{"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":"2026-09-20T21:41:45.217Z"},"content":[{"type":"blog","id":"e621d4b4-11ac-43a5-a516-262983fcef57","slug":"maze-vs-lyssna-2026","title":"Maze vs Lyssna (2026): Unmoderated UX Testing Compared — and the AI-Moderated Layer Both Miss","url":"https://www.koji.so/blog/maze-vs-lyssna-2026","summary":"Maze vs Lyssna in 2026: both are fast unmoderated UX research tools (prototype tests, surveys, card sorts, preference tests). Maze wins on reach and integrations — a 3M+ participant panel, 400+ targeting attributes, and deep Figma/Sketch/Adobe XD connections, with a Starter plan at $99/month. Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub) wins on value — its full research suite is unlimited on every plan including free, with paid plans from $75/month, though its panel is smaller (530K+) with 35 targeting attributes. Both are unmoderated and cannot ask an adaptive follow-up, so they reveal what users do but not why. Koji adds the missing layer: AI-moderated voice and text interviews that probe every answer in real time, six structured question types, and automatic thematic analysis, starting free with 10 credits and no card, then as low as €1 per qualified interview (€3 per qualified voice interview) with no subscription.","content":"# Maze vs Lyssna (2026): Unmoderated UX Testing Compared — and the AI-Moderated Layer Both Miss\n\n**TL;DR:** Both **Maze** and **Lyssna** (formerly UsabilityHub) are fast, **unmoderated** UX research tools — prototype tests, surveys, card sorts, and preference tests with built-in panels. **Maze wins on panel size and integrations**: a **3M+ participant pool**, **400+ targeting attributes**, and deep **Figma/Sketch/Adobe XD** connections, with a Starter plan at **$99/month**. **Lyssna wins on value and breadth per plan**: its full research suite (including unlimited tests) is available on **every tier including free**, with paid plans from **$75/month**, though its panel is smaller (**530K+**). Both are excellent at *what* users do — but neither can ask an **adaptive follow-up** to learn *why*. **Koji** adds that missing layer: **AI-moderated voice and text interviews** that probe every answer in real time, starting **free with 10 credits**, then as low as **€1 per qualified interview** (€3 per qualified voice interview), pay as you go with no subscription.\n\n## Maze vs Lyssna at a glance\n\n| | Maze | Lyssna | Koji |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| **Category** | Unmoderated testing + analytics | Unmoderated testing + panel | AI-moderated interviews |\n| **Free plan** | Yes (limited) | Yes — full suite | Yes — 10 credits |\n| **Entry paid** | $99/mo (Starter) | $75/mo (Basic) | From €1 per qualified interview, pay as you go |\n| **Panel size** | 3M+ participants | 530K+ participants | Recruit through Koji's panel, or bring your own |\n| **Targeting attributes** | 400+ | 35 | Custom screeners |\n| **Design integrations** | Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD | Figma | Context upload |\n| **Adaptive follow-ups** | No | No | Yes — AI probes every answer |\n| **Auto thematic analysis** | Limited | Limited | Yes — one-click report |\n\n## Maze: best for panel reach and design integrations\n\nMaze is the **design-team favorite**. It plugs directly into **Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD**, so you can validate a prototype before a line of code is written. Its panel is large — **3M+ participants** — and its targeting is granular, with **400+ attributes** to refine who you test. Maze's Starter plan is **$99/month** (unlimited blocks, advanced features, 5 seats); full access to every tool requires the Organization plan (quote-based).\n\n**Where it shines:** prototype testing, [first-click testing](/docs/first-click-testing-guide), [five-second tests](/docs/5-second-test-guide), and quantitative usability metrics at speed.\n\n**Where it falls short:** some testing tools are gated behind the **$99 Starter** tier, and — like all unmoderated tools — Maze captures *what* happened, not *why*.\n\n## Lyssna: best for value and an all-in-one suite\n\nLyssna (the rebrand of UsabilityHub) bundles **five-second tests, first-click tests, preference tests, card sorts, [tree tests](/docs/tree-testing-guide), and surveys** — and crucially, gives you **unlimited access to the full suite on every plan, including free**. Paid plans start at **$75/month** with more seats. Reviewers praise its **fast feedback** and **clean UX**, and it offers **stronger moderated-testing support** than Maze. The trade-off: a **smaller panel (530K+)** and **fewer targeting attributes (35)**.\n\n**Where it shines:** affordable, broad method coverage for lean teams; quick design decisions.\n\n**Where it falls short:** smaller recruitment reach, and — again — **no way to ask a participant \"why?\" in the moment.**\n\n## Pricing: Maze vs Lyssna\n\n| Plan | Maze | Lyssna |\n|---|---|---|\n| Free | Yes (limited blocks) | Yes — full suite |\n| Entry paid | $99/mo (Starter, 5 seats) | $75/mo (Basic) |\n| Top tier | Organization (custom) | Pro / custom |\n| Pricing model | Tiered + some tools gated | Full suite on every tier |\n\nLyssna is generally the **better value per plan**; Maze is the **better reach and integration** play. But both price by seats and tiers, not by depth of insight — because depth of insight is exactly what unmoderated tools don't produce.