0/5

Pricing

There are no plans. You only pay either for recruiting from their user panel or bringing your own participants. The prices start at $30/respondent and go up to $120/respondent, depending on the testing method you choose. Try reading about Userfeel alternatives to get a better grasp of what the current market offers.

17. TryMyUI (Trymata)

TryMyUI, now rebranded as Trymata is a UX research platform offering quick, thorough, and affordable usability testing services that can fit into any company’s schedule and workflow.

Features:

1. Moderated and unmoderated usability testing
2. Prototype testing
3. Mobile app testing

Pros:

• 500K user panel to recruit from

Cons:

• Poor customer support
• Outdated UI
• No free plan

Reviews & ratings

According to Capterra:

Overall score – 3.5/5

Ease of Use – 3.1/5

Customer Service – 2.8/5

Pricing

The cheapest option is $333 per month if billed annually. If that is outside of your budget, take a look at TryMyUI alternatives.

18. Useberry

Useberry, a user experience startup with Greek roots, offers a variety of remote testing tools that can support your research activities. This platform is mostly focused on codeless prototype analytics.

Features:

1. Single task testing
2. Five second testing
3. Card sorting
4. Tree testing
5. First click test
6. Surveys
7. Usability testing
8. Prototype testing

Pros:

• Integrates with 5 different prototyping tools: Figma, Invision, Marvel, Adobe XD, Sketch
• They offer a User Panel you can recruit from

Cons:

• The user panel is quite small compared to other platforms (290K)

Pricing

Free plan available.

Prices for their paid solutions start from $33/month (annual billing). The most popular Pro plan is $67. 

Free UX research software in 2023

Out of the 18 UX research tools we evaluated, 6 offer usable free plans you helpful when conducting your research. Please keep in mind that the free plans will come with limitations but are great if you are just starting out or if you need to evaluate research software to pick the best solution for your specific needs.

Here are the research platforms offering free plans in 2023 that are worth a try in our opinion.

6 Free UX Research Tools (that have usable plans)

1. UXtweak
2. Hotjar
3. UsabilityHub
4. Optimal Workshop
5. Maze
6. Useberry

Have you found your favorite user research tool?

We understand that searching for the best UX research tool might take hours and days. However, hopefully, our list of the top user research and usability testing tools helped you with making your decision.

UX research is a complex process of gathering and analyzing data, conducted through various methods. Therefore, it is extremely important to choose the right tools with a rich feature set, that will assist you on the way.

Why not try it now? In case UXtweak made it to your final selection, create a free account or book a demo call, so you are all set for the year 2023. 

Streamline your UX research with UXtweak

Effective user research tools for improving the UX of your products, from prototypes to production.

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