6 Best User Research Tools: A Detailed Overview

Imagine you learn of a product with a concept you like – for example, a folded smartphone. It’s so good your heart beats faster, and you can’t wait to try it out. You finally get your hands on it, and while everything works great, there’s this one aspect – such as bad battery life – that constantly gets on your nerves. You want to like this thing, but the entire experience is so disheartening that it destroys the product’s potential. 

This scenario nicely illustrates the impact one detail or aspect can have on the entire user experience. Sadly, it happens more often than many admit. The key to avoiding it is understanding that to create an excellent user experience, you need to conduct user research during every phase of the product’s development. In this article, we’ll tell you about solutions that can help you with this – six of the best user research tools you can use right now.

6 best user research tools reviewed

Here are the six best user research tools you should consider in 2024.

Zeda.io

Zeda.io is an AI-powered software tool that product teams can use to help them decide what to build next or improve existing products. You can use it to gather user feedback, extract actionable insights and strategize – build roadmaps and develop specific goals for your team. 

Features

• Capture & centralize feedback – Collect feedback from different channels.
• Strategy & OKRs – Build product strategies, define OKRs and measure the outcomes of your actions.
• AI product intelligence – AI helps you analyze feedback, customer segments, sentiments and revenue and translate data into actionable insights.
• Roadmaps – Build roadmaps to help your team align on goals.
• Release notes – Close the feedback loop thanks to AI-powered notes.

Integrations

Zeda.io has over 5000 integrations with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, HubSpot, Amplitude, Jira, Confluence, Salesforce, Zendesk, Figma, Notion etc.

Pricing

We have two pricing plans:

• Pro – $99/creator/month. For product managers who want to set up a product space.
• Custom – Customized pricing (contact us for details). For organizations with additional needs in terms of setup, security or migration.

You can get two months free by opting for yearly payments.

Customer ratings

Zeda.io has a 4.0 score on Capterra and a 4.5 rating on G2. Users like the integration options, features and customization. However, some complain about the lack of polish.

Image source: Capterra

Maze

Image source: Capterra

Maze is a product discovery platform that helps you create and run usability tests for your products. With Maze, you can test prototypes, websites and apps with real users and get actionable insights to improve your user experience.

Features

• Prototype testing – Use prototyping to test and implement changes before the development process moves too far ahead.
• Website testing – Live website usability testing to evaluate user experience.
• Interview studies – Run moderated interviews and streamline the analysis of helpful product discovery data you get from them.
• Card sorting – Define navigation and naming conventions and see how people categorize information.
• Feedback surveys – Evaluate customer satisfaction, test exciting concepts and ask what people think.
• Panel – Get responses from a target audience you define.
• Participant management – Create targeted product campaigns for groups you choose, capture engagement and user insights etc.
• In-product prompts – Ask users for feedback right when they use your product or service.
• Design metrics – Automated and actionable insights regarding bounce rates, misclicks etc. 
• Heatmaps – Analyze user behavior thanks to heatmaps to learn how people navigate your website.
• Path analysis – Analyze user paths on the website for additional insights.
• Video recordings – Watch recordings of users interacting with your website/product.

Integrations

You can integrate Maze with various design, productivity and analytics tools such as Adobe XD, Amplitude, Figma, Notion, Slack etc.

Pricing

Maze offers four pricing plans:

• Free – Aimed at individuals who want to try user testing.
• Starter – $99/month. For small teams.
• Team – $1250/month. For bigger teams focused on research democratization and creating user-centric products.
• Organization – Custom pricing (contact the company for details). For businesses and organizations that need to scale their product research.

Customer ratings

Maze has a 4.5 score on both Capterra and G2. Users praise the feature set and valuable insights the tool generates but complain about user-friendliness, presentation and limited survey question templates. 

Image source: Capterra

UserZoom

Image source: Capterra

UserZoom is a well-established remote usability testing platform you can use to test apps, prototypes, websites and wireframes. The company recently merged with UserTesting, so the UserZoom tool now complements another solution – a video-first service that allows you to watch users in real time.

