{"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":"2026-10-09T20:57:53.781Z"},"content":[{"type":"blog","id":"2b6dff5e-46f9-45cf-b40f-77c975a75706","slug":"outset-alternatives-2026","title":"7 Best Outset Alternatives in 2026 (Pricing and Features Compared)","url":"https://www.koji.so/blog/outset-alternatives-2026","summary":"The best Outset alternatives in 2026 are Koji, Listen Labs, Strella, Conveo, Great Question, Maze and UserTesting. Outset runs AI-moderated video, voice and text interviews in 40+ languages but has custom-only pricing, no free plan and relies on 25+ external panels. Koji is the closest self-serve swap, with published pricing from free (Insights EUR 29/mo, Interviews EUR 79/mo), a built-in panel in 130+ countries and a quality gate that only charges for interviews scoring 3 or more; it does not record video. Strella and Conveo suit teams that need recorded video, and Listen Labs is being acquired by Salesforce.","content":"The best Outset alternatives in 2026 are **Koji, Listen Labs, Strella, Conveo, Great Question, Maze and UserTesting**. Which one fits depends on why you are leaving or skipping Outset. If the problem is price and the annual sales contract, Koji is the closest like-for-like swap: it runs AI-moderated voice and text interviews, recruits from a panel, writes the report, and publishes its prices, starting with a free plan. If you need recorded video of every participant for an enterprise insights team, Conveo and Strella are the nearest matches.\n\nOutset is a strong product. It has raised $51M, counts Microsoft and Nestlé as customers, and runs AI-moderated interviews in more than 40 languages. But it is built and priced for enterprise insights teams, and many product teams, founders and agencies find that they need the method without the procurement cycle.\n\n## Why teams look for Outset alternatives\n\nThree reasons come up again and again.\n\n**1. Pricing is not public.** Outset's [pricing page](https://outset.ai/pricing) lists custom plans (a standard subscription, support tiers and enterprise plans) and no numbers. There is no free plan to try it on your own. Third-party estimates exist, but we could not verify them, so expect a sales call and an annual contract before you run your first study.\n\n**2. It has no panel of its own.** Outset [connects to more than 25 panels](https://outset.ai/platform/recruit), including Prolific, User Interviews and Respondent, or you can bring your own customers. That is flexible, but it means a second vendor relationship and a second invoice for most studies.\n\n**3. It is heading towards enterprise CX.** When Outset announced its [$30M Series B](https://outset.ai/series-b) in December 2025, led by Radical Ventures, it also described a move into an \"AI-native Customer Experience Management platform.\" That is good news for large insights teams. It is less good news if you are a three-person product team that wants to talk to 40 customers this week.\n\nThere is also a market reason to look now. Interest in AI-moderated research is very high. Qualtrics' [2026 Market Research Trends report](https://www.qualtrics.com/articles/strategy-research/market-research-trends), based on more than 3,000 researchers in 17 countries, found that **95% of researchers already use AI tools regularly or are experimenting with them**, and **78% expect AI agents to run more than half of all research projects by 2028**. With that much demand, every vendor in this category is changing fast. Listen Labs, one of Outset's closest rivals, has just agreed to be bought by Salesforce. Re-checking your shortlist this quarter is sensible.\n\n## Outset alternatives at a glance\n\n| Tool | Interview modes | Recruiting | Public pricing | Best for |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| **Koji** | AI voice and text | Built-in panel (130+ countries) or your own users | Yes: Free, €29, €79, Enterprise from €500/mo | Product teams, founders, agencies who want self-serve |\n| **Listen Labs** | AI voice, video, text | Large built-in network | No | Enterprise teams already on Salesforce |\n| **Strella** | AI voice with webcam and screen | Through User Interviews | No (usage-based) | Teams that want recorded sessions and highlight reels |\n| **Conveo** | AI video, audio, text | Panel incentives included on paid plan | Partly (Starter $1,250/mo billed annually) | Consumer brands and CPG |\n| **Great Question** | Human-moderated, AI moderation as add-on | User Interviews panel or your CRM | Yes ($129/seat/mo self-serve) | Research ops and panel management |\n| **Maze** | Unmoderated tests, AI moderator on Enterprise | Maze panel | Partly | Design teams doing prototype testing |\n| **UserTesting** | Recorded think-aloud, AI follow-ups in early access | Own network plus User Interviews | No | Large UX teams with existing contracts |\n\n## 1. Koji: the self-serve Outset alternative\n\n[Koji](https://www.koji.so) is an AI-native research platform. You describe what you want to learn, the research brief assistant drafts the interview, and an AI interviewer runs each conversation by voice or text, asking follow-up questions in real time. Koji then scores every interview, builds an aggregated report with themes, sentiment and quotes, and lets you share it as a public link.