Short answer: Strella does not publish prices. There is no price list on its site, and the way to a number is a demo and a custom quote. The most consistent figure in 2026 buyer guides is roughly $10,000 to $25,000 per study. An older listing shows monthly plans at $150 and $400, but it was last updated in March 2025 and does not match the quote-based model buyers describe today. If you want to run AI-moderated interviews this week without a quote, Koji publishes its prices: 1 credit per qualified text interview, 3 per voice interview, €1 per credit, and 10 free credits to start.
This guide covers what is known about Strella's pricing, why the public numbers disagree, what a study is likely to cost per interview, and when a pay per interview tool is the better fit.
Why teams are pricing Strella now
AI-moderated interviews moved from experiment to habit in about two years. In the 2026 State of User Research report from User Interviews, 80% of researchers said they use AI, up 24 points in a year. Maze's 2026 Future of User Research report puts the figure lower but still rising fast: 69% of researchers use AI in at least some projects, up 19 points. The worry has grown alongside the use: the same User Interviews report found that 91% of researchers are concerned about hallucinations, which is why buyers now look closely at how a platform moderates and analyses before they sign.
Photo by Bluestonex on Unsplash
Strella is one of the platforms riding that wave. It was founded by Lydia Hylton (CEO) and Priya Krishnan (COO), and in October 2025 it raised a $14 million Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing its total funding to about $18 million. The company said the money would go toward mobile research and a larger engineering team. Reported customers include Amazon and Duolingo.
What Strella sells
Strella is an AI moderator with a research workflow around it:
- Real-time voice interviews. The AI moderator holds voice-to-voice conversations and asks follow-up questions, with sessions that can run up to 90 minutes.
- Webcam and screen recording, so participants can react to a prototype or a website while they talk.
- Human and AI moderation in one project. Teams can mix AI-moderated sessions with human-led ones.
- Synthesis and highlight reels. Themes and video clips for stakeholders.
- Recruitment. Comparisons describe recruitment through a User Interviews integration; one directory lists a much larger global panel. We could not confirm which is current, so ask on the demo.
- Languages and connectors. Directories list support for more than 40 languages, and in March 2026 Strella announced an AI connector that brings its research into the tools teams already use.
That is a strong product for a team that wants video, long sessions and a mix of human and AI moderation.
What Strella actually costs
Because Strella's site has no price list, every public number comes from a third party. Here is what each type of source says:
| Source type | What it reports | How much to trust it |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 buyer guides and comparisons | About $10,000 to $25,000 per study, sold as quote-based plans | The most consistent figure, still an estimate |
| Software directory (last updated March 2025) | Starter at $150 a month with 16 completes, Team at $400 a month | Likely out of date |
| Competitor comparisons | Usage-based, no per-seat charge, no price list | Comes from a competitor, so check it |
| Free trial | One guide mentions a 14-day trial, others find none | Unconfirmed |
Read together, the picture is a quote-based, per-project purchase in the five-figure range. The low monthly plans look like an earlier self-serve offer that Strella no longer promotes.
What that means per interview
A per-study price only makes sense once you divide it by the interviews you get. Using the reported range, and a typical study of 20 interviews:
- At $10,000 per study, each interview costs about $500.
- At $25,000 per study, each interview costs about $1,250.
- At 40 interviews, the same range works out to $250 to $625 per interview.
These are illustrations, not quotes. A Strella study may include recruitment, analysis and support that you would otherwise pay for separately, and that is worth a lot when you need panel participants and video.
What sets your Strella quote
Strella has not published its pricing model, so take these as the questions that usually decide a quote for an enterprise AI interview platform:
- Number of studies a year. A per-project price rewards teams that run a few large studies, not many small ones.
- Interviews per study. More completes means more cost, especially with panel recruitment.
- Audience. Hard-to-reach B2B roles cost far more to recruit than general consumers.
- Format. Video with screen sharing and long sessions cost more to field than short voice or text interviews.
- Support. Whether Strella's team helps with the guide, recruitment and synthesis.