\n\n## What both miss: the adaptive follow-up\n\nMaze and Lyssna are **unmoderated by design**. That makes them fast and scalable — and structurally unable to probe. As the research literature puts it: *\"Without a moderator, you can't ask participants follow-up questions in the moment... you often have to infer the why from screen recordings or written comments.\"*\n\nThe 2026 best-practice pattern is telling: teams increasingly **pair an unmoderated test with a short conversational follow-up** to recover the reasoning a recording can't capture. That follow-up is the gap Koji fills.\n\n## The missing layer: Koji's AI-moderated interviews\n\n[Koji](/) isn't a replacement for a click-path test — it's the **depth layer** unmoderated tools can't provide:\n\n- **AI-moderated voice & text interviews** that **probe every answer in real time** — the adaptive \"why\" Maze and Lyssna can't ask. ([Voice interview experience](/docs/voice-interview-experience).)\n- **Six structured question types** (`open_ended`, `scale`, `single_choice`, `multiple_choice`, `ranking`, `yes_no`) so one study captures both the metric and the motivation. ([Structured questions](/docs/structured-questions-guide).)\n- **Automatic thematic analysis** into a **one-click report** with quotes — no manual tagging across hundreds of sessions. ([Thematic analysis](/docs/thematic-analysis-guide).)\n- **Fair, transparent pricing.** Interviews are as low as **€1 per qualified interview**, and €3 per qualified voice interview. A **quality gate** means a conversation that scores below 3 out of 5 is free and never charged, so you don't pay for junk responses. Starts **free with 10 credits**, no card, then pay as you go with no subscription.\n\n**The combined workflow that wins in 2026:** run your prototype test in Maze or Lyssna to see *what* users do, then run a Koji AI interview to learn *why* they did it — 10x faster than scheduling moderated sessions, with no moderator bias.\n\n## When to use which\n\n- **Maze** — design-led prototype validation, large panel reach, deep Figma/Sketch/XD integration, quantitative usability metrics.\n- **Lyssna** — best value, full method suite on every plan, quick design tests for lean teams.\n- **Koji** — whenever you need the *reasoning* behind the behavior: churn, discovery, concept and [message testing](/docs/messaging-testing-guide), pricing, and the qualitative follow-up to any unmoderated test. For the bigger picture, see [moderated vs unmoderated research](/docs/unmoderated-vs-moderated-research).\n\n## Method coverage: what each tool can test\n\n| Method | Maze | Lyssna | Koji |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Prototype / usability test | Yes | Yes | Pair with interview |\n| Five-second test | Yes | Yes | — |\n| First-click test | Yes | Yes | — |\n| Card sorting | Yes | Yes | — |\n| Tree testing | Yes | Yes | — |\n| Preference test | Yes | Yes | — |\n| Surveys | Yes | Yes | Structured questions |\n| Moderated interviews | Limited | Limited | AI-moderated, at scale |\n| Adaptive follow-up probing | No | No | Yes |\n\nOn paper, Maze and Lyssna cover nearly the same unmoderated methods. The real dividing lines are **panel reach** (Maze 3M+ vs Lyssna 530K+), **targeting depth** (400+ vs 35 attributes), **design integrations** (Maze's Figma/Sketch/Adobe XD vs Lyssna's Figma), and **value** (Lyssna's full suite on every plan). What neither line covers is the **interview** column — the conversation that explains the numbers behind a heatmap or a task-success score.\n\n## Recruitment and panel quality\n\nPanel size isn't everything, but it shapes who you can reach. Maze's **3M+ pool with 400+ targeting attributes** is a genuine advantage for niche B2B or specific demographic targeting; Lyssna's **530K+ pool with 35 attributes** is ample for consumer and general design tests but tighter for hard-to-reach segments. With Koji you do not need an audience of your own: describe the target audience and recruit through Koji's panel, approving the exact credit quote before launch. If you do have a list (your churned users, trial signups, or an existing audience), bring it and use [screener questions](/docs/screener-questions-guide) to qualify them. Either way you interview the exact people who matter rather than a generic panel. The result is sharper, more relevant insight per conversation, which is why teams increasingly run unmoderated tests for breadth and AI interviews for depth.\n\n## Speed without losing the why\n\nThe reason unmoderated tools exploded is speed: you launch a test and have results in hours instead of scheduling a week of moderated sessions. The historical catch was that speed cost you depth — fast data, shallow understanding. AI-moderated interviews remove that trade-off. Koji fields voice and text conversations around the clock and [generates thematic reports automatically](/docs/generating-research-reports) as responses land, so you get interview-grade depth at unmoderated-test speed. For teams practicing [continuous discovery](/docs/continuous-discovery-user-research), that means you can run a Maze or Lyssna prototype test on Monday and have the \"why\" from a Koji interview round by Wednesday — inside a single sprint, with no moderator calendar to manage.