Optimal vs. UserTesting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Optimal
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Optimal Workshop, a company in New Zealand, offers their suite of user research tools on a subscription basis, including the Treejack information architecture tool, OptimalSort card sorting test, Chalkmark first-click testing, and other tools.
$2,388
per year
UserTesting
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
UserTesting helps UX researchers, designers, product teams, and marketers gather actionable insights through research, testing, and feedback. With a network of real people ready to share their perspectives, UserTesting enables organizations to make customer-first decisions at scale.N/A
Pricing
OptimalUserTesting
Editions & Modules
Starter
$2388
per year
Enterprise
Custom
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
OptimalUserTesting
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
OptimalUserTesting
Considered Both Products
Optimal
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop is worse than its competitors, and I only tried it because of the price. Huge mistake.
Chose Optimal
Optimal Workshop was the best tool that provided just what we needed and not anything more. The price point was also perfect for us as it provided room to try it out and then jump into a bigger package.
UserTesting
Chose UserTesting
We evaluated a range of research tools within the UX team, including UserZoom, Lookback, Maze, Optimal Workshop, and UserTesting, and, in the end, concluded that UserTesting had the most comprehensive offer in the market. The only issue we found was that UserTesting appeared …
Chose UserTesting
UserTesting has the best unmoderated interview set up and it's easy for participants to use as well.
Chose UserTesting
UserTesting's platform is the most comprehensive. While it may not have the best analytics features, survey features, recruitment features, etc, it has everything you need to run evaluative and generative research.
Chose UserTesting
UserTesting is superior because of their vast panel, speed, and intuitiveness.
Chose UserTesting
User Testing provided me with several research methodologies especially when it comes to qualitative data about users.
It is easy to use and required less learning curve
User Testing offers a high quality panel, it is easy to get the required number of participants for my …
Chose UserTesting
I have no used any other product similar to UserTesting. I am aware of User Interviews but do not think it has the audience/user reach like user testing does. I have used a variety of survey programs like SurveyMonkey and Typeform and have used them in conjunction with …
Chose UserTesting
We have evaluated other tools including Validately, Loop11, LookBack, UserZoom. Some have more features and capabilities, but UserTesting seems to have the best user panel. It is also hard to switch from a tool, as you lose all the data that lives within the tool. For now we …
Chose UserTesting
We also explored UserZoom but our team found it much more difficult to use. It was not intuitive at all and we had to have a lot of help and support from their team. Additionally, UserZoom was about five times more expensive than UserTesting.
Chose UserTesting
All the tools we had evaluated before purchasing had similar features but the one thing that set UserTesting apart from the rest was the size and reach of their user base. We needed to reach global audiences and at the time of our choice, only UserTesting was able to reach a …
Chose UserTesting
The users are much better at UserTesting. They are thoughtful and give good insight.
Best Alternatives
OptimalUserTesting
Small Businesses
Smartlook
Smartlook
Score 8.5 out of 10
Smartlook
Smartlook
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.6 out of 10
Optimal
Optimal
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Score 8.6 out of 10
Optimal
Optimal
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
OptimalUserTesting
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(11 ratings)
7.9
(189 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
6.7
(8 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(2 ratings)
8.0
(167 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(3 ratings)
7.2
(166 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
4.6
(4 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
OptimalUserTesting
Likelihood to Recommend
Optimal Workshop
Optimal Workshop is great for UX testing for those with a budget to do so. This may be a little on the expensive side for smaller businesses, but definitely not anything crazy expensive. The insights that you get out of these tests are invaluable and can be the difference between launching a site and succeeding/failing.
Read full review
UserTesting
UserTesting is at its best when conducting a range of unmoderated user research tasks with UT's own user panel. UserTesting is less useful when conducting research with our own users, as the UT interface isn't readily understood by them for unmoderated tests, and the types of tests available in moderated research are rather limited.
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Pros
Optimal Workshop
  • Tree Testing - it is a very simple and easy to use system, that provides the data needed from a tree test
  • Card sorting - provides a system for users to participate in navigation menu layouts. We looked into several options, but this seemed very intuitive for users.
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UserTesting
  • Product Manager who follows up on your UserTesting usage and gives advice/support when you need it.
  • UserTesting University is a great platform to learn how to use UT and general information about research.
  • UserTesting can find participants quickly, so you won't need to wait long before you can start the analysis.
Read full review
Cons
Optimal Workshop
  • The recruitment panelists are not professional, nor do they take the tasks seriously. You are going to get a lot of bad data.
  • They are HQ'd outside the US and must have a small team because the customer service is the absolute WORST I've experienced in their industry.
  • They pride themselves on documentation, but when they fail to document something they blame the customer for the mistake.
  • There are way too many limitations with the tool after you launch, limited integrations, and poor survey questionnaire options. The tool itself is far too basic for most sites, especially B2B.
