Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

UserTesting.com VS Discourse

Compare UserTesting.com VS Discourse and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

UserTesting.com logo UserTesting.com

Usability testing has never been easier. Get videos of real people speaking their thoughts as they use websites, mobile apps, prototypes and more!

Discourse logo Discourse

Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet.
  • UserTesting.com Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-27

UserTesting enables every organization to deliver the best customer experience powered by human insight. With UserTestingโ€™s on-demand Human Insight Platform, companies across industries make accurate customer-first decisions at every level, at the speed business demands.

  • Discourse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-13

UserTesting.com

$ Details
Free Trial
Release Date
2007 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Darrell Benatar
Employees
500 - 999

UserTesting.com features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it simple for users to set up tests and analyze results.
  • Quality of Feedback
    Provides high-quality, detailed feedback from real users, which can be instrumental in improving user experience.
  • Quick Turnaround Time
    Enables rapid collection of feedback, often providing results within hours, which is ideal for iterative testing and fast-paced development cycles.
  • Diverse Participant Pool
    Offers access to a broad and diverse range of participants, ensuring that feedback is representative of different demographics and user types.
  • Comprehensive Analytics
    Includes robust analytics tools that help users make sense of the data collected and draw actionable insights.
  • Customizable Tests
    Allows for the creation of highly customizable tests to fit specific research needs and objectives.
  • Video Feedback
    Participants provide video recordings of their sessions, offering visual and contextual insights into user interactions.

Possible disadvantages of UserTesting.com

  • Cost
    The platform can be expensive, making it less accessible for smaller businesses or startups with limited budgets.
  • Participant Dropout
    There can be instances of participants dropping out of tests, which may require rescheduling and cause delays.
  • Limited Session Duration
    Testing sessions are often limited in duration, which might not be sufficient for more comprehensive or complex tests.
  • Dependency on External Participants
    The quality and reliability of the feedback are dependent on the external participant pool, which can sometimes be inconsistent.
  • Learning Curve
    While the platform is generally user-friendly, there can still be a learning curve for users unfamiliar with UX research methodologies.

Discourse features and specs

  • Modern Interface
    Discourse provides a clean, intuitive, and responsive user interface that works well on both desktops and mobile devices.
  • Open Source
    Discourse is open source software, allowing for customization, self-hosting, and community contributions, which can reduce costs and increase flexibility.
  • Rich Features
    The platform includes a variety of built-in features such as threaded replies, real-time notifications, and community moderation tools.
  • Scalability
    Discourse is designed to handle small communities as well as large, active forums, making it suitable for a variety of use cases.
  • Security
    Regular updates and a dedicated security team help keep the software secure against vulnerabilities.
  • Integration and APIs
    Discourse offers extensive APIs and integrates well with various other services and plugins, facilitating seamless extensions and automation.

Possible disadvantages of Discourse

  • Resource Intensive
    Discourse can be resource-heavy, which may require significant server capacity and maintenance, especially for large communities.
  • Hosting Costs
    While you can self-host Discourse, the server and maintenance costs can be high. Managed hosting plans provided by Discourse can also be expensive.
  • Complex Setup
    Installing and configuring Discourse can be complex, particularly for those without technical expertise in server management and Ruby on Rails.
  • Learning Curve
    Users and administrators might face a steeper learning curve compared to more traditional forum software due to its modern interface and extensive features.
  • Limited Built-in Themes
    The default theme options are somewhat limited, and extensive customization requires knowledge of front-end development.
  • Dependency on PostgreSQL and Redis
    Discourse relies on PostgreSQL for its database and Redis for caching, which might complicate setup and maintenance compared to solutions that use simpler database architectures.

Analysis of UserTesting.com

Overall verdict

  • UserTesting.com is generally considered a good tool for businesses looking to conduct user research and usability testing. Its platform is user-friendly and it provides high-quality, actionable insights. However, its suitability may vary depending on the specific requirements of a project, such as budget constraints and target audience.

Why this product is good

  • UserTesting.com is a popular platform for gaining insights into user experience by allowing businesses to watch real users interact with their products or websites. It offers valuable video-based feedback from a diverse group of testers, which can help identify pain points, improve usability, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Recommended for

  • Product managers seeking to understand user interactions
  • UI/UX designers needing feedback on design elements
  • Marketing teams aiming to improve customer engagement
  • Businesses of various sizes looking to enhance their digital platforms

UserTesting.com videos

Testing out UserTesting.com (LEGIT SIDE HUSTLE?!?)

