Knowing your customers is essential for thriving in today’s market. The right customer research tools can provide invaluable insights into their needs and behaviors.
A significant portion of global market research expenditure is allocated towards customer relationship management (CRM) and customer satisfaction surveys. Surprisingly, more than 70% of market research funds are distributed across five key sectors: CRM and customer satisfaction surveys (20.7%), user experience surveys (14.2%), audience research (13.4%), usage and behavioral studies (11.7%), and market measurement (11.6%).
In this article, we’ll explore 18 exceptional customer research tools, each crafted to facilitate efficient data collection and analysis. Whether through surveys or consumer behavior analysis, these will help you make well-informed, data-led choices and maintain a competitive edge.
Best 18 Customer Research Tools
Whether you’re trying to understand your customers’ preferences and ever-evolving needs, trying to outperform your competitors, or trying to stand out in the online market, having the right customer research tools is essential. It will make your workflow seamless and efficient. It’ll also help you come up with a marketing strategy.
Here are the 18 best customer research tools that caught our attention and made a positive impression ✨
- UXtweak
- Google Analytics
- Outfunnel
- SurveySparrow
- Hotjar
- Zendesk
- ClickTale
- ClickSuccess
- Medallia
- Drift
- Survey Point
- Glassbox
- Insight 7
- Indeemo
- Marvin
- Forsta
- Figpii
- SciNote
For each customer research tool, we compared:
- Features
- Pros and cons
- User reviews
- Pricing
📋 We use a table to evaluate each of these tools based on the reviews from Capterra:
Rating | Ease of Use | Quality of Support | Pricing | |
UXtweak | 4.8/5 | 4.7/5 | 5.0/5 | ✓ Free plan Plus plan - $59 per month |
Google Analytics | 4.7/5 | 4.1/5 | 4.1/5 | The tool is completely free |
Outfunnel | 4.9/5 | 4.9/5 | 5.0/5 | ✓ Free plan Premium plans - start at $29 per month |
SurvySparrow | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 | ✓ Free plan The paid plan starts at $19/month |
Hotjar | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 | 4.5/5 | ✓ Free plan The paid plan starts at $39/month |
Zendesk | 4.7/5 | 4.4/5 | 4.5/5 | ✓ Free trial Basic plan starts at $19/month |
ClickTale | 4.4/5 | 3.8/5 | 4.1/5 | ✓ Free trial The pricing is available upon request |
ClickSuccess | 4.3/5 | 3.3/5 | 3.8/5 | The paid plan starts at $600 |
Medallia | 4.5/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.3/5 | Pricing is available per request |
Drift | 4.5/5 | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 | Pricing is available upon request |
Survey Point | 4.4/5 | 3.8/5 | 4.1/5 | ✓ Free plan The paid plan starts at $60/month |
Glassbox | 5.0/5 | 4.9/5 | 5.0/5 | pricing is available upon request |
Insight 7 | 4.5/5 | 4.3/5 | 4.6/5 | ✗ No free plan The pricing starts at $29/month |
Indeemo | 4.6/5 | 4.7/5 | 5.0/5 | Indeemo pricing is available upon request |
Marvin | 4.6/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.9/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plans start from $2500 per year |
Forsta | 4.1/5 | 3.8/5 | 3.9/5 | The price is available upon request |
Figpii | 4.8/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.9/5 | ✗ No free plan The paid plan is $49.99/month |
SciNote | 4.2/5 | 4.4/5 | 4.8/5 | ✓ Free plan The paid plan is available per request |
1. UXtweak
UXtweak is one of the best customer research tools in the market. It offers powerful survey-building and customer feedback-collecting, market research tools for businesses of all sizes. It helps you understand your potential customers and collect valuable insight to help you improve your product to suit their needs.
Features
- Intuitive survey builder
- Immense customization features
- NPS survey option to see how customers rate your company
- Survey analysis tools
- Conditional logic
Try UXtweak’s survey tool in these demos ⬇️
Pros
- Save respondent information and responses in your database to use as CRM for your future surveys
- Session recording
- Card sorting
Cons
- Only supports 14 languages
Reviews
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.8/5
Ease of Use – 4.7/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
Pricing & Plans
UXtweak offers a free plan along with a paid plan for $59 per month.
2. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is one of the best market research platforms. Its key function is to offer insights into consumer behavior and interactions and gather feedback and preferences. It has a centralized dashboard that offers simplified overviews and reports.
To figure out market trends and patterns in the industry, it leverages machine learning. It recognizes what users prioritize and has the most revenue-generating potential and adds that into the report.
Features
- Automation and analytics
- Intelligent reporting
- Data collection and management
- Advanced data governance
Pros
- Easy to use
- Powerful data analysis and reporting tools
- Incredibly flexible and adaptable in all sorts of industries
- Fast data processing
- Integrates Google trends
Cons
- Some features have regional restrictions
- It can require lengthy troubleshooting
Reviews
Overall – 4.7/5
Ease of Use – 4.1/5
Quality of Support – 4.1/5
Pricing & plans
Google Analytics is a completely free tool.
3. Outfunnel
Outfunnel is a popular customer research tool thanks to its sync feature, which syncs data between market research tools and CRMs. It stores your sales and marketing data, making it a valuable tool for customer research.
Features
- Syncs marketing contacts
- Automatically shares user engagements
- Web tracking
Pros
- Intuitive
- Automation features
- Easy to set up
- Bang for the buck
Cons
- Lack of customization options
- Lacks several features offered by competitors
Reviews
Overall – 4.9/5
Ease of Use – 4.9/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
Pricing & plans
Outfunnel plans start at $29 per month.
4. SurveySparrow
SurveySparrow offers a unique customer research solution by making customer feedback engaging, which in turn enhances the user experience of your target audience. It’s one of the most popular tools for market research.
Features
- Creates engaging feedback surveys
- Provides a wide range of customization options
- In-depth customer feedback analysis
Pros
- Offers an intuitive UI
- Various survey customization options
- Shares form on social media platforms
Cons
- Limited features on the free plan
- Limited question types
Reviews
The ratings below are solely based on Typeform reviews from Capterra.
Overall: 4.4/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.4/5
Pricing & Plans
SurveySparrow has a forever-free plan with limited features. The paid plan starts at $19/month.
5. Hotjar
Hotjar is one of the best user behavior analytics and market research tools that’s widely used for customer research. It gives you valuable customer insights in an intuitive visual way. Use this to collect feedback from the target audience and enhance your product development.
Features
- Surveys
- Session recording
- Feedback collection
- Heat maps
- Highlights
- User interviews
Pros
- Easy setup process
- Affordable
- Intuitive and simple UI
Cons
- Slow loading times
- It is difficult to interpret user data
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.7/5
Ease of Use – 4.6/5
Quality of Support – 4.5/5
Pricing & Plans
It has a free plan. The paid plan starts at $39/month.
6. Zendesk
Zendesk is a great customer research tool that offers various useful features. With its robust reporting and analytics, Zendesk helps monitor key performance indicators and measure customer satisfaction. Its seamless integration with other CRM systems and third-party apps enhances research capabilities, providing valuable consumer insights to improve the customer experience and business strategy.
Features
- Seamless integration with other research tools
- Pipeline management
- Provides a unified platform
Pros
- Limited customizability
- Not fit for massive businesses
Reviews
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.7/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.5/5
Pricing & Plans
Their basic plan starts at $19/month.
7. ClickTale (Contentsquare now)
ClickTale is a customer research tool specializing in website analytics. It also offers advanced features like replay and session recordings. This tool can help you narrow down your areas of improvement, leading to conversion optimization, and making it one of the most popular tools for market research.
Features
- Survey Analytics
- Session recording and replay
- Conversion funnels
- Heatmaps
Pros
- Incredible reporting capabilities
- Advanced filtering
Cons
- Lack of free plan
- Counter intuitive UI
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.4/5
Ease of Use – 3.8/5
Quality of Support – 4.1/5
Pricing & Plans
ClickTale’s pricing is available upon request.
8. ClickSuccess
ClickSuccess is a cloud-based customer research solution. It offers deep business insights into customer preferences and behaviors. It streamlines your data collection and competitive analysis. This helps you understand your customers better, which will help you make better business decisions.