Before the demo, write down your answer to each. Then ask for the following in writing:
- What the platform fee includes: seats, studies, languages, support.
- The credit or session price for each audience you plan to recruit.
- What counts as a billable complete.
- The rate for interviewing your own customers.
- Whether unused credits expire, and when.
- The renewal increase, in writing.
- Export of raw transcripts and recordings if you leave.
Who Strella is built for
Strella fits a research team that runs a handful of large, planned studies a year and wants them to look and feel like moderated sessions: webcam, screen sharing, long conversations and video clips for leadership. If your budget is already set at the project level, a per-study quote is easy to approve.
It fits less well when research is a weekly habit. A product manager who needs 15 conversations before a planning meeting, a founder testing a pricing idea, or a customer success lead who wants to hear from every churned account each month will struggle to justify a five-figure study each time. Lyssna's 2025 synthesis survey found that 60.3% of practitioners say time-consuming manual work is their biggest frustration, and a slow buying process adds to that before a single interview happens.
The choice comes down to two buying models:
- Enterprise contract: an annual or project fee before any interviews, a price quoted after a demo or pilot, recruitment and moderation bundled, best for high and steady volume.
- Pay per interview: no fee until you run interviews, a published price per interview, you bring participants or buy a panel quote, best for small or irregular studies.
The pay per interview alternative
If a per-study quote is more than your research needs, Koji runs AI-moderated interviews with its prices on the website:
- Published, per-interview pricing. A qualified text interview uses 1 credit and a voice interview uses 3. Credits cost €1. A 20-interview voice study with your own customers uses about 60 credits, or about €60.
- Billing tied to quality. Each interview gets a quality score from 1 to 5. Only interviews scoring 3 or more use credits or appear in the report.
- No sales call. Sign up, get 10 free credits with no card, and run a real study. Buy credit packs as you go, or choose a monthly plan: Insights at €29 (29 credits) or Interviews at €79 (79 credits). Credits stay valid for 12 months.
- Voice, text and phone. AI voice interviews and text chat in 28 languages, plus phone interviews billed by the minute.
- Numbers and reasons in one study. Six question types (open ended, scale, single choice, multiple choice, ranking and yes/no), with AI follow-up probing on the answers.
- Recruit your way. Share a link, send personal invite links from a CSV, or on a paid plan use panel recruitment and see the cost in credits before you launch.
- Try it first, free. Preview your interview by voice or text as a participant would. Previews never use credits.
Reports build as interviews arrive, with thematic analysis, findings backed by quotes, and personas.
Where Strella is ahead: Koji does not record webcam video or screen shares, and it does not mix human-moderated sessions into a study. If video and long moderated sessions are what your stakeholders need, Strella is the better choice.
Strella pricing vs Koji at a glance
| Strella | Koji | |
|---|---|---|
| Published pricing | No, custom quote after a demo | Yes |
| Reported cost | About $10,000 to $25,000 per study | Free to start with 10 credits |
| Billing unit | Per study or usage, quote-based | Credits per qualified interview |
| Interview formats | Voice with webcam and screen recording, plus human-led sessions | Voice, text and phone |
| Video highlight reels | Yes | No |
| Recruitment | Partner panel | Your own users, CSV invites, or panel priced per respondent |
| Try before you buy | Demo | Self-serve, no card |
More reading: Koji vs Strella, Strella alternatives, Listen Labs vs Strella and how AI-moderated interviews work.
Start with ten interviews, not a quote
The fastest way to judge AI-moderated interviews is to run some. Type your research question into Koji, let it draft the brief, preview the interview for free, then send it to ten customers. You will have transcripts, themes and a report before most enterprise demos are booked.
Start free with Koji. 10 credits, no card, and you only pay for interviews that pass the quality bar.
Sources: Strella Series A announcement and Bessemer Venture Partners (October 2025); third-party buyer guides and software directories for reported pricing; User Interviews, State of User Research 2026; Maze, Future of User Research Report 2026; Lyssna, Research Synthesis Report 2025. Strella figures are estimates. Ask Strella for a current quote.