Features

• Recruit – Find great participants for your research with the help of a global network and an AI-based engine with over 200+ demographic filters. 
• Launch – Automatically send invites and reminders to research participants. Watch moderated sessions in a virtual observation room.
• Analyze – Use automated transcripts, timestamped notes, auto-generated charts, heatmaps and synced playback to make customer feedback analysis easier.
• Share – Easily share video clips, highlight reels and quotes with your team and other stakeholders.
• Various research methods – Live interviews, usability tests, surveys, card sorting, click testing, mixed-method studies, benchmarking with QXscore.

Integrations

The website doesn’t mention any integrations specifically connected to UserZoom, but UserTesting (which UserZoom is now part of) offers plenty of options in this regard, including such tools as Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Adobe XD, InVIsion, Figma, Google Analytics and Pendo. 

Pricing

UserZoom offers two plans:

• Quick Start – Quick access to qualitative UX research for small teams and individuals.
• Enterprise – A customizable option for large companies and cross-collaborative teams with specific needs.

The website doesn’t mention prices for either of these plans.

Customer ratings

UserZoom has a 4.2 rating on G2 and a 4.4 score on Capterra. Customers praise the participant recruitment options and the overall experience but question the platform’s usefulness for international research and criticize the interface.

Image source: Capterra

Dscout

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Image source: Dscout website

Dscout is a research platform that helps organizations better understand their customers and users. Dscout allows researchers to create and launch projects that collect data from participants using their smartphones. Participants can share their experiences, opinions and feedback through video, audio, images and text. 

Features

• Recruit – Source participants or introduce the ones you chose yourself.
• Field – Launch research whenever and wherever you need. Choose methods that fit your needs, moderated and unmoderated (interviews, usability tests etc.).
• Manage – Take care of product feedback management through a centralized, easy-to-use dashboard.
• Analyze – Take an in-depth look at your data and generate actionable insights.
• Share – Activate your insights by sharing them with the right people.
• Concept testing – Gather feedback from real people when you get ready to start designing your product.
• Prototype testing – Evaluate the user experience and accessibility of your prototype.
• Website testing – Check how people navigate your website and what hinders their experience.
• In-product testing – Test existing products to identify issues and opportunities. 

Integrations

You can integrate Dscout with Miro, Slack and Figma.

Pricing

Dscout doesn’t provide pricing details on the website – you’ll need to contact the company to get them.

Customer ratings

Dscout has a 4.6 score on G2 and no rating on Capterra. Users like the customer support and some features, but some consider the tool clunky and unintuitive.

Image source: G2

Optimal Workshop

Image source: Capterra

Optimal Workshop is a UX research platform that helps researchers and designers create better user experiences. You can use it to test your ideas, validate your assumptions and optimize your designs for your target audience.

Features

• Participant recruitment – Instantly recruit participants from a panel of over 50 million people.
• Card sorting – Understand your users and create a well-planned content structure.
• Tree testing – Evaluate your website navigation and determine which parts confuse and frustrate your users.
• Qualitative research – Conduct user interviews and usability tests to get qualitative data and create notes from these studies.  
• First-click testing – Evaluate whether the experience you offer matches users’ expectations.
• Online surveys – Use survey tools to create forms and collect valuable feedback from your users.

Integrations

The tool’s website doesn’t list any integrations, but there are articles about integrating with a participant recruitment panel and Ethnio participant screener in the Help Center.

Pricing

Optimal Workshop offers four pricing plans:

• Free – For individuals who want to try UX research.
• Pro – $249/month. For professional freelancers and solo researchers.
• Team – $249/user/month. For small DX/UX teams.
• Enterprise – Custom pricing. Complete feature set plus extra security and support. For bigger companies that need to scale UX research operations.

You can get a discount if you opt for annual billing.

Customer ratings

Optimal Workshop has a 4.5 rating on both G2 and Capterra. Users like how it works and praise some of the features. However, some people complain about the price and certain aspects of the interface related to creating surveys.

