When a software firm discovers that its testing demands are beyond the capabilities of its in-house testing team, the first plan of action is to employ an external experience testing provider – such as Applause– to conduct the whole testing program.
But, when your test coverage requirements are continuously changing and expanding, and you need test results as soon as possible, there is just no option for handling quality assurance (QA) internally.
However, this does not need you to recruit dozens of QA professionals.
🔥 That’s where Applause alternatives come in.
13 Best Applause alternatives and competitors
- UXtweak
- Hotjar
- Loop 11
- UserTesting
- Testlio
- Heap
- Perfecto
- Userfeel
- FullStory
- TestComplete
- UXarmy
- Trymata
- Sauce Labs
For each Applause competitor, we evaluated:
- Features
- Pros & cons
- User reviews
- Pricing
📋 We rate each of these tools in the following table:
Rating | Ease of Use | Quality of Support | Pricing | |
UXtweak | 4.7/5 | 5.0/5 | ✓ Free plan Plus plan - $59 per month | |
Hotjar | 4.6/5 | 4.5/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $39 per month | |
Loop11 | 4.5/5 | 5.0/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $199 per month | |
Usertesting | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 | The pricing isn’t public | |
Testilo | 5.0/5 | 5.0/5 | | |
Heap | 4.2/5 | 4.3/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $3600 per year | |
Perfecto | 4.2/5 | 4.4/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $83 per month. | |
Userfeel | 4.6/5 | 4.2/5 | ✗ No free plan Your tester – $30/hour or Userfeel tester – $180/hour | |
Fullstory | 4.4/5 | 4.3/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $299 per month | |
TestComplete | 3.9/5 | 4.0/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $1210 per year | |
UXArmy | 4.4/5 | 4.4/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $59 per month | |
Trymata | 3.3/5 | 3.1/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - $99 per month | |
Sauce Labs | 4.5/5 | 4.3/5 | ✓ Free plan Paid plan - starts at $39 per month |
1. UXtweak
Understanding how your users interact with your product is crucial for creating a successful user experience. That’s where UXtweak comes in with its comprehensive suite of tools that make user research a breeze.
With UXtweak’s session replay with heatmaps, you can gain insights into your users’ journeys. You can track mouse movements, view device information, and identify areas for improvement. UXtweak also offers features like card sorting, tree testing, surveys, and click testing that lets you gather comprehensive user feedback and identify usability issues.
Features
- Session replay
- Heatmaps
- Mobile app testing
- Website usability testing
- Prototype testing tool
- Tree testing
- Preference testing
- Card Sorting
- 5 second test
- First click testing
- Surveys and polls
Try these UXtweak’s tools in these demos ⬇️
Pros
- Recruit testers directly from your website visitors with the help of its Onsite Recruiting Widget.
- Tap into UXtweak’s massive user panel of over 155 million people to find exactly who you need.
- It’s advanced analytics and data visualizations make understanding user behavior crystal clear.
- Thanks to its intuitive interface UXtweak is a breeze to set up.
- UXtweak’s amazing support team is always there to help you get the most out of the platform.
- It has a free plan.
Cons
- Uxtweak only supports 14 languages as of now.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.8/5
Ease of Use – 4.7/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
Pricing & Plans
Alongside the forever free plan, paid plans start at just $59 per month, making UXtweak an affordable way to speed up your product development.
2. Hotjar
Hotjar is another popular Applause alternative that conducts user testing. With the help of features like heatmaps and session recordings, it helps you gain valuable insight into user behavior.
Features
- Recordings
- Real-time analytics
- Heatmaps
- Text analysis
- Customizable branding
- Surveys and polls
- Feedback
- Click tracking
Pros
- Hotjar’s interface is super intuitive.
- Integrating it takes doesn’t take much time.
- Hotjar’s customer support is supportive.
Cons
- Its analysis isn’t robust.
- The free plan doesn’t include the best features.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.7/5
Ease of Use – 4.6/5
Quality of Support – 4.5/5
Pricing & Plans
The free plan provides 35 daily sessions. The paid plan starts from $39/month.
3. Loop11
Loop11 is another competitor to Applause that lets you test user experiences on websites and mobile/web apps. It’s a cloud-based platform for creating, launching, and managing customized usability tests. They provide a helpful arsenal of tools for user testing.
