Our article will explore each platform’s individual functionalities to understand the merger’s impact on customers. We’ll also discuss their plans, pricing, and customer feedback for a thorough analysis.
Key Insights
👉 UserTesting and UserZoom have each gained new features from one another that were not available before.
👉 The UserZoom panel initially offered a more diverse range and covered more countries than UserTesting. However, after merging with UserTesting, the panel transitioned to IntelliZoom.
👉 Both platforms allow the use of the customer’s own participants; however, UserTesting requires a charge for this service.
👉 UserTesting offers more features than UserZoom, however, some are available only on higher plans or as paid add-ons.
👉 UserZoom starts its pricing at around $70,000/year and UserTesting at around $30,000/year. Only annual subscriptions apply to both, with prices available upon request.
👉 Both offer a large user panel with demographics filtering.
👉 Reviews score average at 4.5/5 for UserTesting and 4.3/5 for UserZoom.
👉 UserZoom has more integration with prototyping tools.
👉 UXtweak is a great alternative: you get the same features, a panel size covering over 130 countries, 4.9/5 reviews score at a fraction of the cost with the Enterprise plan starting from $5,000/year.
🐝 Register for a free account now and see for yourself!
UserTesting and UserZoom alternative – UXtweak
UXtweak is an alternative to UserTesting and UserZoom. It is an all-in-one UX research platform full of tools that enhance the usability of websites and apps at every stage, from prototypes to fully developed products. It is designed for usability testing, information architecture research, and user behavior analytics.
What is UXtweak good for?
UXtweak is great for moderated and unmoderated tests to optimize the UX of your web or mobile applications or website with a variety of UX research features the software offers. UXtweak’s features include prototype testing, live interviews, mobile app testing, tree testing, first-click testing, five-second test, and card sorting – a combination rarely offered by a single platform. Alongside these specialized tools, UXtweak offers a comprehensive suite of research and recruiting instruments, coupled with a participant management solution.
These unique aspects, paired with flexible and cost-effective pricing options, make UXtweak a comprehensive and user-friendly option for user experience professionals.
Explore UXtweak’s demos to get an up-close view of user interactions and analytics.
🐝 Click below for more! ⬇
UserTesting vs UserZoom features
Following the merger, both UserZoom and UserTesting have gained access to features they didn’t have before. Yet, each platform continues to have its own set of limitations based on the different price plans. We’ll examine these aspects and also make a comparison with the UXtweak alternative.
Features | UserZoom | UserTesting | UXtweak |
Website Usability Testing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Mobile Apps Testing | ✓ | ✓ (iOS, Android, and TestFlight, no SDK installation required) | ✓ |
Prototype Testing | ✓ | ✓ (only on the Ultimate plan, Adobe XD, Invision integrations) | ✓ (Compatible with Figma, InVision, Axure) |
Card Sorting | ✓ (not avaliable in UserZoom GO) | ✓ (only available on Ultimate plan or as an add-on) | ✓ (available on all plans) |
Tree Testing | ✓ (not avaliable in UserZoom GO) | ✓ (only on the Ultimate plan or as an add-on) | ✓ |
Preference Testing | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
First Click Testing | ✓ (not avaliable in UserZoom GO) | ✓ | ✓ |
5 Second Testing | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
A/B Testing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Moderated/User Interviews | ✓ | ✓ (Advanced plan and higher) | ✓ (on Enterprise plans) conduct directly in one platform* |
Session recording | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Survey | ✓ (not avaliable in UserZoom GO) | ✓ | ✓ |
Onsite Recruiting/ Site Intercept | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
Branching logic (conditional logic) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
*UXtweak offers built in features to recruit, schedule, conduct, and analyze user interviews or any other moderated studies.
UserTesting vs UserZoom: Pricing and Plans Comparison
When picking a user testing tool, it’s important to consider cost-effectiveness. Find a solution that aligns with your research objectives and fits within your budget. Now, let’s take a look at the affordability of the research platforms under discussion.
UserTesting | UserZoom | UXtweak | |
Features | Plan dependent | Plan dependent | All features are available on all plans |
Monthly subscription | ✗ Annual only | ✗ Annual only | ✓ Available - cancel anytime |
Free plan | ✗ Not avaliable | ✗ Not avaliable | ✓ Available - free forever plan, no credit card needed |
Cost of annual subscription | Upon request - starting at around $30,000/year | Upon request - starting at around $70,000/year | Business plan starts at $1728 a year, Enterprise plans start at $5k/year |
Cost of monthly subscription | N/A | N/A | starting at $0 - $179 a month |
UserTesting plans
Plan Options:
- Essentials – Ideal for basic user feedback collection; lacks advanced tools like card sorting, tree testing, and detailed demographic targeting.
