Top 11 Dscout Alternatives in 2024

Keep reading, and we’ll guide you through the top choices, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, and comparing their prices for a detailed overview.

What are the top 11 Dscout alternatives?

1. UXtweak 
2. UserZoom 
3. UserTesting 
4. Lookback 
5. Hotjar
6. Maze
7. Userbrain
   
8. Userlytics
9. Userback
10. Optimal Workshop
11. UXArmy

Tip: Refresh your knowledge of the basic functions of Dscout, or keep reading to discover new alternatives 🐝

Here is also a convenient comparison table based on tools’ reviews from Capterra:

*if you are interested in this topic and want to know more information, we also advise you to check out our overview of UX tools.

1. UXtweak

UXtweak is a user research platform with UX research tools for all stages of the website’s life and is probably the best out of all Dscout alternatives, especially when it comes to feature diversification. It provides all the features for an affordable price, advanced analytics and custom PDF reports, which makes it the only UX research tool you will ever need.

Features:

Tools that UXtweak provides: 

• Card sorting 
• Tree testing 
• Preference Test
• Five Second Test
• Survey
• Session Recording
• Mobile Testing
• First Click Test
• Prototype Testing (with Invision and Figma support)
• Website Testing
• Moderated Testing
• User Panel
• Recruiting Widget

Try UXtweak’s features as a respondent in these demos 👇

Try Tree Testing ✅

Tree Testing

Try Website Usability Testing 🔥

Website Testing

Pros:

• All tools in 1 place – UXtweak equips users with all the possible tools for multipurpose research – all for organizing content, emphasizing with users, usability testing and recruiting research participants in one platform. Isn’t it the dream? 

• Great analytics tools – The platform has a very sophisticated analytics toolkit that allows filtering, sorting and comparing data effortlessly. What is even better, the platform allows you to extract results in a customized PDF for your stakeholders, so they can take a look at your research outcomes as well! 

• Participants from any corner of the world – over 155 million candidates 

• Flexibility of the subscription plans

Cons:

• Mobile testing only for IOS 

UXtweak currently doesn’t have the Android mobile testing feature. 

Reviews:

Our reviews are based the on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.8/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.7/5
• Customer Service – 5/5 
• Value for money – 4.8/5

Pricing:

• Plans – FREE Starter plan, Plus plan is 49€/month (annual billing), Enterprise solution available
• Discounts – The platform provides a 20% discount for annual billing. 
• Free trial / Freemium – Yes, the starter plan is free, unlimited in time and will allow you to try all the features. 

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2. UserZoom

UserZoom is another good software that has helped many with UX research. The software has 2 complementary services – UserZoom (quantitative tools) and UserZoom GO (qualitative tools) – formerly known as VALIDATELY, so feel free to choose and combine them to fit your needs.

Features:

Tools that UserZoom provides: 

• QX score (analytics tools)
• Participant recruitment 
• Live intercept 
• Card sorting
• Tree testing
• Click testing 
• Surveys 
• Usability testing
• Live user interviews 

Pros:

• Great diversity of the tools – Although UserZoom provides considerably fewer tools compared to our previous alternative to Dscout ,  it still has a solid comprehensive toolkit at its disposal.

• Benchmarking – A great feature that UserZoom has is a benchmarking tool, that allows you to compare your research results with your competitors’, based on the QXscore ranking. 
• Good recruitment platform – over 120 million possible participants 

Cons:

• Usability issues – According to quite a few reviews on the G2, many customers struggle with the platform’s information architecture or spend too much time trying to navigate among the features.

• No free plan/trial

• Pricey plans

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.4/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.5/5
• Customer Service – 4.7/5 
• Value for money – 4.6/5

Pricing:

• Upon request, starting at $70,000/year
• Discounts – No
• Free trial/ Freemium – No

3. UserTesting 

If you’re looking for apps like Dscout, UserTesting will be one of them. UserTesting is one of the first platforms to provide unmoderated testing on the market. It is focused on gathering rapid customer feedback in either written or media form and will help you get valuable, very detailed insights into your product and your customer experiences with it. 

