10 Best Usability Testing Tools for Product Teams

The quick answer

Quick answer: For most product teams, Maze (free plan, Starter $99 per month) and Lyssna (free plan, Growth $166 USD a month billed annually) are the easiest places to start running unmoderated usability tests. UserTesting is the enterprise option, with pricing on request. Optimal suits teams that run a handful of large studies a year (Starter $199 a month billed annually, unlimited seats), Lookback suits moderated sessions (Freelance $299 a year), and UXtweak and Useberry have free plans for trying a wide set of methods. Prices are as of October 2026, checked on each vendor's own site.

What a usability testing tool does, and what to look for

A usability testing tool lets you give real people a task on a prototype, a live website or an app, then records what they do and say. Most tools run unmoderated tests, where participants work alone while their screen and voice are recorded. Some also support moderated sessions, where a researcher joins live and asks follow-up questions. If you are new to the method, our guide to what usability testing is explains the main formats.

When comparing tools, check five things:

• Methods: prototype, live website and mobile app testing, plus card sorting, tree testing and first-click tests for information architecture.
• Participants: whether you can bring your own users at no extra cost, and what the vendor's panel charges per participant.
• Usage limits: studies, sessions or responses per month or per year. These vary more between vendors than seat counts do.
• Analysis: recordings, transcripts, clips, click maps or heatmaps, and AI summaries.
• Billing: several plans are annual only, and panel recruitment is usually billed on top.

Usability testing tools compared

1. Maze

Who it is for: product and design teams that want to test prototypes before they build, then scale into wider research.

Pricing: the Maze pricing page lists Free (1 study a month, 5 seats, essential prototype testing, surveys and pay-per-use panel credits), Starter at $99 per month (1 study a month, 5 seats, plus the unmoderated research toolkit and audio, video and screen recording) and Enterprise with custom pricing, custom study quantities and unlimited seats.

Strengths: prototype testing and automated reports are on all plans. The Enterprise plan lists moderated and AI-moderated interviews, live website testing, mobile testing, card sorting and tree testing, and a global panel of 7M+ participants.

Limits: both self-serve plans allow one study a month, and card sorting is marked Enterprise on the pricing page. See our Maze alternatives if those limits do not fit.

2. Lyssna

Who it is for: teams that want fast answers from first-click, five-second, preference and prototype tests.

Pricing: Free is $0 with unlimited quick studies, 3 seats and 15 self-recruited responses. Growth is $166 USD a month billed annually or $199 billed monthly, with 5 in-depth studies a month (60 a year), 5 seats and unlimited self-recruited responses. Enterprise is through sales. Panel responses are priced separately on every plan.

Strengths: a broad method list (card sorting, tree testing, surveys, user interviews, live website and mobile testing) and a research panel of 690,000+ people with over 395 demographic filters. Lyssna was called UsabilityHub until October 2023.

Limits: think-aloud recordings, live website testing and mobile testing need Growth.

3. UserTesting

Who it is for: large organizations that run research across many teams and want a managed participant network.

Pricing: three editions, starting with Advanced, are all "Request pricing" on the UserTesting plans page. You choose Test-based Consumption (pay per test, unlimited users) or Team-based Unlimited (unlimited tests within a defined scope). The FAQ describes an annual subscription and a trial on request.

Strengths: unmoderated tests (surveys, interaction tests, think-out-loud), moderated Live Conversation sessions, a panel across 60+ countries, click maps, path flows, sentiment analysis and transcripts. UserTesting merged with UserZoom in April 2023.

Limits: no public price, and card sorting and tree testing are not included in Advanced. Our UserTesting alternatives list covers lighter options.

4. Optimal

Who it is for: teams that run a few big studies a year and want everyone in the company to see the results.

Pricing: Starter is $199 a month billed annually with 5 studies launched per year, unlimited seats and unlimited participant responses per study; you can buy extra study bundles. Enterprise is custom.

Strengths: all tools on all plans, including prototype, live site and first-click testing, card sorting, tree testing, surveys, interview insights and session replays. Recruitment uses credits, with Standard Recruitment at 1 credit per participant.

Limits: five studies a year is tight for teams that test every sprint.

5. Lookback

Who it is for: researchers who mostly run live, moderated interviews and usability sessions.

Pricing: Lookback lists Freelance at $299 a year (10 sessions, one seat), Team at $1,782 a year (100 sessions, 10 collaborators), Insights Hub at $4,122 a year (300 sessions, 30 collaborators) and Enterprise with custom pricing. The free trial runs 60 days with 5 sessions.

Strengths: moderated and unmoderated sessions, unlimited guests, AI-assisted analysis and a participant panel powered by User Interviews. Bringing your own participants is free.

Limits: annual commitments only, with no monthly billing, and exports are limited to paid plans.

6. Useberry

Who it is for: small teams testing Figma or ProtoPie prototypes and live or staging websites.