\n\n## The bottom line\n\nMaze and Lyssna are both strong unmoderated UX tools — pick **Maze for reach and integrations**, **Lyssna for value and suite breadth**. But neither answers *why*. **Koji adds the AI-moderated interview layer that turns \"what happened\" into \"why it happened\"** — at survey scale, starting free.\n\n> **Want the why behind your usability data?** [Start free with Koji](/) and pair your next prototype test with an AI-moderated interview.","category":"Comparisons","lastModified":"2026-09-20T15:23:58.909541+00:00","metaTitle":"Maze vs Lyssna (2026): UX Testing Compared + the AI Layer","metaDescription":"Maze vs Lyssna compared for 2026 — pricing ($99 vs $75), panel size (3M+ vs 530K+), targeting (400+ vs 35), and integrations. Maze wins on reach, Lyssna on value. Plus the adaptive follow-up both unmoderated tools miss, and how Koji's AI interviews add it, free to start with 10 credits.","keywords":["maze vs lyssna","lyssna vs maze","maze vs lyssna 2026","maze alternative","lyssna alternative","unmoderated usability testing","prototype testing tools"],"aiSummary":"Maze vs Lyssna in 2026: both are fast unmoderated UX research tools (prototype tests, surveys, card sorts, preference tests). Maze wins on reach and integrations — a 3M+ participant panel, 400+ targeting attributes, and deep Figma/Sketch/Adobe XD connections, with a Starter plan at $99/month. Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub) wins on value — its full research suite is unlimited on every plan including free, with paid plans from $75/month, though its panel is smaller (530K+) with 35 targeting attributes. Both are unmoderated and cannot ask an adaptive follow-up, so they reveal what users do but not why. Koji adds the missing layer: AI-moderated voice and text interviews that probe every answer in real time, six structured question types, and automatic thematic analysis, starting free with 10 credits and no card, then as low as €1 per qualified interview (€3 per qualified voice interview) with no subscription.","aiKeywords":["maze","lyssna","usability testing","prototype testing","unmoderated research","ai moderated interviews","structured questions"],"aiContentType":"comparison","faqItems":[{"answer":"It depends on your priority. Maze is better for panel reach and design integrations — a 3M+ participant pool, 400+ targeting attributes, and native Figma/Sketch/Adobe XD connections — but some tools are gated behind its $99/month Starter plan. Lyssna is better for value, giving you the full research suite (unlimited) on every plan including free, from $75/month, though its panel is smaller (530K+). Neither can probe why a user behaved a certain way; an AI-moderated tool like Koji can.","question":"Is Maze or Lyssna better in 2026?"},{"answer":"Both have free plans. Maze's Starter plan is around $99/month (unlimited blocks, advanced features, 5 seats), with full tool access on the quote-based Organization plan. Lyssna's Basic plan starts around $75/month and includes the full research suite on every tier. Koji, the AI-interview alternative, starts free with 10 credits and no card, then runs as low as €1 per qualified interview and €3 per qualified voice interview, pay as you go with no subscription.","question":"How much do Maze and Lyssna cost?"},{"answer":"Maze is design-integration and panel heavy — built to validate prototypes with a large, finely targeted audience. Lyssna (the rebrand of UsabilityHub) is a value-led, all-in-one suite — five-second tests, first-click tests, preference tests, card sorts, tree tests, and surveys, unlimited on every plan. Both are unmoderated, so both tell you what users do, not why.","question":"What is the difference between Maze and Lyssna?"},{"answer":"The adaptive follow-up. Because both are unmoderated, there is no moderator to ask a participant why they did something in the moment — you infer reasoning from recordings or written comments. The 2026 best-practice fix is to pair an unmoderated test with a short conversational follow-up, which is exactly what Koji's AI-moderated interviews provide.","question":"What do Maze and Lyssna both miss?"},{"answer":"Koji. Rather than competing on click-path tests, Koji adds the depth layer unmoderated tools lack: AI-moderated voice and text interviews that probe every answer in real time, six structured question types so a single study captures both the metric and the motivation, and automatic thematic analysis into a one-click report. It starts free with 10 credits and no card, then pay as you go with no subscription, and interviews are as low as €1 per qualified interview and €3 per qualified voice interview.","question":"What is a good AI alternative to Maze and Lyssna?"},{"answer":"Yes — that's the recommended 2026 workflow. Run your prototype or usability test in Maze or Lyssna to see what users do, then run a Koji AI-moderated interview to learn why they did it. You get the scale of unmoderated testing plus the qualitative depth of an interview, without scheduling live sessions.","question":"Can I use Maze or Lyssna together with Koji?"}],"relatedTopics":["Maze","Lyssna","Usability Testing","Prototype Testing","Unmoderated Research","AI Moderated Interviews"]}],"pagination":{"total":1,"returned":1,"offset":0}}