\n\nWhat makes it a strong Outset replacement:\n\n- **Published pricing.** Free to start (10 one-time credits), Insights at €29/month, Interviews at €79/month and Enterprise from €500/month. A text interview costs 1 credit, a voice interview costs 3, and extra credits are €1 on self-serve plans. See the [plan comparison guide](/docs/plan-comparison-guide).\n- **You only pay for useful interviews.** Every interview gets a quality score, and only interviews scoring 3 or more use credits or enter the report. Since September 2026 the score is capped by how much the participant actually said, so filler answers do not earn a top score. Read [how quality scores work](/docs/understanding-quality-scores).\n- **A panel inside the product.** From the Panel recruit tab you describe the audience, see the price before launch, and choose text, voice or both. Credits are held at launch and unused credits return at the end. A soft launch fills part of the goal first so you can check quality before releasing the rest, and accepted reports of low-effort or fraudulent completes are refunded. See [panel recruitment](/docs/panel-recruitment).\n- **Screening on every route.** [Screening questions](/docs/adding-screening-questions-to-your-study) run before the interview starts, whether the participant came from the panel, an email link or your website embed.\n- **Free previews.** You can take your own interview by text or voice before launch, and [previews](/docs/previewing-your-interview) never use credits.\n- **28 interview languages**, team workspaces (3 seats on Interviews, 10 on Enterprise), an API and an [MCP server](/docs/mcp-overview) on Interviews and Enterprise, and brand themes on Enterprise.\n\nWhere Outset is ahead: Koji does not record participant video, and it offers fewer interview languages than Outset's 40+. If video clips for a highlight reel are the deliverable, look at Strella or Conveo. If the deliverable is the insight itself, Koji gets you there faster and for far less. For a feature-by-feature breakdown, see [Koji vs Outset](/docs/koji-vs-outset).\n\n## 2. Listen Labs\n\nListen Labs is the best-funded company in the category. It raised a $69M Series B in January 2026, and at the end of September 2026 [Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire it](https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-listen-labs/). Salesforce says Listen Labs draws on a network of more than 50 million potential participants and runs interviews in more than 120 languages. The team will join Salesforce AI Labs, and the product will complement Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud. The deal is expected to close in Salesforce's fourth fiscal quarter of 2027.\n\nPricing is not public. If your company runs on Salesforce, Listen Labs may become the default choice there. If you are not a Salesforce shop, the acquisition adds uncertainty about roadmap and contract terms that is worth asking about.\n\n## 3. Strella\n\nStrella runs AI-moderated voice interviews with webcam and screen recording, embedded stimuli, AI-generated discussion guides and automatic highlight reels. It recruits through a [User Interviews integration](https://www.userinterviews.com/product-announcements/strella-recruitment-integration). Strella raised a [$14M Series A led by Bessemer](https://www.research-live.com/article/news/strella-secures-14m-investment/id/5143863) in October 2025 and lists Amazon, Duolingo and Chobani as customers.\n\nStrella describes its pricing as usage-based with no per-seat charges, but publishes no numbers, so it is a sales conversation. It is the closest match to Outset if recorded sessions matter to you.\n\n## 4. Conveo\n\nConveo, a Y Combinator company, raised a [$50M Series A](https://conveo.ai/mediakit/series-a) in September 2026, led by DST Global. Its AI interviewer asks follow-up questions and participants answer by video, audio or text. It says more than 400 enterprises use it, including Google, Unilever and AB InBev.\n\nUnusually for this group, Conveo publishes some pricing: a Free plan and a Starter plan at $1,250 a month billed annually, which includes panel incentives, with Enterprise on request. It is a natural fit for consumer brands that want video.\n\n## 5. Great Question\n\nGreat Question is a research CRM first: panel management, scheduling, incentives and a repository. Its [self-serve plan](https://greatquestion.co/pricing) is $129 per seat per month, for up to five seats, and it lists AI-moderated interviews as an add-on. Choose it if your main problem is managing who you talk to, not running interviews at scale.\n\n## 6. Maze\n\nMaze is strongest at unmoderated prototype and usability testing. It has added an AI moderator, but Maze's help centre lists it as an Enterprise feature. Good if your team already lives in Figma prototypes and wants quick task-based tests.