Top 10 Usability Testing Tools of 2019

Usability testing is a method that companies use to evaluate a product or website by observing their target demographic walk through tasks. The purpose is to see how people are interacting with your product, determine if users can accomplish their goal, and understand satisfaction levels.

Usability testing is a powerful tool for everyone.

Why is usability testing necessary?


Usability testing doesn’t need to break the bank. 85% of issues related to UX can be detected by performing a usability test on a group of 5 users.

We’ve outlined the top usability testing tools that will help you automate the process of getting feedback on your product’s usability.


1. PlaybookUX

PlaybookUX is an end-to-end software that allows you to speak directly to your target demographic. Conduct one-on-one interviews (moderated sessions) or set tasks for testers to verbally respond to while interacting with a website, prototype, or concept (unmoderated research). Recruiting is their specialty - allowing companies to get very specific on who they are speaking to. It does everything from recruiting the right participants, incentivizing, transcribing, and analyzing the videos with A.I. to extracting actionable insights. After all is said and done, you’re handed valuable video-based feedback. It’s an affordable usability testing tool - you pay per person you speak to, not a hefty subscription fee.

2. Optimizely

Optimizely is great for A/B testing, which is when companies compare two designs to see which performs better. This tool has a ton of features - from cross-browser testing to geotargeting to visitor segmentation to multivariate testing. Optimizely used to have a free plan, but they did away with it and only have plans for enterprises.

3. Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg gives companies insight into what people are doing on their website. They package it into easy to understand heatmaps. View scrolling, hover overs and clicks in heatmap form. Understand if people see call-to-actions. If they’re not, you’ll have to reposition them. Another feature of Crazy Egg is A/B testing. They allow you to track changes on which alternative performs better. Pricing starts at $24 per month.

4. Five Second Test by Usability Hub


It's all in the name. Usability Hub's software enables you to perform 5-second tests. You can show a person your design, landing page, or creative for 5 seconds and then ask them a question about what they recall seeing. Usability hub has a free plan, which is excellent for people who want to trial the software.

5. Card Sorting by Optimal Sort


Uncover how you can intuitively structure your  website’s content. Have your target demographic organize content into categories through a card sorting study. Card sorting ensures your website's content is easily findable by visitors. After the session, they have a comprehensive analytics suite that will provide quality insights. Leverage their free trial to test the product. Optimal Sort plans start at $200 per month.

6. Visitor Recordings by HotJar


Visitors recordings, also known as session replays, are muted videos where companies view real visitors interacting with their websites. Watch mouse clicks and cursor movements. Session replays are a great way to watch organic activity on your website, but you don't know what your visitors are thinking since there’s no audio. A limitation to visitor recordings is that it's easy to assign a value to every click. However, people may just be click happy. HotJar has a free plan so you can explore its tools without commitment.

7. Usertesting.com

Similar to PlaybookUX, Usertesting.com allows you to conduct qualitative research through unmoderated sessions. Companies can get videos of participants interacting with their website. However, usertesting.com isn't the best solution for B2B companies, since their tester pool isn’t verified for firmographics (job role, industry etc). Also, it's on the pricey side - with the cheapest plan starting at $20k+ per year.

8. Qualaroo

Qualaroo is a feedback tool that gathers insights through micro surveys. They’ll serve short surveys to visitors while they’re browsing a company’s website. Once the user feedback is received, they’ll make sense of it with their comprehensive analytics. Pricing starts at $200 per month.

9. Appsee

Appsee is an analytics platform for mobile apps. Metrics include daily active users, crash rates, conversion rates, and more. Basically, they’re Google Analytics for apps. You’re able to generate a heatmap of visitor clicks. Appsee has many integrations with third-party applications.

10. Lookback


Lookback is a mobile app specific platform. It involves installing a snippet of code into your application so you can conduct moderated interviews. Identify usability issues with your application for more seamless customer experience. They charge per person and start at $600 per year.

There you have it - the top ten usability testing tools of 2019.