Features
- Screen activity recording
- Mobile testing
- A/B usability testing
- Heatmaps
- Prototype testing
Pros
- It has a pay-as-you-use plan if you don’t feel like committing.
- Easy-to-use APIs and integrations make it simple to add to existing systems.
Cons
- It lacks screening questions in surveys.
- The pricing plans might be a little steep for small companies.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.5/5
Quality of Support – 5.0/5
Pricing & Plans
It has a 14-day free trial. The rapid insights plan starts from $199 a month.
4. UserTesting
UserTesting is a leading applause alternative in the user experience (UX) research field. Their extensive global user panel boasts over 1.5 million testers. This gives you access to a diverse pool of participants for your research needs.
Features
- Survey tool
- Mobile application testing
- Website testing
- Prototype testing
- Tree testing
- Preference testing
- 5-second test
- Card sorting
Pros
- A huge number of testers.
- You can leave notes for your teammates to highlight key moments in the screen recordings.
Cons
- Integration is junky.
- Many respondents lie about their background.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.4/5
Pricing & Plans
UserTesting doesn’t publicly show its plans. It usually costs around $30,000 a year.
5. Testlio
Testlio acts as one of the main alternatives to Applause. They provide manual software testing services for online and mobile apps. They cater to businesses seeking both managed and co-managed manual testing services.
Features
- Software testing management
- Supports parallel execution
- Test case management
- Model-based testing
- Performance testing
- Automated testing
Pros
- They are quick to add new features based on demand.
- The user panel is spread across the globe.
Cons
- It takes time to set up.
- It’s not intuitive and takes time to understand the system.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 5/5
Ease of Use – 5/5
Quality of Support – 5/5
Pricing & Plans
Testlio doesn’t publicly show its plans.
6. Heap
Heap positions itself as a powerful alternative to Applause as it lets organizations go beyond basic metrics and delve deeper into user behavior. Its suite of features includes user behavior analysis, product adoption tracking, and funnel optimization tools.
Features
- Heatmaps
- Session replay
- User interaction tracking
- Funnel optimization
- Audience targeting
- Referral tracking
- Activity tracking
- Trend analysis
- Data visualization
Pros
- The dashboards allow for easy sharing of the data.
- The customer support team is always eager to help.
Cons
- A little hard to get a hang of.
- It’s buggy and slow.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.2/5
Quality of Support – 4.3/5
Pricing & Plans
Heap has a forever-free plan and its paid plans start at $3600 per year.
7. Perfecto
Perfecto, previously TestCraft, is a codeless alternative to Applause. Perfecto includes a built-in testing grid, which provides a solid base for running tests across a variety of devices and browsers.
Features
- Heatmaps
- Model-based testing
- Supports parallel execution
- Third-party integrations
- Performance testing
- Bug tracking
- Customizable reports
Pros
- Has a diverse collection of devices to test on.
- Cloud access for end-to-end testing from anywhere.
Cons
- It has a steep learning curve.
- Falls on the expensive side for smaller companies.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.2/5
Quality of Support – 4.4/5
Pricing & Plans
It doesn’t have a free plan. The premium plan starts from $83 per month.
8. Userfeel
Userfeel is a usability testing tool that offers over 150,000 testers that can review your mobile app or website making it a worthy alternative to Applause. Userfeel caters to international projects by supporting testers speaking over 40 different languages.
Features
- A/B Testing
- Unmoderated user tests
- Surveys
- Voice transcription
- Usability testing
- Screen activity recording
- Data visualization
Pros
- Screener questions allow you to survey only relevant participants.
- Its user panel speeds up the testing process a lot.
Cons
- The UI feels a bit clunky.
- The onboarding process isn’t intuitive.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.6/5
Quality of Support – 4.2/5
Pricing & Plans
Userfeel follows a pay-as-you-go pricing model. It costs $30/hour for your testers and $180/hour for their professional testers.
9. FullStory
FullStory is a top Applause competitor that enables teams across industries to study and enhance both online and mobile experiences.
It focuses on digital experience research with deep product data, robust session recording analysis, and collaborative tools. This allows product teams to gain real-time insights into real-world user behavior.
Features
- Session replay
- Heatmaps
- Screen recording
- Click tracking
- A/B testing
- Customizable reports
- Data analysis
Pros
- The session replay clips are full of details.
- It can integrate with many different tools like Zendesk, Google Analytics, and so on.