Read full review
UserTesting
  • Quality of participants- its clear some fake their IP addresses and are not in the country you have screened for
  • The AI analytics are not the most functional from what I have seen, stick to what you're good at?
  • I find the scheduling for live sessions clunky to use, the calendar interface is very glitchy
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Likelihood to Renew
Optimal Workshop
No answers on this topic
UserTesting
I'm very happy with my experience of the product and the level of service and learning resources they provide. If the service becomes more expensive than it currently is then we might not be able to justify additional cost - but this is theoretical. I would recommend UserTesting and would ideally renew our contract.
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Usability
Optimal Workshop
I would rate Optimal Workshop's overall usability 9 out of 10 due to several key factors. Firstly, the platform has a user-friendly interface makes navigation straightforward, even for first-time users. The tools and features are well-organized, ensuring users can quickly find what they need without unnecessary complexity. Secondly, the platform is highly intuitive, meaning users can easily understand how to perform tasks without extensive guidance. This is supported by clear and concise instructions throughout the application, reducing the learning curve significantly.
Additionally, the learnability of Optimal Workshop is exceptional. New users can become proficient in a short amount of time, thanks to its well-thought-out design and helpful onboarding materials. Even more advanced features are presented in a way that feels approachable and manageable. Finally, the platform supports a seamless workflow, allowing users to focus on their research or tasks rather than struggling with the software. These qualities collectively make Optimal Workshop a reliable and efficient tool for many projects, justifying its high usability rating.
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UserTesting
It can be difficult to organize our tests and go back and find information. I think the AI tools are helping and will help with this, but for now it is time consuming to sort through all of the tests and information and then synthesize it and share it with others. It just takes a lot of time.
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Reliability and Availability
Optimal Workshop
No answers on this topic
UserTesting
Never encountered any problems
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Performance
Optimal Workshop
No answers on this topic
UserTesting
Perfectly fine. Never had any problems.
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Support Rating
Optimal Workshop
We’ve never had to use much of their support services since the platform is very easy to use, we have however needed to transfer ownership between team members due to people leaving or other circumstances. Under those situations, the support offered to us has been been very quick and efficient and we never had to nudge them much to get the job done.
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UserTesting
I have contacted UserTesting's customer service online, by email, or by phone a few times, and each time, I have encountered the same professionalism and expertise. Even in person during a work event, they were there, and it was the same experience.
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Implementation Rating
Optimal Workshop
No answers on this topic
UserTesting
From a technical perspective, the implementation was extremely smooth. Most of the change management / implementation hurdles were clearing use of the tool through our various security, legal, and information privacy teams. Once these concerns were addressed (UserTesting.com was very helpful in providing all the needed documentation), the implementation process was very simple and we were able to get going right away.
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Alternatives Considered
Optimal Workshop
For the price as it is very convenient for first-time beginners, its intuitiveness both for the one who is designing the activities and for those who have to interact with them. The fact that it collects and gathers the data into insights of the overall responses collected by all users.
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UserTesting
The quality of the participants: they usually have good feedback and act like "professional" users. Which is good when we want a few insights in a short amount of time. Also, the interface is good. I miss having more features, like a good transcription tool like we have in Condens
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Scalability
Optimal Workshop
No answers on this topic
UserTesting
The package we have limits the number of people who can set up tests. This prevents us from scaling the use of the platform.
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Return on Investment
Optimal Workshop
  • Optimal Workshop has had a positive impact on investigating information architecture on several websites.
  • Optimal Workshop has helped investigated the labeling on several websites.
  • Optimal Workshop has also support in the investigation of UX in navigations.
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UserTesting
  • Content is key to the sign up journey and UserTesting helps me improve that.
  • UserTesting has helped me improve the Cashier on our site, making it easier for users to deposit money.
  • UserTesting is helping me iterate all our content decisions, helping us improve the UX across all platforms.
Read full review
ScreenShots

UserTesting Screenshots

Screenshot of UserTesting's several solutions for gathering rich customer experience narratives.Screenshot of Interactive Path Flows
Built on recent research in data mining, the Interactive Path Flow aggregates interaction data across multiple participant sessions to visualize the customer journey, surface unexpected behaviors, and locate key moments in the customer journey.Screenshot of Keyword Mapping
Similar keywords are automatically grouped based on overall sentiment (positive, negative, or neutral) to identify themes. Highlight reels associated with each keyword are grouped together, to discover the why behind each sentiment.Screenshot of Video capture and live streaming
Digital and real-world customer experiences are recorded on desktop and mobile devices or live streamed for in-platform viewing.Screenshot of Audience targeting
Audiences are specified by screening contributors from UserTesting’s global network of contributors or connecting to any preferred network.