Features:

Tools that UserTesting provides: 

• Moderated testing 
• A/B testing 
• Card sorting test 
• Tree testing test

Read our UserTesting vs UserZoom comparison.

Pros:

• Huge participant platform – UserTesting provides a global network of more than 1.5 million participants 

• Benchmarking – UserTesting is also able to conduct some benchmarking analysis so you can gain a clear understanding of your competition’s position. 
• Good tool variability – Providing tools for both moderated and unmoderated studies, UserTesting platform is quite flexible and suitable for multipurpose projects.

Cons:

• Limited diversity of participants – Even though the platform’s participant panel is quite huge, people have struggled with finding their target focus group if the survey has to be conducted in languages other than English. 

• Reports that are hard to read and summarise – Some customers have said that reports provided by this Dscout alternative are not very understandable and can cause problems when presented to people working outside of the research team.

Reviews:

• Overall Score – 4.5/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.5/5
• Customer Service – 4.3/5 
• Value for money – 4.5/5

Pricing:

• Upon request, starting at $30,000/year
• Discounts – No
• Free trial/ Freemium – Upon request 

4. Lookback

Lookback is a great feedback platform in case you want to switch from Dscout. It covers both moderated 1:1 interviews with a very developed complementary toolkit and unmoderated tests for information architecture and usability testing.

Features:

Tools that Lookback provides: 

• 1:1 interviews 
• Usability testing 
• Remote ethnography
• Remote card sorting 
• Tree testing 
• Diary studies 

Pros:

• Great flexibility of purchase plans 

• Great tools for real-time interviews – Lookback has been praised for the diversity and ease of use of complementary tools to its interviews

Cons:

• No user panel available 
• Poor customer support – Clients have regularly complained about having to deal with unskilled or non-existent customer support. 

Reviews:

• Overall Score – 3.4/5 
• Ease of Use – 3.5/5
• Customer Service – 2.1/5 
• Value for money – 3.0/5

Pricing:

Lookback pricing depends on the number of sessions that you need each month. 

• Plans – start from 25 to 582 €/month (billed annually)
• Discounts – 25% off for non-profit and educational institutions 
• Free trial/ Freemium – Lookback provides a trial period of 60 days 

5. Hotjar 

Although Hotjar is not a direct Dscout alternative, it is still worth a mention. Focused on website usability, it is a great tool if you want to collect very in-depth and detailed information about your customers’ interactions with your website by using screen recordings and heatmaps. 

Features:

Tools that Hotjar provides: 

• Heatmaps 
• Session Recordings 
• Surveys  

Pros:

• Easy integration and deployment 

• Very sophisticated analytics tools for heatmaps 

Cons:

• Need to bring your own users 
• Very limited usability  

Reviews:

• Overall Score – 4.7/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.5/5
• Customer Service – 4.5/5 
• Value for money – 4.5/5

Pricing:

• Plans – $39/month for Plus plan (billed annually).
• Discounts – 20% off for annual billing
• Free trial/ Freemium – Yes, the Basic plan

6. Maze

Maze is another one of Dscout alternatives. Working with Maze lets you conduct various surveys aimed at usability testing, concept or content testing and gathering post-launch feedback.

Features:

Tools that Maze provides: 

• Prototype testing
• Tree testing 
• Card sorting 
• 5-second test 
• Surveys 

Pros:

• Very intuitive design 

• Collaboration with Figma – Ability to work with Figma prototypes 

Cons:

• Limited prototype integration – Even though many have praised Maze for having Figma prototype testing, a lot of customers have actually experienced issues when it comes to larger-scaled prototypes. 
• No moderated research tools

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.5/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.3/5
• Customer Service – 3.9/5 
• Value for money – 4.1/5

Pricing:

• Plans – Free plan available.  Pro plan is $99/month ($1,188/year).
• Discounts – No.
• Free trial / Freemium – Yes, there is a free plan.