- Advanced – Offers more test creation and research options, including mobile app testing and advanced demographic targeting.
- Ultimate – Builds on Advanced with additional features like English-only card sorting and tree testing, and more targeting and reporting options.
Pricing Scenarios:
- Solo researchers: Essentials or Advanced plans.
- Research teams: Ultimate plan, customizable with add-ons.
UserTesting provides customized pricing, with costs typically beginning at $30,000 annually. Prices can go much higher, often up to $50,000 or more, depending on your team’s size and specific needs like extra services or support in different countries. For the most accurate price, you’ll need to contact UserTesting directly, as they don’t share detailed pricing publicly.
UserZoom plans (as part of UserTesting)
UserZoom offers 2 options sold as separate platforms. The options are:
UserZoom GO
- A limited platform for individual researchers or small teams. It offers tools for Moderated and unmoderated usability testing of websites and mobile apps and pre-study recruitment options.
UserZoom
- More advanced multi-method capabilities aimed at enterprise teams. With access to card sorting, tree testing, surveys, and click tests.
- Here, two plans are available:
- Quick Start Plans, ideal for individuals and small teams seeking rapid video-based feedback
- Enterprise Plans, suited for cross-collaborative teams engaged in frequent and thorough research
- These plans are partially detailed, but it’s still required to have a meeting with UserTesting’s representatives to clarify the details. The final pricing, starting at $70,000 annually, is determined based on the terms agreed upon.
UXtweak plans and pricing
UXtweak has designed a variety of pricing plans to suit different user testing requirements:
- Starter Plan: A free option,
- Perfect for basic testing needs. It offers access to all tools, one active study, and up to 30 responses each month.
- Plus Plan: At $708 annually,
- This plan suits individual researchers. It includes 200 monthly responses, unlimited studies, and data retention for one year.
- Business Plan: At $1,812 annually,
- This is ideal for small to medium businesses, offering unlimited studies, 1,000 monthly responses, and advanced support.
- Enterprise Plan: Begins at $5,000 annually
- It is tailored for demanding client requirements. It features unlimited user responses and dedicated support.
These plans are primarily offered with annual billing, but monthly options are available for those seeking more flexibility. Switching or canceling plans is straightforward. For more information on the features of each plan, visit the UXtweak pricing page.
UserTesting vs UserZoom: Customer Reviews
The ratings for Userfeel, UserZoom, and UXtweak are gathered from Capterra, G2, and Crozdesk, well-known platforms for software reviews.
UXtweak | UserTesting | UserZoom | |
Overall Score | 4.9/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.3/5 |
Capterra | 4.9/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.4/5 |
G2 | 4.8/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.2/5 |
Crozdesk | 5/5 | 4.5/5 | N/A |
Sources: G2.com, Capterra.com, and Crozdesk.com
UserTesting
- Pros:
- User-friendly interface: The platform has a very user-friendly interface, making it easy for users who are new to user research tools with advanced features.
- Fast responses from the panel: UserTesting provides quick feedback, often within a few hours, which is a significant advantage.
- SUS scale evaluation available: Users have the option to evaluate their product using the System Usability Scale (SUS), a widely used metric for usability assessment.
- Sentiment analysis in Advanced plan and higher: The platform offers sentiment analysis in its Advanced plan and higher tiers, allowing users to gain insights into how actual users react to their product interactions.
- Cons:
- High cost: UserTesting is considered pricey, which can be a drawback for budget-conscious users.
- Limited Audience Targeting: The platform could benefit from more detailed audience targeting and segmentation.
- Mobile Testing Needs Improvement
- Inaccurate Tester Pool: Despite requesting a U.S.-specific tester pool, UserTesting occasionally includes Canadian testers who may not be familiar with U.S. products, impacting the relevance of feedback.
- Low-Quality Respondents: Some testers tend to rush through tests on UserTesting, resulting in less reliable feedback.
Source: G2.com
UserZoom
- Pros:
- Offers quick and informative surveys: A/B testing, unmoderated usability testing, and click surveys.
