{"site":{"name":"Koji","description":"AI-native customer research platform that helps teams conduct, analyze, and synthesize customer interviews at scale.","url":"https://www.koji.so","contentTypes":["blog","documentation"],"lastUpdated":"2026-10-18T14:38:45.803Z"},"content":[{"type":"blog","id":"12c8ea39-5b82-4e93-9587-7e0d243c4c65","slug":"lyssna-vs-optimal-workshop-2026","title":"Lyssna vs Optimal Workshop (2026): Which UX Testing Tool Fits Your Team?","url":"https://www.koji.so/blog/lyssna-vs-optimal-workshop-2026","summary":"Lyssna and Optimal Workshop are unmoderated UX testing tools with overlapping methods. Optimal Workshop (now branded Optimal) specialises in information architecture with OptimalSort card sorting, Treejack tree testing and Chalkmark first-click testing, plus surveys, prototype and live site testing, Qualitative Insights (formerly Reframer) and an AI Interviews tool in 13 languages. Its Starter plan is $199 a month billed annually with 5 launched studies a year, unlimited seats and responses; there is no free plan, only a 7-day trial. Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub) focuses on fast design tests including five-second and preference tests, alongside card sorting, tree testing, first-click, prototype tests and surveys; it has a free plan, a Growth plan at about $165 a month billed annually or $199 monthly, and a 690,000+ person panel priced at about 1 credit (roughly US$1) per test minute per participant. Five users find about 85% of usability problems, but card sorts need about 15 users to reach a 0.90 correlation (Nielsen Norman Group). Maze's 2026 report found 69% of research teams use AI and 21% are experimenting with AI-moderated interviews. Koji is an AI interviewer that adds the why behind test results, with voice and text interviews in 28 languages, six structured question types, 10 free credits at signup and text interviews at 1 credit and voice at 3 credits (EUR 1 per credit).","content":"## The short answer\n\n**Optimal Workshop is the specialist for information architecture research; Lyssna is the broader, cheaper-to-start tool for quick unmoderated tests.** Both run card sorts, tree tests, first-click tests, surveys and prototype tests. Optimal goes deeper on the IA methods and sells an annual plan priced by studies a year. Lyssna adds five-second and preference tests, has a free plan, bills monthly if you want, and comes with its own participant panel.\n\nPick **Optimal Workshop** if you are restructuring navigation or a large site and need the strongest card sorting and tree testing analysis. Pick **Lyssna** if you run lots of small design tests and want to start free. Neither will tell you _why_ customers behave the way they do in their own words at scale; for that you need interviews, which we cover at the end.\n\n## Lyssna vs Optimal Workshop at a glance\n\n|                | Lyssna                                                                                                | Optimal Workshop                                                                                               |\n| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Best known for | Fast unmoderated design tests                                                                         | Card sorting, tree testing and first-click                                                                     |\n| Methods | Five-second, preference, first-click, card sort, tree test, prototype, surveys | Card sort, tree test, first-click, surveys, prototype, qualitative analysis, AI interviews |\n| Free option    | Free plan                                                                                             | 7-day trial, no free plan                                                                                      |\n| Billing        | Monthly or annual                                                                                     | Annual only                                                                                                    |\n| Plan limits    | Studies per month                                                                                     | Launched studies per year                                                                                      |\n| Participants   | Own panel of 690,000+, priced per test minute                                                         | Recruitment priced in credits                                                                                  |\n\n![Table comparing Lyssna, Optimal Workshop and Koji on what each is best at, methods, free option, billing, limits and participants](/visuals/lyssna-vs-optimal-workshop-vs-koji-comparison-table/lyssna-vs-optimal-workshop-vs-koji-comparison-table.png \"Two testing tools and an AI interviewer, compared on what you would actually use them for\")\n\n## What Optimal Workshop does best\n\nOptimal Workshop (now branded Optimal) built its name on three tools: **OptimalSort** for card sorting, **Treejack** for tree testing and **Chalkmark** for first-click testing with heatmaps. If you are deciding how to label and group a navigation menu, these are still the tools many IA specialists reach for. It also has surveys, a usability testing tool for Figma prototypes and live websites, and **Qualitative Insights** (formerly Reframer) for tagging and analysing notes.\n\nIn the past year it added AI-simplified survey questions and an **AI Interviews** tool that finds themes and links each insight to video, in 13 languages ([Optimal](https://www.optimalworkshop.com/blog/optimal-interviews-launch)).\n\n**Pricing.** The Starter plan is **$199 a month, billed annually**, with **5 launched studies a year**, unlimited seats and unlimited responses per study. You can buy extra study bundles. Enterprise is priced on request. There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial ([Optimal](https://www.optimalworkshop.com/pricing)). Recruitment is paid in credits; the per-credit price isn't published.\n\n**The catch.** Five studies a year is tight for a team that tests every sprint, and reviewers describe a steeper learning curve than lighter tools. It is built for planned IA projects, not quick checks.\n\n## What Lyssna does best\n\nLyssna, formerly UsabilityHub, is the quick-test tool. Its **five-second tests** and **preference tests** answer the questions designers ask every week: what do people remember from this page, and which of these two versions do they prefer? It covers card sorting, tree testing, first-click, prototype tests and surveys too, plus live website testing and moderated interviews with recordings on paid plans.\n\nIts own **panel of 690,000+ people** with 395+ targeting options is a big part of the appeal ([Lyssna](https://www.lyssna.com/features/research-panel/)). Unmoderated panel responses cost about **1 credit per test minute per participant**, with a credit worth roughly US$1 and cheaper in bulk ([Lyssna help](https://help.lyssna.com/en/articles/4953377-plan-and-pricing-overview)).\n\nRecent additions include AI follow-up questions, AI summaries, a synthesis feature and an MCP server in beta for querying research from AI assistants ([Lyssna](https://www.lyssna.com/blog/2025-lyssna-year-in-review/)). As of mid 2026, Lyssna does not run AI-moderated interviews.\n\n**Pricing.** There is a **Free** plan with limited self-recruited responses. **Growth** is about **$165 a month billed annually** (Lyssna's comparison page says \"from $166\") or **$199 billed monthly**, with five seats and a monthly study allowance. Enterprise is custom. Panel responses are billed separately on every plan. Check [Lyssna's pricing page](https://www.lyssna.com/pricing/) for current limits.\n\n**The catch.** Studies-per-month limits on Growth can bite, and the IA analysis is lighter than Optimal's.\n\n## How many participants each method needs\n\nWhichever tool you use, sample size drives your cost, and it differs a lot by method:\n\n- **Usability testing:** Nielsen and Landauer's model says **five users find about 85% of usability problems** in a qualitative test ([Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/)).\n- **Card sorting:** results from 5 users correlate only **0.75** with the final structure; you need about **15 users to reach 0.90** (Tullis and Wood, via [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/card-sorting-how-many-users-to-test/)).\n- **Tree testing:** NN/g treats task success **below 40% as poor** and **above 90% as excellent**, which means you need enough participants per task to tell those apart ([Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/interpreting-tree-test-results/)).\n\nThat is why panel pricing matters as much as the plan price. A card sort with 15 recruited people on Lyssna costs a known amount per minute; on Optimal, ask for the credit price before you plan the study. Our guides to [card sorting](/docs/card-sorting-guide), [tree testing](/docs/tree-testing-guide) and [first-click testing](/docs/first-click-testing-guide) cover how to set each one up.