Features
- Robust analytics features
- Comprehensive data collection
- Comprehensive reporting
Pros
- Intuitive, user-friendly interface
- Incredible analytics capabilities
- Detailed customer journey insights
Cons
- Complex setup process
- Dependencies in integration
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.3/5
Ease of Use – 3.3/5
Quality of Support – 3.8/5
Pricing & Plans
The paid plan starts at $600.
9. Medallia
Medallia is a customer research solution that collects, analyzes, and manages valuable customer insights. It leverages AI and machine learning technologies to analyze data and prioritize insights. It also uses Google Trends to prioritize insights.
Features
- Real-time feedback collection
- Comprehensive analytics
- Integration capabilities
- Digital experience insights
- Role-based reporting and dashboards
Pros
- Offers in-depth information on every question presented to the customer
- Advanced filter capabilities
- Offers visual representation of the data
Cons
- Occasional system experiences
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.5/5
Quality of Support – 4.3/5
Pricing & Plans
Pricing is available per request.
10. Drift
Drift is an AI-powered customer research platform. This tool listens, understands, and offers individualized human experiences throughout the customer’s buying journey. It analyzes customer behavior and conversational data, increasing your revenue, and helping you devise the perfect marketing strategy.
Features
- Extensive customization
- Comprehensive data management and reporting
- Customer-facing Chatbot
Pros
- Ease of use
- Personalized interactions with customers
- Seamless integration
Cons
- Complex backend UI
- Customer service can be improved
- Steep learning curve
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.4/5
Pricing & Plans
Pricing is available upon request.
11. Survey Point
Create engaging surveys, validate ideas, and research your customers to understand your audience and improve your product. Increase your engagement and retain your customers.
Features
- Comprehensive tracking and competitive analysis
- Extensive customization options
- Graphical data representation
Pros
- Extensive tracking and reporting capabilities
- Sleek interactive UI
- Extensive customization
Cons
- Limited optimization
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.4/5
Ease of Use – 3.8/5
Quality of Support – 4.1/5
Pricing & Plans
Survey Point offers a free plan. The paid plan starts at $60/month.
12. Glassbox
Glassbox is a data collection and analytics tool used for customer research for your business. It offers deep insight to help you improve your products and services, increasing customer adaptation.
Features
- Customer journey analytics
- Session replay
- Error and struggle analysis
- Mobile app analysis
- Advanced data management
Pros
- View sessions
- Offers deep, insightful customer data
- Locates data, references, and reviews IPs
Cons
- Limited session replays
- Can’t segment session recording by IP address
- Filters face occasional issues
Reviews
The ratings below are based solely on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall Score – 5.0/5
Ease of Use – 4.9/5
Customer Service – 5.0/5
Pricing & Plans
Glassbox’s pricing is available upon request.
13. Insight 7
Insight 7 is a powerful customer research tool designed to help businesses understand their customers through advanced analytics and data visualization. It offers a comprehensive suite of features that facilitate the collection, analysis, and interpretation of customer data, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and enhance customer satisfaction.
Pros
- Insight 7 provides robust analytics capabilities, allowing businesses to gain deep insights into customer behavior and preferences.
- The tool features intuitive data visualization options, making it easier to interpret complex data and identify key trends.
- Users can create customized dashboards to monitor specific metrics and performance indicators relevant to their business needs.
- Insight 7 integrates seamlessly with various CRM and marketing tools, offering a centralized platform for all customer data.
- The tool generates detailed reports that help businesses understand customer trends and improve their decision-making processes.
Cons
- Initial setup and integration can be complex, requiring significant time and technical expertise.
- Insight 7 may be expensive for small businesses or startups with limited budgets, particularly when opting for advanced features.
- While user-friendly, the tool’s advanced features may require some time for new users to fully master.
- The extensive data provided can be overwhelming without a dedicated analytics team to interpret it effectively.
- The tool’s effectiveness relies heavily on integrating with existing CRM and marketing systems.
Reviews
The ratings below are based solely on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall Score – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.3/5
Customer Service – 4.6/5
Pricing & Plans
The pricing starts at $29/month. Lacks a free plan.
14. Indeemo
Indeemo is an innovative video research tool that helps businesses gain qualitative insights into customer behavior and preferences. By enabling users to capture, share, and analyze video feedback, Indeemo offers a rich, immersive understanding of customer experiences, making it an invaluable asset for market research and customer engagement strategies.
