9 Best Maze Alternatives for Usability Testing

The quick answer

Quick answer: The closest Maze alternative is Lyssna (free plan, Growth $166 USD a month billed annually), which covers prototype, first-click and preference tests and allows 5 in-depth studies a month on Growth. Useberry (free plan; Growth €83 a month billed yearly) and UXtweak (free plan; configurable Business plan) also test Figma prototypes. Optimal (Starter $199 a month billed annually) gives unlimited seats and every method on its entry plan. For moderated work, look at Lookback (from $299 a year) or Great Question ($129 per seat a month). Prices are as of October 2026, checked on each vendor's own site.

Maze today, and why teams look elsewhere

Maze has three plans. Free includes 1 study a month, 5 seats, essential prototype testing, surveys and pay-per-use panel credits. Starter is $99 per month with the same 1 study a month and 5 seats, and adds the unmoderated research toolkit, templates and audio, video and screen recording. Enterprise has custom pricing, custom study quantities and unlimited seats.

Maze is strong on prototype testing, and automated reports are on every plan. The pricing page marks a long list of features as Enterprise: the AI moderator, the AI study builder, moderated interview studies, card sorting, mobile testing and Maze AI. The Enterprise card also lists live website testing, tree testing and access to a panel of 7M+ participants.

The common reasons to switch follow from that:

• Study cap. Both self-serve plans allow one study a month, which is little for a team that tests every sprint.
• Enterprise gating. Card sorting, interviews and mobile testing push teams toward a sales conversation.
• Seat limits. Free and Starter both stop at 5 seats.

Maze alternatives compared

1. Lyssna

Who it is for: design and product teams that like Maze's quick tests but need more than one study a month.

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 recruitment is pay-per-use on all plans.

Strengths: card sorting, first-click, five-second, preference, Figma prototype and tree tests, plus surveys, user interviews, live website testing and mobile testing. The panel has 690,000+ people. Lyssna was UsabilityHub until a rename in October 2023.

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

2. Useberry

Who it is for: small teams that mainly test prototypes and want a low entry price.

Pricing: Free is €0 with 10 responses a month, 1 seat and 1 project. Growth is €83 a month billed yearly, with 300 responses a month, unlimited projects and 5 interviews a month. Business is €659 a month billed yearly with 2,000 responses, 5 seats and SAML-based SSO. Yearly billing gives 2 months free.

Strengths: imports prototypes from tools such as Figma and ProtoPie, tests live or staging websites, and reports completion, time on task, drop-offs, click tracking and user flows. Moderated interviews with scheduling are built in.

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

3. UXtweak

Who it is for: teams that want card sorting, tree testing and mobile app testing without an enterprise contract.

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

Strengths: open, closed and hybrid card sorts, tree testing, five-second and preference tests, Figma prototype tests, website testing, live interviews and mobile app tests from the App Store, TestFlight, Google Play or an APK.

Limits: results on Free stay available for 14 days, and session recording appears only on Custom in the comparison table.

4. Optimal

Who it is for: teams that want many people to view research and every method on the entry plan.

Pricing: Starter is $199 a month billed annually with 5 studies launched per year, unlimited seats and unlimited participant responses per study. Extra study bundles are for sale. Enterprise is custom.

Strengths: all tools on all plans: prototype, live site and first-click testing, card sorting, tree testing, surveys, interview insights, session replays, clickmaps and heatmaps.

Limits: five studies a year on Starter, which suits planned studies more than weekly testing.

5. Great Question

Who it is for: teams that research their own customers and want a participant CRM next to their tests.

Pricing: Self-serve is $129 per seat a month or $1,290 per seat a year, up to 5 seats, with unlimited observers. Enterprise is custom on annual plans. It offers a 14-day free trial and says there is no free plan.

Strengths: interviews with round robin scheduling, surveys, unmoderated prototype testing, AI analysis and a repository. Recruiting your own customers has no per-participant fee.

Limits: card sorting, tree testing and AI moderation need Enterprise.

6. Lookback

Who it is for: teams that want moderated sessions, which Maze keeps on Enterprise.

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

Strengths: moderated and unmoderated sessions on prototypes, websites and native apps, unlimited guests, and AI-assisted analysis.

Limits: annual plans only, with no monthly billing, and exports require a paid plan.

7. Loop11

Who it is for: teams that test live websites more than prototypes.

Pricing: Loop11 lists Rapid Insights at $179 a month billed annually ($199 billed monthly, 3 projects a month) and Pro at $358 a month billed annually ($399 billed monthly, 10 projects a month). Enterprise is custom. A 14-day trial includes 3 studies.

Strengths: prototype and website tests, A/B testing, UX benchmarking, information architecture testing, and heatmaps, clickstreams and path analysis on Pro.

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

8. PlaybookUX

Who it is for: teams that need hard-to-reach professional participants for their tests.

Pricing: PlaybookUX has a Self-serve plan with pay-per-use panel credits and a 50-session yearly limit, Scale at $5,400 a year, Pro at $8,800 a year and custom Enterprise.

Strengths: a panel of 7M+ consumers and professionals, unmoderated tests, moderated interviews, card sorting, tree testing, first-click, five-second and preference tests, and Figma click testing.

Limits: card sorting, surveys and Figma testing show as upgrades beyond Self-serve.

9. UserTesting

Who it is for: organizations that outgrow Maze and want a managed research program.

Pricing: all three editions on the UserTesting plans page say "Request pricing", with Test-based Consumption or Team-based Unlimited plan types.

Strengths: think-out-loud and interaction tests, moderated Live Conversation sessions, a panel across 60+ countries and sentiment analysis. It merged with UserZoom in April 2023.

Limits: no public price, and card sorting and tree testing sit above the Advanced edition. See our UserTesting alternatives.

How to choose a Maze alternative

Start with the limit that pushed you away from Maze. If it is the one-study cap, Lyssna Growth gives 60 in-depth studies a year and unlimited quick studies. If it is card sorting or tree testing, UXtweak and Lyssna include them on self-serve plans, and Optimal includes them on Starter. If it is moderated interviews, compare Lookback and Great Question. If it is seats, Optimal Starter has unlimited seats.

Run the same small test in two tools before you commit. Our best usability testing tools roundup covers more options, and our guide to what usability testing is explains which method answers which question.

Prototype tests happen before launch. After launch, behavior tools such as session replay show how real users move through the product, as covered in our FullStory alternatives guide, and in-app surveys such as the PLG OS feedback and surveys component collect opinions where people use the product.

FAQs

What is the best free alternative to Maze?

Lyssna, Useberry and UXtweak all have free plans. Lyssna's Free plan includes unlimited quick studies, 3 seats and 15 self-recruited responses.

How much does Maze cost?

Maze has a Free plan, Starter at $99 per month and Enterprise with custom pricing, as of October 2026. Free and Starter both allow 1 study a month and 5 seats.

Which Maze alternative is best for card sorting and tree testing?

Optimal includes card sorting and tree testing on its Starter plan, and UXtweak and Lyssna offer both on self-serve plans. Maze marks card sorting as Enterprise.

Is Lyssna the same as UsabilityHub?

Yes. UsabilityHub renamed itself Lyssna in October 2023.

Which Maze alternative supports moderated interviews?

Lookback is built for moderated sessions, from $299 a year. Great Question, Useberry and Lyssna also include interviews.