\n\n## 7. UserTesting\n\nUserTesting remains the big name in recorded think-aloud testing, and it bought User Interviews in January 2026. Its AI moderation feature adds AI follow-up questions to unmoderated think-aloud studies and is in limited early access. Pricing is not public and contracts are annual.\n\n## How to choose\n\nStart with the job, not the vendor.\n\n- **You want to talk to customers this week without a sales call:** Koji. Sign up, write the brief, preview it, recruit from the panel or share a link.\n- **You need recorded video clips for stakeholders:** Strella or Conveo.\n- **You are an enterprise insights team on Salesforce:** Listen Labs, once the deal closes.\n- **You need a participant CRM more than an interviewer:** Great Question.\n- **You mainly test prototypes:** Maze or UserTesting.\n\nDemand for research keeps growing faster than research teams. Maze's [Future of User Research 2026](https://maze.co/blog/future-user-research-2026/) report found that **research demand rose 20% year over year**, and that **39% of product managers now produce insights themselves**. That is the real reason AI-moderated interviews matter. The best tool is the one that people outside the research team can actually use.\n\n## Try Koji as your Outset alternative\n\nKoji gives you what most teams buy Outset for, AI-moderated interviews, a built-in panel and an automatic report, with prices you can read before you talk to anyone. Start on the free plan, [preview your interview](/docs/previewing-your-interview) for free, and only pay for interviews that pass the quality gate.\n\n[Create your free Koji account](https://www.koji.so/signup) and run your first study today.","category":"Comparisons","lastModified":"2026-10-09T05:36:10.982255+00:00","metaTitle":"7 Best Outset Alternatives in 2026 | AI Interview Platforms","metaDescription":"Compare the best Outset alternatives for 2026: Koji, Listen Labs, Strella, Conveo, Great Question, Maze and UserTesting. Pricing, panels, modes and fit.","keywords":["outset alternatives","outset.ai alternatives","outset competitors","outset pricing","ai moderated interview platforms","ai interview tools 2026","outset vs koji"],"aiSummary":"The best Outset alternatives in 2026 are Koji, Listen Labs, Strella, Conveo, Great Question, Maze and UserTesting. Outset runs AI-moderated video, voice and text interviews in 40+ languages but has custom-only pricing, no free plan and relies on 25+ external panels. Koji is the closest self-serve swap, with published pricing from free (Insights EUR 29/mo, Interviews EUR 79/mo), a built-in panel in 130+ countries and a quality gate that only charges for interviews scoring 3 or more; it does not record video. Strella and Conveo suit teams that need recorded video, and Listen Labs is being acquired by Salesforce.","aiKeywords":["outset alternatives","ai moderated interviews","outset pricing","listen labs salesforce","strella","conveo","koji ai interviews","ai interview platform comparison"],"aiContentType":"comparison","faqItems":[{"answer":"The main Outset alternatives are Koji, Listen Labs, Strella, Conveo, Great Question, Maze and UserTesting. Koji is the closest self-serve option with public pricing and a built-in panel. Strella and Conveo are closest if you need recorded video, and Listen Labs suits enterprise teams on Salesforce.","question":"What are the best Outset alternatives in 2026?"},{"answer":"Outset does not publish prices. Its pricing page lists custom plans (a standard subscription, support tiers and enterprise plans), there is no free plan, and contracts are typically annual, so you need to talk to sales for a quote.","question":"How much does Outset cost?"},{"answer":"No. Outset connects to more than 25 recruiting panels, including Prolific, User Interviews and Respondent, or you can bring your own customers. Koji, by contrast, has panel recruitment built into each study, with the price shown before launch.","question":"Does Outset have its own participant panel?"},{"answer":"Yes. Koji has a free plan with 10 one-time credits, enough for up to 10 text interviews, and free interview previews. Conveo also lists a free plan. Paid Koji plans start at EUR 29 a month.","question":"Is there a free alternative to Outset?"},{"answer":"No. Koji runs AI-moderated voice and text interviews and does not record participant video. If video highlight reels are essential, Strella, Conveo or Outset are better fits.","question":"Can Koji record video interviews like Outset?"},{"answer":"On September 29, 2026 Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Listen Labs. The team will join Salesforce AI Labs and the deal is expected to close in Salesforce's fourth fiscal quarter of 2027.","question":"What happened to Listen Labs?"}],"relatedTopics":["ai moderated interviews","outset pricing","ai interview platforms","participant recruitment","listen labs acquisition"]}],"pagination":{"total":1,"returned":1,"offset":0}}