Features
- Allows customers to capture video diaries on mobile devices, providing authentic, in-the-moment insights.
- Offers a user-friendly interface with customizable dashboards for easy data visualization and analysis.
- Facilitates detailed analysis with features like video annotation and tagging.
- Ensures the security and confidentiality of customer data with robust encryption and storage solutions.
- Seamlessly integrates with other research and CRM tools to provide a comprehensive view of customer insights.
Pros
- Video feedback provides deeper, more nuanced insights compared to traditional surveys.
- Engages participants more effectively by allowing them to share their experiences in a personal and expressive manner.
- It enables businesses to gather and analyze feedback quickly, facilitating timely decision-making.
- Offers flexible tools and features tailored to specific research needs and objectives.
Cons
- Some users may find the platform’s advanced features complex and difficult to master initially.
- It requires good internet bandwidth for uploading and managing video content, which might be a limitation for some users.
- It might be more expensive than other traditional research tools, potentially making it less accessible for smaller businesses.
Reviews
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.7/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
Pricing & Plans
Indeemo pricing is available upon request.
15. Marvin
Marvin is a qualitative data analysis platform for customer research. It centralizes customer data so you can access all important insights.
Features
- Advanced AI
- Automation of data collection
- A wide range of analytical tools
Pros
- Intuitive UI
- Advanced AI features
- Data automation
- Incredible analytical tools
Cons
- Limited features
Reviews
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.9/5
Quality of Support – 4.9/5
Pricing & Plans
Marvin’s plans start from $2500 per year.
16. Forsta
Frosta is a customer research and experience tool for surveying and advanced analytics to help you enhance your products and customer services by gathering feedback from your target audience.
Features
- Survey creation
- Advanced question logic
- Data analysis
- Multimedia integration
- Real-time reporting
Pros
- Real-time reporting and analytics
- Drag-and-drop survey creation
- Great customer support
Cons
- Tricky permission controls
- Lack of flexibility in pricing
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.1/5
Ease of Use – 3.8/5
Quality of Support – 3.9/5
Pricing & plans
The price is available upon request.
17. Figpii
FigPii is a cloud-based conversion optimization and customer research platform that identifies user intent, behavior, and preferences.
Features
- Session replays
- Tracking interactions
- Session recordings
Pros
- Heatmaps
- Session replays
- AB testing
- Online polling
Cons
- Limited functions compared to competitors
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.8/5
Ease of Use – 4.9/5
Quality of Support – 4.9/5
Pricing & plans
FigPii lacks any free plans. The paid plan is $49.99/month.
18. SciNote
SciNote is a cloud-based lab data management solution that helps labs store, manage, and access lab data in a centralized form.
Features
- Data storage and management
- Comprehensive search functions
- Data access authorization
- Audit security
- Lab system integration
Pros
- Organizes data and makes it easily accessible
- Several customization features
- Affordable pricing
- Seamless integration
Cons
- Fixing mistakes takes quite a bit of time
- Lack of compatibility with Excel software
- Lack of mobile optimization
Review
The ratings below are solely based on the tool’s reviews from Capterra:
Overall – 4.2/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.8/5
Pricing & plans
SciNote offers a free plan and a free trial. The paid plan is available per request, depending on the features you need.
How Do Choose Customer Research Tools?
In today’s data-driven business landscape, customer research is essential for making informed decisions and improving your services. Not every tool is going to work for your unique use case.
To choose the right tool, you need to define your objectives, consider where you’re sourcing your data from, and determine the type of data you need. Figure out what features you need in your tool. And one of the most important aspects is price and scalability.
Ready to Start Your Customer Research?
For businesses, choosing the right customer research tool is crucial. It helps you make informed decisions and increase your market share. These tools are essential for the market research process.
Customer research is crucial for understanding your consumer preferences and dislikes so you can improve certain parts and double down on the aspects that are generating revenue. Conducting customer research is essential for understanding market trends and coming up with a successful marketing campaign.
If you’re looking for a customer research tool that ticks all the boxes, then we’d recommend UXtweak. It’s the best feedback collection tool you can get right now. With its intuitive survey and analytical tools, it’s a great solution for most companies.