Discourse videos

Why We Chose The Discourse Platform For Our Forums

More videos:

  • Review - Why Discourse is the Best Forum Software Out There (No, Really) | Location Rebel
  • Review - A Grammar Review for Discourse Analysis

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to UserTesting.com and Discourse)
User Experience
100 100%
0% 0
Forums
0 0%
100% 100
Usability
100 100%
0% 0
Forums And Forum Software

User comments

Share your experience with using UserTesting.com and Discourse. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare UserTesting.com and Discourse

UserTesting.com Reviews

10 Best Canny Alternatives and Competitors in 2025
The best way to understand your users is to put yourself in their shoes. With UserTesting, see what your customers see when they use your products and dive into user feedback to build products theyโ€™ll use daily. ๐ŸŽฏ
Source: clickup.com
11 Hotjar alternatives and competitors in 2024
UserTesting is a UX research tool that allows users to gain user insights via video feedback. UX teams can use the UserTesting panel to hire testers and delegate tasks to uncover how users interact with their product.
Source: maze.co
10 Best Hotjar Alternatives & Competitors in 2023
Plus, users can not reach any visualized data on the UserTesting dashboard and this makes it rather difficult to understand what exactly is going on on a website.
Best 8 Affordable UserZoom Alternatives in 2023
A vast quantity of worthless responses is the platformโ€™s biggest and most noticeable downside. While UserTesting has a large volunteer pool, it appears that a considerable number of them are not qualified to participate in meaningful research. Some respondents are impatient, cheat, or appear to be uninterested in the procedure, all of which detracts from the overall...
UserTesting vs UserZoom: Pick the right user research software in 2022
Both Usertesting and UserZoom do not have a public pricing page. Their price is available upon request and you need to register for a demo. Then a sales representative will reach out to schedule an introductory demo call with you. After the call, you are usually given an estimate and a second sales call follows. The process of acquiring and registering for a subscription...

Discourse Reviews

20 Telegram Alternatives to Chat With in 2024
Discourse is a basic forum function that could be an alternative to Telegram if you want to stick to text discussions. It's pretty analog, missing both video and livestreaming tools. Instead, Discourse is a basic community that lets you organize discussions--it feels a bit like having your own reddit or Quora.
18 Best Discord Alternatives 2020 | Expert Reviews
Discourse comes in a couple of flavours. You can self-host it yourself in which case the software is free, and you simply need to sign up for server space, or you can pay Discourse for a hosted-for-you option, though self-hosting is a lot cheaper the premium option takes care of the technical side.
IndieHackers: Best forum software
I used Flarum when trying to get a community set up for my product (ended up abandoning it to revisit when we have a larger customer base). It worked fairly well and I enjoyed it but it's definitely beta and unless you're fairly tech savvy it's not quite worth the setup / maintenance. Lots of config changes, crashes, huge issues with plugins, and some features missing. I'd...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, UserTesting.com should be more popular than Discourse. It has been mentiond 101 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

UserTesting.com mentions (101)

  • Low-cost, one-off unmoderated usability testing platforms
    Lookback, Usability Hub (now called Lyssna) and Validately but have been spoiled by former employers who had the budget for usertesting.com so I'm pretty out of the loop on low-budget options. TIA! Source: over 2 years ago
  • Interview recruiting?
    I need to recruit 5-6 parents/grandparents for a study and I'm having trouble finding a company I can use (aside from usertesting.com since they tailor to large companies and I'm doing freelance work). Every company I've come across offers recruitment for surveys, but not interviews. Source: over 2 years ago
  • iOS User Testing App Won't Open
    Anyone else having problems with the iOS UserTesting App? Mine just opens and shows the logo, and stays there. I can see multiple tests available on usertesting.com, but can't open the app. I have a iPhone 13, updated to 17.1. Source: over 2 years ago
  • ๐Ÿš€ Improve Your Site; Get Expert Reviews On Your Creation!
    User Testing Services: Platforms like UserTesting Human Insight Platform | Improve Customer Experience (CX) allow you to get feedback from real users who provide insights on usability, design, and user experience. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Is MTurk worth it for new users? (ZERO rejections, either...)
    Try usertesting.com, it fits into your schedule better. Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

Discourse mentions (23)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing UserTesting.com and Discourse, you can also consider the following products

TestRail - TestRail provides comprehensive test case management for software testing. Organize your testing, boost productivity, get real-time insights, and track progress toward milestones. Integrates with leading issue tracking and test automation tools.

Flarum - Flarum is the next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun. It's simple, fast, and free.

Sauce Labs - Test mobile or web apps instantly across 700+ browser/OS/device platform combinations - without infrastructure setup.

phpBB - Raspberry Pi. The Raspberry Pi is a cheap, credit-card sized computer. The official website uses phpBB for their discussion forums. phpBB is not affiliated with nor responsible for any of the sites listed on the showcase.

Hotjar - The #1 Leader in Heatmaps, Recordings, Surveys & More. Sign up for a 15-day free trial and start learning from real user behavior today!

Vanilla Forums - Build an engaging community forum using Vanilla's modern cloud forum software.