- Intuitive Platform: The platform’s user-friendly design makes starting usability tests straightforward.
- Responsive Customer Support: Provides a highly accommodating customer support team that responds swiftly when needed.
- Participant Recruitment: Facilitates fast acquisition of enough participants for quantitative benchmarking usability studies.
- Cons:
- Pricing Model: Considered prohibitive, limiting the ability to widely distribute ‘specialist’ seats within a company for test creation.
- High cost: UserZoom is perceived as expensive, posing a challenge for users with budget constraints.
- Inflexible Research Sessions: Limitations in combining devices into a single study, resulting in the need for more studies than necessary.
- Limited Features in UserZoom Go: Lacks advanced options such as transcription in the base cost.
- Adding Users to Studies: It’s challenging to add extra users to an ongoing study, as it necessitates direct communication with support.
- Automated System Inconsistencies: Occasional failures in the automated system, affecting test success approximately 1 in 10 times.
Source: G2.com
UXtweak
- Pros:
- Extensive Tester Pool: Participants across 130 countries and over 2,000 selectable tester attributes ensure diverse and comprehensive feedback.
- Wide Range of Tools: Offers a comprehensive set of top-tier features, reducing the need for multiple separate tools.
- Advanced Features: Includes tools like heatmap analysis and video recordings of user sessions, providing in-depth user interaction data.
- Affordable Pricing
- Quality of Respondents: Provides access to high-quality respondents, ensuring valuable and reliable feedback.
- Cons:
- Learning Curve: Becoming comfortable with the dashboard can take some time, indicating a potentially complex user interface.
- Complex Feature Additions: The platform’s frequent addition of complex features may pose a challenge for some users.
- UXtweak note: To address this, new tutorial videos are being produced.
Source: G2.com
What updates have been made following the merger between UserZoom and UserTesting?
New features (on both sites)
The merger between UserZoom and UserTesting has provided UserZoom with access to features it previously lacked and vice versa. The impact of this merger on the future pricing of UserZoom and UserTesting remains uncertain, particularly given the reputation of UserZoom’s plans for being overpriced. On the other hand, UserTesting usually offers a wider range of its tools on its more expensive, yet comparatively less costly than UserZoom, higher-tier plans.
Because of this reason, UXtweak is a great alternative to both, as it offers all of the features on any plan – even the free one!
Recruiting your own users
Both tools allow bringing your own participants, but UserTesting charges you for this. However, it’s important to note that while UserZoom GO (a lighter, web-based version of UserZoom) allows the use of a researcher’s own list without a charge, it doesn’t offer payment for participants in unmoderated tests sourced this way. This subtly nudges customers towards using the UserZoom’s panel, as finding participants willing to work for free can be challenging.
New User Panel
The UserZoom panel initially offered a more diverse range and covered more countries than UserTesting. However, after merging with UserTesting the panel transitioned to IntelliZoom, which has been facing substantial criticism from testers, reflected in its low rating of 1.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
UserZoom vs UserTesting: Conclusion
- UserTesting is renowned for its extensive feature set and swift results, making it an ideal choice for urgent projects. However, it comes with a higher price tag, making it a perfect fit for large companies with substantial budgets that don’t need to closely manage their spending. It’s worth noting that some users have raised concerns about the quality of testers, which could potentially impact the feedback received. Additionally, UserTesting’s pricing has often been critiqued as steep, raising questions about potential price increases following its merger with UserZoom.
- UserZoom, a user research platform, is known for its high costs, catering mainly to large companies. It offers numerous functions, but its other platform, UserZoom Go, has notable limitations. Additionally, its automated system sometimes fails, impacting test success about 10% of the time. With UserTesting’s acquisition and the resulting reduction in competition, there’s a concern that UserTesting’s prices might rise to align with UserZoom’s already high rates.
- UXtweak emerges as a valuable alternative, addressing the limitations of both UserTesting and UserZoom. It provides an all-encompassing toolkit at a more affordable price, bypassing the complexities and pricing issues of the merger. Its capability to offer all features from these platforms, along with high-quality respondent access, positions UXtweak as a reliable and cost-effective solution for user research.
💡Tip: If you would like to get more information we recommend reading our UserTesting alternatives and UserZoom alternatives posts or visiting the Comparison page for up-to-date information on other UX research tools and their alternatives.
🐝Give it try and register for a ree account at UXtweak today.