Cons
- It’s one of the more expensive Applause alternatives.
- The app is a little laggy because of so many features.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.6/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.3/5
Pricing & Plans
You can give FullStory a try with their free 14-day trial. Their paid plans start from $299/month.
10. TestComplete
SmartBear’s TestComplete supports most desktop, mobile (including iOS and Android), and web platforms. TestComplete provides keyword testing, which allows you to search for and insert actions based on predefined keywords making it a great alternative to Applause.
Features
- Requirements-based testing
- Parameterized testing
- Action-word testing
- Reporting
- User management
- Supports parallel execution
- Version control
Pros
- Easily integrates with Jira.
- Easy to learn and use.
Cons
- The UI is outdated.
- Many reviews mention compatibility issues across devices.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.0/5
Ease of Use – 3.9/5
Quality of Support – 4.0/5
Pricing & Plans
TestingComplete costs 1210/user per year. It has a free trial.
11. UXarmy
UXArmy is a cloud-based alternative to Applause. It monitors billions of digital interactions and translates them into intelligent suggestions that you can use to boost user experience.
Features
- Moderated testing
- Unmoderated testing
- Card sorting
- Tree testing
- Customizable branding
- Reporting
Pros
- Easy and fast to set up.
- It has an intuitive UI.
Cons
- Limited testing options compared to the other tools.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.4/5
Quality of Support – 4.4/5
Pricing & Plans
It has a free plan, and the most affordable one starts at $59/month.
12. Trymata
Trymata (formerly TryMyUI) positions itself as yet another valuable alternative to Applause. It offers both unmoderated and moderated testing options, catering to a wider range of testing needs.
Features
- Unmoderated testing
- Prototype testing
- Website usability testing
- Mobile application testing
- Geotargeting
- Analytics
- Surveys
Pros
- It has a user panel of 500,000 users.
Cons
- The user interface is outdated.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 3.7/5
Ease of Use – 3.3/5
Quality of Support – 3.1/5
Pricing & Plans
It has a 14-day free trial, while the paid plans from $99/month.
13. Sauce Labs
Many testing teams utilize the SauceLabs testing grid to run numerous code-based tests at the same time.
SauceLabs also offers Android emulators, iOS simulators, and actual devices for ‘in-the-wild’ testing. These devices may be accessed via a private cloud, making them the last alternative to Applause on our list.
Features
- Requirements-based testing
- Web testing
- API testing
- Benchmarking
- Testing scripts
- Cross-browser testing
- Debugging
- Supports parallel execution
- Test performance metrics
Pros
- Their UI is very intuitive.
- They take user experience feedback seriously.
Cons
- They only have devices in the US and EU.
Reviews
These ratings have been compiled from Capterra.
Overall – 4.5/5
Ease of Use – 4.5/5
Quality of Support – 4.3/5
Pricing & Plans
It has a free trial and the paid plan starts from just $39/month.
What is Applause?
Applause provides real-world feedback about how people are interacting with your app. With the help of an enterprise-grade testing system and its worldwide uTest community composed of freelance digital specialists – the testing teams are tailored to meet your specific requirements.
Applause’s cons (or reasons one might consider switching tools):
👎🏼 It’s not comprehensive: Applause isn’t a comprehensive solution. It requires additional development for full functionality. Users on G2 report needing to build features and functionalities themselves for production use.
👎🏼 Testers’ varying skill levels: Applause’s crowd of testers have varying skill levels and this can add time to the testing process. In-depth testing or uncovering low-level issues might require a more detailed test plan, potentially negating some crowdsourcing benefits. A review on G2 mentioned.
👎🏼 The UI is lacking: Many users on G2 found its user interface lacking and slow.
👎🏼 Limited integrations: Applause fails to integrate with pre-existing workflows and tools. This can create additional work for developers.
Free Applause alternatives
These Applause alternatives provide free options-
- UXtweak
- Hotjar
- Heap
- TestComplete
- UXarmy
- Trymata
Found the best Applause alternative for you?
Unsure which user testing tool is the best fit for you? Exploring free trials and freemium options is a great way to find the perfect fit.
💡 Here’s a helpful tip: make a list of your specific research needs.
Like how UXtweak offers a comprehensive suite of features, including testing tools, card sorting, and a vast user panel. This is perfect for businesses seeking actionable insights to drive growth.
Register for your free account and start testing your results today! 🐝