Pricing: Free is €0 with 10 responses a month, 1 seat and 1 project. On the Useberry pricing page, Growth is €83 a month billed yearly (300 responses a month, 5 interviews a month) and Business is €659 a month billed yearly (2,000 responses, 5 seats, SAML-based SSO). Enterprise is quoted.

Strengths: task completion, time on task, click tracking and user flows, plus moderated interviews with scheduling.

Limits: Growth includes one seat, and AI features are marked "coming soon" on Business.

7. UXtweak

Who it is for: research teams that want card sorting, tree testing, prototype, website and mobile app testing in one place.

Pricing: Free includes 1 user licence, all tools to try, 15 responses a month and 1 active study, with 14 days of access to results. Business is built in a configurator by responses, concurrent studies, seats and AI credits, billed monthly or annually. Custom has individual pricing.

Strengths: mobile app testing from the App Store, TestFlight, Google Play or an APK, Figma prototype tests and a user panel that reaches up to 130 countries on Custom.

Limits: the comparison table lists session recording only on Custom.

8. Loop11

Who it is for: teams that test live websites and want UX benchmarks or A/B comparisons.

Pricing: Rapid Insights is $179 a month billed annually or $199 billed monthly (3 projects a month, 10 participants per project). Pro is $358 a month billed annually or $399 monthly (10 projects, 100 participants per project). Enterprise is custom. The 14-day trial includes 3 studies with Enterprise features.

Strengths: moderated and unmoderated tests, five-second and first-click tests, information architecture testing, and heatmaps, clickstreams and path analysis on Pro.

Limits: plans assume you bring your own participants; recruitment is outside the plans.

9. Userlytics

Who it is for: teams that buy research per study rather than per seat.

Pricing: Userlytics offers a Project Based option with no subscription (minimum 5 sessions), an annual Enterprise plan with per-session volume discounts, a Premium subscription from $699 a month paid annually for bringing your own participants, and a Limitless custom quote.

Strengths: moderated, unmoderated and AI-moderated studies, picture-in-picture recording, card sorting, tree testing, first-click tests and heatmaps.

Limits: per-session rates depend on volume, so get a quote.

10. PlaybookUX

Who it is for: teams that need participants by job role or industry as well as consumers.

Pricing: the PlaybookUX Self-serve plan includes unmoderated tests and moderated interviews with pay-per-use panel credits and a limit of 50 sessions a year. Scale is $5,400 a year and Pro $8,800 a year; Enterprise is custom. Panel prices start at $65 per participant for a 10 to 15 minute unmoderated test.

Strengths: a panel of 7M+ consumers and professionals, plus card sorting, tree testing, surveys, first-click and five-second tests, Figma click testing and session replays.

Limits: several methods need an upgrade beyond Self-serve.

Tools we left out or would use with care

• Trymata (formerly TryMyUI): QuestionPro announced on February 3, 2026 that it would merge with Trymata, and trymata.com now redirects to a QuestionPro UX sign-in page with no public pricing.
• Hotjar Engage: Hotjar no longer accepts new accounts, and the old Engage page now redirects to Contentsquare's Voice of Customer product. See our Hotjar alternatives.
• Dovetail and Sprig: Dovetail is a research repository for analysis, and Sprig is an enterprise survey platform with pricing by demo. Neither is a usability testing tool first.

How to choose a usability testing tool

Start with the method you run most. If it is prototype testing, compare Maze, Lyssna, Useberry and UXtweak on their free plans. If it is moderated sessions, compare Lookback and the interview features in Lyssna and Useberry. If you need panel participants at scale, PlaybookUX, Userlytics and UserTesting sell recruitment as a core part of the product.

Then count studies. Maze self-serve allows one a month, Optimal Starter five a year, Lyssna Growth 60 a year, and Loop11 counts projects a month. Pick the plan whose limit matches how often you test.

Usability tests show where people struggle with a task. Once a feature ships, ongoing feedback inside the product is a separate job, handled by an in-app survey tool. PLG OS offers an in-app feedback and surveys component with a free tier of 100 MTUs and any one component.

FAQs

What is the best usability testing tool for a small team?

Maze and Lyssna both have free plans, and Useberry and UXtweak do too. Lyssna Growth is $166 USD a month billed annually, and Maze Starter is $99 per month, as of October 2026.

Which usability testing tools have a free plan?

Maze, Lyssna, Useberry and UXtweak list free plans. Lookback offers a 60-day trial with 5 sessions, and Loop11 offers a 14-day trial.

Is UserTesting the same company as UserZoom?

Yes. UserTesting and UserZoom merged in April 2023, and the combined company uses the UserTesting name. Its plans are priced on request.

Which tool is best for moderated usability testing?

Lookback is built around live sessions, with plans from $299 a year. UserTesting, Userlytics, PlaybookUX and Loop11 also support moderated sessions.

Do I need a participant panel?

Not always. Most tools let you test with your own users, and Lookback and Loop11 do not charge extra for bringing your own participants. A panel helps when you need people who match a profile you cannot reach yourself.