Usertesting.com is a great service but it’s pricing is probably out-of-reach for many small businesses and startups looking for some quick feedback on their sites before and after launch. So are there any free alternatives to usertesting and if not what are cheapest alternatives to usertesting.com?

Well unfortunately there aren’t really ANY free online alternatives to usertesting. The only service I know (and something I have been using for years) is UsabilityHub. They offer bite-sized feedback responses from other users. You complete tests to earn credits which you can in-turn then use to conduct your own tests. While this service is technically free, it can be slightly frustrating and time consuming carrying out tests to earn credits and I’m sure most business owners probably wouldn’t want to waste their time doing this.

Another free option is Usability.Testing.Exchange. It’s very much like UsabilityHub in that you test other users websites in order to earn credits and use them for your own tests. The feedback is somewhat limited as it is only text based (same as UsabilityHub), but these 2 service can be great if you want some quick free feedback on UX and design choices.

To really get the most from your test you ideally want to be able to actually see and hear what your test subject is doing.

If there are not any services that are free then the next step we will look to see what services are closest to free. Here are a few alternatives.

TryMyUI

• $35 Per Desktop Test – 20 Minutes of Testing
• $70 Per Mobile Test – 20 Minutes of Testing
• Video Feedback and Questionnaire
• Demographic targeting

Very accessible service for those on a budget. Their Free plan is ‘pay per test’ so there are no monthly fees which is great.

UserBob

• $25 Per 5 Desktop Test – 5 Minutes of Testing each
• $30 Per 5 Mobile Test – 5 Minutes of Testing each
• Video Feedback
• No demographic targeting options/Very limited on their custom option

Low budget option that I have tried myself. The feedback wasn’t the best and the quality was quite poor from some of my testers recruited. It’s quite hard to determine the quality you will be getting from the panel as there are very limited targeting options.

UserThink

• $39 Per 6 Written Responses
• No video feedback, just written responses
• No demographic targeting options

Probably the least amount of options available here, no video feedback as far as I can tell and the only targeting available is that they will use US testers.

UserFeel

• $49 Per Desktop Test
• $99 Per Mobile Test
• Video feedback
• Screener questions and demographic targeting

Good targeting options and the screener feature is great to make sure you really get the closest tester to your actual audience but the pricing is expensive.

UserTest.io

• $25 (approx) Per Desktop or Mobile Test
• Can only target by country

It’s a cheap option and handy that you can choose between desktop or mobile for the same price but I would rather pay the extra $10 and get a targeted test from TryMyUI if I wanted desktop testing.

Outsprung

• $29 $14.99 Per Desktop Or Mobile Site Test
• $34 $19.99 Per Android App Test
• Video Feedback
• Ongoing follow up Q&A
• In depth competition analysis report (Optional Extra)
• Years of experience and knowledge with online marketing to help you plan what to do next

My service is a little different (read this to understand a little more) from the above services as it is a consultation service so you get the best of both worlds (an experience tester and also a UX/CRO designer). This does mean that the demographic is just myself, which can be limiting, especially in an extremely uncommon niche. However I am quite good at putting myself in others shoes as it’s part of my job being a UX designer/researcher so I might just be worth a try.