\n\nIf you're not sure which method fits your question, start here:\n\n![Listicle matching six UX research methods to the question each answers, from card sorting and tree testing to AI interviews](/visuals/ux-research-methods-which-question-each-answers/ux-research-methods-which-question-each-answers.png \"Pick the method from the question, then pick the tool\")\n\n## What both tools leave out\n\nLyssna and Optimal are built to measure _what_ people do with a design: where they click, where they get lost, which version they choose. They are less suited to the question that usually comes next: _why_.\n\n![A designer arranging sticky notes on a wall, sorting the questions a click test left unanswered](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1580934174026-8142803ebb5b?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3w5NDUzMDN8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxkZXNpZ25lciUyMHN0aWNreSUyMG5vdGVzJTIwd2FsbCUyMHBsYW5uaW5nfGVufDF8MHx8fDE3OTIzMDI2MTR8MA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080)\n\n_Photo by [Paper Textures](https://unsplash.com/@inthemakingstudio?utm_source=koji&utm_medium=referral) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=koji&utm_medium=referral)_\n\nMaze's 2026 research report found **69% of research teams use AI in at least some projects**, up from 50% a year earlier, and **21% are experimenting with AI-moderated interviews** ([Maze](https://maze.co/resources/user-research-report/)). The reason is simple. A tree test might show you that a third of people looked for billing under Account. It can't tell you what they expected to find there, or what they tried before they gave up.\n\n## Which one should you pick?\n\n**Pick Optimal Workshop if** you are doing serious IA work (a site restructure, a new navigation, a large content migration), you can plan around a yearly study allowance, and you want the deepest card sort and tree test analysis.\n\n**Pick Lyssna if** you test designs every week, want five-second and preference tests, like the option to pay monthly, and want a large built-in panel with per-minute pricing.\n\n**Add interviews if** your tests keep raising \"why\" questions that a click map can't answer.\n\n## Where Koji fits: the \"why\" behind the clicks\n\nKoji is an AI interviewer, not a testing tool. It doesn't run card sorts or tree tests. What it does is talk to people: each participant has a voice or text conversation with an AI that asks your questions and follows up when an answer is vague. Pair it with either tool above. Run the tree test, then interview the people who failed the task.\n\n![Koji question editor showing open ended, 1 to 10 scale and single choice questions with follow-up settings](/email/shots/shot-question-types.jpg \"Open questions, scales and choices sit in the same AI interview\")\n\n- **Structured and open questions together.** Six question types (open ended, scale, single choice, multiple choice, ranking and yes or no) in one conversation, so you get charts and quotes from the same study. See [AI interviews vs surveys](/docs/ai-interviews-vs-surveys).\n- **Recruit or bring your own.** Share a link with your users, or use [panel recruitment](/docs/panel-recruitment) on a paid plan, with the cost per respondent shown before you launch.\n- **28 languages**, voice or text, with no moderator to schedule.\n- **A quality gate.** Each interview is scored 1 to 5, and only interviews scoring 3 or more use credits or enter the report. See [how the quality gate works](/docs/how-the-quality-gate-works).\n- **Reports with evidence.** Themes and findings, each [traced to the quotes behind it](/docs/tracing-report-findings-to-evidence).\n\nPricing is public. You get 10 free credits at signup with no credit card. A text interview costs 1 credit and a voice interview 3 credits, at €1 a credit. Insights is €29 a month with 29 credits, Interviews is €79 a month with 79 credits, and Enterprise is custom.\n\n## The bottom line\n\nOptimal Workshop is the IA specialist with an annual, studies-capped plan. Lyssna is the quick-test generalist with a free plan, monthly billing and a big panel. Most teams can decide in five minutes: big IA project, Optimal; weekly design checks, Lyssna.\n\nWhen the clicks raise questions, [try Koji free](https://www.koji.so) and ask the people behind them. For more comparisons, see [Koji vs Lyssna](/blog/koji-vs-lyssna-2026), [Koji vs Optimal Workshop](/blog/koji-vs-optimal-workshop-2026), [Maze vs Lyssna](/blog/maze-vs-lyssna-2026) and the [best card sorting tools](/blog/best-card-sorting-tools-2026).