Ten tools for testing designs with real people and keeping what they say, each read on its own pricing page by 5 October 2026. They split into two kinds. Testing tools run the study itself, a prototype test, a card sort or a recorded session, and mostly charge by the study. Research repositories hold the transcripts and findings afterwards, and charge by the person who works in them. Three of the ten print no paid price at all.
Every figure below links to a page that sets out where it was read, the plan details and the price history behind it.
What does the cheapest paid plan cost?
| Tool | Kind | Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly, a month | What it counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Condens | Repository | Lite | €15 | €13.75, as €165 a year | 1 contributor |
| Lookback | Testing | Freelance | Not offered | $24.92, as $299 a year | 10 sessions a year, one seat |
| Looppanel | Repository | Solo | $49 | $45, as $540 a year | 1 editor and 5 transcription hours a month, printed as Unlimited in the full width comparison table |
| UXtweak | Testing | Business | Not printed | €92, as €1,104 a year | 1 user license and 50 responses a month |
| Lyssna | Testing | Growth | $199 | $166 | 5 seats and 5 in depth studies a month |
| Optimal Workshop | Testing | Starter | Not offered | $199 | 5 studies launched a year, seats unlimited |
| Userlytics | Testing | Premium | Not offered | $699 | 5 seats and 50 transcriptions a month |
| Maze | Testing | Enterprise only | Quoted | Quoted | Studies by agreement, seats unlimited |
| Dovetail | Repository | Enterprise only | Quoted | Quoted | By agreement |
| UserTesting | Testing | Advanced | Quoted | Quoted | By agreement, no seat or test count printed |
Lyssna and Optimal Workshop land on almost the same monthly figure and buy very different amounts with it. Lyssna's Growth allows five in depth studies a month, with quick studies such as first click and five second tests unlimited. Optimal Workshop's Starter allows five studies launched a year, with more sold in bundles, so a team that tests every week runs through a year's allowance in a month or two. Lookback counts sessions, one recording with one participant, at 10 a year on Freelance and 100 on Team, and sells more ten at a time. Userlytics sells seats rather than studies, five for $699 a month paid annually or ten for $999, and prices single sessions from $30 on Enterprise.
Which ones print no paid price?
Maze, Dovetail and UserTesting. Maze's page shows Free and Enterprise, priced after a call; its Starter was $99 a month in 2025. Dovetail's page shows Free and Enterprise too; it sold Professional by the user, at $29 a user a month billed yearly in 2024 and $15 from August 2025, and its February 2026 copy prints no Professional plan. UserTesting's page shows three plans, Advanced, Ultimate and Ultimate+, and two ways to buy across the whole account, Test-based Consumption and Team-based Unlimited; none of the three plan cards or either way to buy carries a price, and each ends at a Request pricing or Get started button that leads to the same form. A team that outgrows Maze's or Dovetail's free plan, or that wants a plan from UserTesting, has to talk to sales before it can see a number.
What does a team of five pay?
Billed yearly, for five people who all run studies or work in the findings.
| Tool | Plan | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lookback | Team, ten collaborators and 100 sessions | $148.50 | $1,782 |
| Lyssna | Growth, five seats | $166 | $1,992 |
| Optimal Workshop | Starter, seats unlimited | $199 | $2,388 |
| Looppanel | Pro, five editors | $350 | $4,200 |
| Condens | Business, five contributors | €500 | €6,000 |
| Userlytics | Premium, five seats | $699 | $8,388 |
Condens' Lite stops at one contributor plus €15 a month for each more, so five contributors on Lite would cost €75 a month, but Lite holds one folder and lists no viewers. Business, at €500 a month billed only yearly, adds unlimited viewers, the stakeholders who read findings without adding any. On Lyssna, Maze and Lookback, participants recruited from the vendor's own panel cost extra on top of the plan, from $31 to $49 each on Lookback's paid plans past the few each includes. The participant recruitment shortlist sets what one recruited participant costs across six panels.
Which ones can be used for free?
| Tool | Free plan or trial |
|---|---|
| Lyssna | Free, 3 seats and 15 responses from participants you recruit yourself, with no card |
| Maze | Free, 1 study a month and 5 seats, with no end date |
| Dovetail | Free, one channel and one project, with no card |
| UXtweak | Free, 1 user license and 15 responses a month, the page prints no mention of a card |
| Lookback | No free plan; a trial of 5 sessions over 60 days, with no card and no exports |
| Optimal Workshop | No free plan; a 7 day trial with no card |
| Looppanel | No free plan; a 15 day trial on Solo, with the page silent on whether it asks for a card |
| Userlytics | No free plan and no trial; a demo booked with sales |
| UserTesting | No free plan; the rendered page offers no trial, though an FAQ answer in its markup, not shown on the page, mentions requesting one and running a single test free |
| Condens | No free plan; a 15 day trial with no payment details, after which the workspace turns read only |
Where does a feature request board fit?
User research answers the questions a team already has, with a handful of people watched closely. A feature request board answers a different one: what the whole customer base keeps asking for, and how many of them ask. The two work best side by side, the board pointing at what to study and the study explaining why.
VoteFirst is a feature request board: customers post requests, vote on each other's and follow a public roadmap, at $9 a month for one project or $39 for unlimited projects and colleagues, with no count of voters. It runs no usability tests and keeps no transcripts. The user feedback tools shortlist sorts every kind of feedback tool by the unit on the invoice, and the pricing hub holds every vendor read so far.
How was this put together?
Each tool's figures come from its own pricing page as read for the linked page on 5 October 2026, and the older Maze and Dovetail prices from the Internet Archive's copies of their pricing pages, as each linked page sets out. A year is twelve times the yearly billed monthly price, or the yearly total where the page prints one. Prices are in US dollars except Condens' and UXtweak's, which their pages print in euros.
14 days, a card at signup, then $9 or $39 a month.