7. Userbrain

Userbrain is a great software if you want to focus on website and prototype testing. Despite its limited usability, Userbrain is a nice solution for those who don’t need a very diverse toolkit and are looking for a simpler Dscout alternative. 

Features:

Tools that Userbrain provides: 

• Website Testing 
• Prototype testing

Pros:

• Automated regular testing – One of the Userbrain’s unique features, that lets you schedule tests’ reruns with the frequency you require. 

• Pay-as-you-go model – Another interesting feature of Userbrain, you only pay for the service when you are actually using it, without buying monthly or annual subscriptions. 

Cons:

• Poor language support – So far Userbrain only supports studies in English, German and Spanish. 
• Limited research toolkit 

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.3/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.6/5
• Customer Service – 4.6/5 
• Value for money – 4.4/5

Pricing:

• Plans:
  • Pro plan – $325/month (or $3,130/year) .
  • They also offer a pay-as-you-go option, where you can pay $39/per tester.
• Discounts – If you buy a yearly subscription you get 2 months free.
• Free trial/ Freemium – Yes, free trials are available and can be provided for 2 Userbrain testers and 5 sessions, but you have to bring your focus group.

8. Userlytics

Userlytics is another superb Dscout alternative. They are recognized for their extensive functional range and competitive price strategy. A fantastic platform to keep in mind, especially if the tool’s visual qualities are unimportant to you, as the UI is a bit outdated.

Features:

• Moderated Studies
• Prototype Testing
• User Testing for Mobile Apps
• Website Usability Testing
• Card Sorting
• Tree Testing

Pros:

• Global participant panel – They have a huge responder pool, and provide sophisticated targeting, enabling you to connect with a variety of user profiles from around the world.
• Intuitive user interface – Although the platform has several quite advanced features, given some practice, it is reasonably simple to set up practically any type of survey.
• Performance analytics – gives comprehensive information on quantitative indicators like time on task, SUS, NPS, and SUPR

Cons:

• Weak analysis capabilities – reports can be challenging to make and their insights are occasionally difficult to understand.
• No PDF reports
• No free plan

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.5/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.5/5
• Customer Service – 4.8/5 
• Value for money – 4.7/5

Pricing:

• Plans – Pricing starts from  $3,500/year, you can choose between Enterprise, Limitless and Custom solution.
• Free trial/ Freemium – No information available, most likely there is not. 
• Discounts – no

9. Userback

Customer insights from online projects can be gathered, organized, and shared with coworkers using Userback, a cloud-based bug tracker and user feedback platform.

Features:

• In-App Feedback
• Screen Annotation
• Video Recording
• Session Replay
• User Insights
• Feedback Portal

Pros:

• Customizable –  A lot of possibilities for adjusting the feedback tool to your brand and the kind of input you require for a project.
• User-friendly – the platform does not require any additional training or specialized knowledge for comfortable use.

Cons:

• No free plan 
• Limitations – The annotation tools can be somewhat limiting.

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.8/5 
• Ease of Use – 4.7/5
• Customer Service – 4.8/5 
• Value for money – 4.8/5

Pricing:

• Startup plan – $79 per month
• Company plan – $159 per month
• Premium plan – $289 per month
• Discounts – The platform provides a 25% discount for annual billing.
  
• Free trial is available

10. Optimal Workshop

Optimal Workshop (or OW for short) is a user experience research platform that helps to create a more visually appealing and customer-friendly website.

Features:

• Card sorting and tree testing
• Surveying
• First-click testing
• Participant recruitment

Pros:

• Excellent intuitive design – Many people have praised Optimal Workshop for how simple and fluid the survey set-up process is, which is unquestionably a major benefit that clients are seeking.
• The price of Optimal Workshop is clearly on the reasonable side and it does include all the key elements that may be required for good UX research.
• Rapid interface speed

Cons:

• Not too elaborate survey tool
• Performance issues when working with large samples
• Free tool pretty limited
• Inability to split audiences into groups while testing

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.5/5
• Ease of Use – 4.0/5
• Customer Service – 5/5
• Value for money – 4.3/5

Pricing:

• Plans – Optimal Workshop offers 4 plans:
  • Free,
  • Pro from 208 €/month (annual billing),
  • Team from 416 €/month (annual billing).
  • Custom plan for enterprises
• Discounts – Yes, you can get a 50% discount for NGOs and education providers on annual subscriptions.
• Free trial/ Freemium – Yes, there is a free plan and 2-month free for other plans.