\n","category":"Comparisons","lastModified":"2026-10-18T06:20:13.498488+00:00","metaTitle":"Lyssna vs Optimal Workshop (2026): Features and Pricing","metaDescription":"Lyssna vs Optimal Workshop: card sorting, tree testing, quick design tests, panels and pricing compared, plus how to get the why behind clicks.","keywords":["lyssna vs optimal workshop","optimal workshop vs lyssna","lyssna pricing","optimal workshop pricing","card sorting tools","tree testing tools","lyssna alternative","optimal workshop alternative"],"aiSummary":"Lyssna and Optimal Workshop are unmoderated UX testing tools with overlapping methods. Optimal Workshop (now branded Optimal) specialises in information architecture with OptimalSort card sorting, Treejack tree testing and Chalkmark first-click testing, plus surveys, prototype and live site testing, Qualitative Insights (formerly Reframer) and an AI Interviews tool in 13 languages. Its Starter plan is $199 a month billed annually with 5 launched studies a year, unlimited seats and responses; there is no free plan, only a 7-day trial. Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub) focuses on fast design tests including five-second and preference tests, alongside card sorting, tree testing, first-click, prototype tests and surveys; it has a free plan, a Growth plan at about $165 a month billed annually or $199 monthly, and a 690,000+ person panel priced at about 1 credit (roughly US$1) per test minute per participant. Five users find about 85% of usability problems, but card sorts need about 15 users to reach a 0.90 correlation (Nielsen Norman Group). Maze's 2026 report found 69% of research teams use AI and 21% are experimenting with AI-moderated interviews. Koji is an AI interviewer that adds the why behind test results, with voice and text interviews in 28 languages, six structured question types, 10 free credits at signup and text interviews at 1 credit and voice at 3 credits (EUR 1 per credit).","aiKeywords":["Lyssna","Optimal Workshop","card sorting","tree testing","unmoderated usability testing","UX research tools"],"aiContentType":"comparison","faqItems":[{"answer":"Optimal Workshop specialises in information architecture research, with deep card sorting, tree testing and first-click analysis, sold on an annual plan limited by studies per year. Lyssna is a broader quick-test tool that adds five-second and preference tests, offers a free plan and monthly billing, and includes its own participant panel. Both also run surveys and prototype tests.","question":"What is the difference between Lyssna and Optimal Workshop?"},{"answer":"Optimal Workshop's Starter plan is $199 a month, billed annually, with 5 launched studies a year, unlimited seats and unlimited responses per study. Extra study bundles and an Enterprise plan are priced on request. There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial, and recruitment is paid in credits whose price isn't published.","question":"How much does Optimal Workshop cost?"},{"answer":"Lyssna has a free plan with limited self-recruited responses. Its Growth plan is about $165 a month billed annually, or $199 billed monthly, and Enterprise is custom. Panel responses are billed separately at about 1 credit per test minute per participant, with a credit worth roughly US$1.","question":"How much does Lyssna cost?"},{"answer":"Optimal Workshop is the specialist: OptimalSort and Treejack are built for information architecture work and offer deeper analysis. Lyssna covers both methods well enough for occasional studies. For reliable card sort results, plan on about 15 participants, which gets a 0.90 correlation with the final structure according to Nielsen Norman Group.","question":"Which is better for card sorting and tree testing?"},{"answer":"As of mid 2026, Lyssna runs moderated interviews with recordings but not AI-moderated interviews. Optimal Workshop launched an AI Interviews tool that finds themes and links insights to video. Koji is built around AI-moderated voice and text interviews, in 28 languages, with 10 free credits at signup and no credit card required.","question":"Do Lyssna or Optimal Workshop run AI-moderated interviews?"}],"relatedTopics":["Lyssna","Optimal Workshop","card sorting","tree testing","UX testing tools"]}],"pagination":{"total":1,"returned":1,"offset":0}}