Image source: Capterra

Hotjar

Image source: G2

Hotjar is a platform that helps website owners and developers understand how visitors interact with their sites. It allows them to collect and manage feedback, analyze behavior and optimize the user experience. The solution comprises several different modules. 

Features

• Heatmaps – Illustrate the movement of users on the website and determine what works and what doesn’t. 
• Recordings – Watch playbacks of users interacting with your product and analyze their journey.
• Feedback – Let users express their thoughts about your product and see what they like and dislike.
• Surveys – Gather valuable data and validate ideas. Simplify the process of creating surveys with ready-made templates.
• Interviews – Converse with users 1-on-1 to gather in-depth feedback.
• Easy installation – Easily connect Hotjar to WordPress and Google Tag Manager and customize the platform with the help of a developer. 
• Multi-device support – Use Hotjar to evaluate websites made for any device, i.e., desktop, tablet, mobile etc. 
• Export and share – Simply copy and send a link via any channel you want to share insights.
• Smarter visitor targeting – Target visitors by specific attributes, devices or URL addresses.
• Reliable customer support – Get a response to your questions within two workdays.

Integrations

You can integrate Hotjar Segment, HubSpot, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Optimizely, Omniconvert and Google Optimize. The tool also offers a Zapier integration.

Pricing

Hotjar offers four pricing plans:

• Basic – Free starting plan that covers basic needs.
• Plus – €39/month. Provides access to additional insights. Dedicated to small teams.
• Business – €99/month. Access to additional features. A plan for growing companies.
• Scale – €213/month. Full feature set. Dedicated to large companies.

You can get a 20% discount with a yearly subscription.

Customer ratings

Hotjar has a 4.7 rating on Capterra and a lower 4.3 score on G2. Users praise the interface and some features (heatmaps) but complain that it can slow down a website.

Image source: Capterra

Best user research tools: Selection criteria

We considered the following factors: 

• Features – Especially the types of research methods the tool provides and additional enhancements it offers.
• Integrations – The key integrations the solution offers, APIs etc. 
• Pricing – Each platform’s subscription plans and prices.
• Customer ratings – Customer scores and reviews on two popular aggregate sites, G2 and Capterra. 

Best user research tools: A quick analysis

Zeda.io

• Capture & centralize feedback
• Strategy & OKRs
• AI product intelligence
• Roadmap
• Release notes

Best for: product discovery based on user feedback.

Pricing: starts at $99/creator/month.

Maze

• Prototype testing
• Website testing
• Interview studies
• Card sorting
• Feedback surveys
• Panel
• Participant management
• In-product prompts
• Design metrics
• Heatmaps
• Path analysis
• Video recordings

Best for: medium-sized and big companies.

Pricing: $99/month.

UserZoom

• Recruit 
• Launch
• Analyze
• Share
• Various research methods

Best for: big companies. 

Pricing: no information.

Dscout

• Recruit
• Field
• Manage
• Analyze
• Share
• Concept testing
• Prototype testing
• Website testing
• In-product testing

Best for: companies interested in UX research on mobile devices.

Pricing: no information.

Optimal Workshop

• Participant recruitment
• Card sorting
• Tree testing
• Qualitative research  
• First-click testing
• Online surveys

Best for: small teams and freelancers.

Pricing: $249/month.

Hotjar

• Heatmaps 
• Recordings
• Feedback
• Surveys.
• Interviews
• Easy installation
• Multi-device support 
• Export and share
• Smarter visitor targeting
• Reliable customer support 

Best for: big companies

Pricing: €39/month.

Conclusion

User experience is a key factor that can make or break an online business, which is why your choice of user research tools is so important. Zeda.io gives you plenty of tools to collect valuable feedback and helps you draw actionable conclusions from acquired data, thanks to the power of AI algorithms. Sign up right now and check out our solution. We offer a 14-day free trial, so you have nothing to lose and plenty to gain!