Best product research tools
The short answer: Use Maze to test designs and flows, Dovetail to keep interviews and research in one place, and a survey tool to ask people at scale. Among survey tools, Enform reads and counts written answers for you, SurveyMonkey can find respondents through its paid panel, and Typeform has the most polished form.
Product research covers several jobs: testing a flow, keeping what you've learned, and asking people at scale. No single tool does all of them best, and most teams end up with two.
The shortlist
Grouped by job rather than ranked: testing a design first, then keeping research in one place, then surveys ordered by how much they help you read the answers.
Checked on against each tool's own pricing and help pages, linked under each tool. Enform is our product.
- MazeUnmoderated usability and prototype testing with task metrics, and surveys included. Free plan with 1 study a month; Starter is $99/month.Open-ended replies: AI analysis of survey answers is on the Enterprise plan.Watch out for: Built for testing designs, so a long open-ended survey is not its main job.Sources: Maze pricing
- DovetailA place to bring in interviews, notes and survey data, then tag, search and share what people said.Open-ended replies: AI summaries on imported data; the free plan includes basic AI summaries for one project.Watch out for: It doesn't send surveys, and paid plans beyond free are Enterprise, priced on request.Sources: Dovetail pricing
- EnformDescribe the research question and Enform writes the survey. It reads the replies, counts what people said and drafts slides for the team.Open-ended replies: This is the main job. Enform reads the replies and counts what people said, and every count opens the replies behind it. How many replies it reads depends on your plan.Watch out for: No payments inside forms, no HIPAA option and no paid panel of respondents, so you bring your own people. Fewer integrations than Typeform or Jotform. The AI writes the first draft of your questions, so read the wording before you share the link. No usability testing and no place to keep interview notes.Sources: Enform plans
- SurveyMonkeyMature survey platform with a 1,800+ question bank and SurveyMonkey Audience, a paid panel from $1 per response when you need people outside your own list.Open-ended replies: Word clouds and tagging from Standard; AI grouping from Advantage.Watch out for: Reading help is on higher plans.Sources: SurveyMonkey pricing, SurveyMonkey Audience
- TypeformPolished one-question-at-a-time surveys for discovery and concept tests.Open-ended replies: Smart Insights on Growth plans and above, in English.Watch out for: 10 responses a month on free and 100 on Basic.Sources: Typeform free plan, Typeform Smart Insights
FAQ
What's the difference between these tools?
Maze tests designs and flows. Dovetail keeps and searches research you bring in. Enform, SurveyMonkey and Typeform ask people questions at scale. Most teams pair a testing tool with a survey tool.
Which tool is best for discovery surveys?
If you need people outside your own list, SurveyMonkey Audience sells responses from $1 each. If you have the people and the bottleneck is reading what they wrote, Enform reads the replies and counts what people said.
Do I need a usability tool and a survey tool?
Often, yes. A usability test tells you whether people can finish a task. A survey tells you what people want and why. They answer different questions.
More guides & comparisons
- Best AI form buildersMost builders use AI to write the form. Fewer use it on the replies, and often on higher plans.
- Survey tools that summarize open-ended answersWhich tools read your written answers, and which plan you need for it.
- Enform vs JotformGeneral-purpose form breadth vs a research loop that drafts the deck.
- Enform vs Microsoft FormsFree with M365 vs forms that analyze answers and draft the deck.