11. UXArmy

UXArmy is a cloud-based solution focused on remote user research. It provides an extensive array of tools and services aimed at simplifying usability testing and user research processes.

Features:

• Moderated usability testing
• Unmoderated usability testing
• Tree testing
• Prototype testing
• User Testing for Mobile Apps
• Card sorting

Pros:

• Outstanding customer service
• Ease of installation

Cons:

• Extremely convoluted pricing structure
• Many users have complained about technical problems with the problem, such as malfunctions with the website operation.

Reviews:

Based on the information provided by Capterra: 

• Overall Score – 4.5/5
• Ease of Use – 4.3/5
• Customer Service – 4.4/5
• Value for money – 4.5/5

Pricing:

• Starter plan $59 per month
• Compass plan $129 per month
• Sprinter plan $399 per month
• Free plan is also available

Considering UXtweak as a Dscout alternative?

Try it out! UXtweak is a great platform for session recording, heatmaps, and surveys and offers many user testing tools that Dscout doesn’t.

Register for free

What is Dscout ?

Dscout is a US-based software company that provides qualitative analysis for unravelling user preferences, behavioural patterns and insights. Simply put, it helps you better understand your customers by reading or listening to what they have to say.  The Dscout mobile research app in particular has grown in popularity as a result of its user-friendly interface and capacity to engage participants in real-time research activities.

With such knowledge, you can ensure that your product or website efficiently satisfies your client’s needs. And although Dscout does not provide all the possible tools you might require to get this information, we are sure that at least 1 of our Dscout alternatives will. 

Dscout reviews 

These Dscout reviews  are based the on the information provided by G2: 

• Overall Score – 4.6/5
• Ease of Use – 8.6/10
• Customer Service – 9.9/10 
• Ease of Setup – 9.3/10 

Dscout features 

• Diary studies 
• Express research 
• 1:1 interviews 
• Recruitment panel 

Dscout Pricing

• We would like to note that Dscout provides personalized prices for its software. They don’t have a free plan.
• On their website, you can find three different subscription options: Researcher, Team, and Enterprise. Each of the plans has a difference in the provided functionalities. Also, Dscout has a trial subscription option.

Reasons why people may favour Dscout

• 👍 Video/Image Response 
  • The tools Dscout provides – express feedback, diary and live interviews – allow a quick collection of valuable responses from participants (in the form of a photo, a video or a written text) so you can better understand what feelings your product evokes. 
• 👍 Research panel 
  • Searching for the right people to participate in your survey can be tough and irritating. According to Dscout, their panel connects you to more than 100,000 participants for conducting the surveys, which makes the recruitment effortless and pleasant. 

Reasons why you may look for an alternative to Dscout

• 👎 Limited usability of analysis tools 
  • Many users have criticised the platform for having limited or hard-to-use tools when it comes to processing and analysing the data. In essence, problematic data analysis can lead to lower productivity and increase the costs of your research. 
• 👎 Weak international research capabilities 
  • Even though Dscout has a panel with 100,000+ participants, people have complained about their inability to find target participants for studies. Many have also mentioned the difficulty to recruit people from countries outside the US, UK and Canada.
• 👎 Video reports limitations 
  • Some customers are also unsatisfied with the limitations on the video reports – Dscout only allows you to record 2-minute videos, which can be a headache if you need to conduct more  developed studies. 

Have you made the decision? 

We hope that our article could help you choose the right UX research platform. And if you are still unsure what to go for, why don’t you just try our most tool-diverse Dscout alternative? Contact UXtweak to book a demo and make your business better today!