Compare Sondar.Ai and Maze
Are you a Maze customer feeling the squeeze from their price increases? Maze's increased their pricing but their feature set has remained mostly static prompting many to look elsewhere.
Sondar.Ai is a modern alternative in the user research space that is offering a comprehensive feature set at a budget-friendly price.
Why companies choose Sondar.Ai over Maze?
When it comes to user research, companies are increasingly choosing Sondar.Ai for its feature rich, flexible, and value-driven experience.
No Feature Gating
Maze locks popular features like Prototype Testing and Mobile App Testing behind higher-tier plans. With Sondar.Ai, every feature is available on all plans. You get the full toolkit from day one, empowering comprehensive research without hidden costs or frustrating limitations.
Precision Participant Recruiting
Maze offers basic targeting & screening options for recruiting, often requiring an Enterprise plan for advanced screening. Sondar.Ai offers advanced targeting with over 300+ demographic and location filters on all plans, ensuring you connect with the exact audience you need for accurate insights.
Pricing That Prioritizes You
Over the past few years, Maze has raised prices without significant feature upgrades. Sondar.Ai offers more budget friendly pricing that works for everyone, from freelancers to enterprises. As a profitable, bootstrapped company, we prioritize customer satisfaction and sustainable growth over investor returns, delivering superior value without the premium price tag.
Research
Sondar.Ai
Maze
Website Testing
Video Recording
Prototype Testing
AI Led Behavioral Insights
Mobile App Testing
Preference Testing
Surveys (w Conditional Logic)
First Click Testing
Five Second Testing
Recruiting Participants
Shareable Study Links
Research Panel Access
Advanced Targeting
Screener Questions
Panel Credits
Panel Pricing
Self Recruitment
Analysis & Results
Heatmaps / Click Maps
Common path visualizations
Recording Transcriptions
AI Summaries
AI Usability Insights
Support
Live Chat & Email Support
Customer Success
Security & Privacy
GDPR Compliance
Single Sign-On (SSO)
👀 Looking to Switch to Sondar.Ai but Locked into Maze subscription?
If you're currently a Maze customer but planning to switch to Sondar.Ai, we will provide free access to Sondar.Ai for the remaining duration of your Maze subscription.
No need to worry about extra costs or initiating a new procurement process. Simply reach out to us at sales@sondar.ai, and we'll set you up.
Pricing & Plan Comparison
Choosing the right user research platform often comes down to balancing features with cost. While Maze is a known player, its pricing structure can quickly escalate, especially when you need advanced capabilities. Sondar.Ai offers a more transparent, accessible, and ultimately, more valuable solution.
Here's a breakdown of how Sondar.Ai stacks up against Maze:
Maze Pricing
Maze operates on a tiered pricing model that heavily gates essential features:
- •Free Plan: Designed for individuals, it's highly limited (e.g., 1 study/month, up to 7 question blocks, 5 seats). It's primarily a taste of the platform rather than a fully functional research tool.
- •Starter Plan (approx. $99 USD/month billed monthly): This plan opens up unlimited question blocks and basic features like Clips (recordings) and CSV export. However, crucial tools like moderated interviews, mobile app testing, tree testing, and open card sorting are still locked away. You're limited to 1 study per month, which can be a significant bottleneck for ongoing research.
- •Enterprise Plan (Custom Pricing): To access Maze's full suite, including AI insights, Interview Studies, the Maze mobile app, and advanced participant targeting, you need to contact sales for custom pricing. This often means a significant jump in cost, making it less accessible for many teams.
Key Maze Limitations to Note:
- •Feature Gating: Many core research methodologies are only available on the expensive "Organization" plan.
- •Study Limits: Lower tiers severely restrict the number of studies you can run per month.
- •Participant Recruiting: Advanced targeting often requires the highest plan.
- •Pricing Transparency: The "Enterprise" plan's custom pricing can lead to unexpected costs.
- •Data Access Concerns: Some users have reported issues with research becoming inaccessible after a plan ends.
Sondar.Ai Pricing
Sondar.Ai takes a different approach, prioritizing accessibility and a comprehensive feature set across all plans:
- •Forever FREE Plan: Ideal for freelancers, this plan offers all premium features, including AI-driven insights, website, prototype testing, session recording and essential usability testing. It's a truly functional free option, not just a limited trial.
- •Team Plan ($75 / month, billed yearly): Building on the Free plan, this is designed for teams getting started with user research, includes 3 seats, centralized billing and unlimited studies.
- •Enterprise Plan (Custom): Tailored for teams with sophisticated requirements, this plan offers everything from the Team plan with additional features and support, including bulk pricing options.
Why Sondar.Ai Offers Better Value:
- •No Feature Gating: Unlike Maze, Sondar.Ai provides all premium features across every plan, including:
- • Global participant panel (33 countries)
- • Advanced Participant Targeting (300+ filters)
- • Prototype Testing
- • Live Website Testing
- • Mobile App Testing
- • AI Transcriptions & Summaries
- • AI Analysis & Thematic Tagging
- • Unmoderated and AI-moderated testing
- •Flexible Participant Recruiting: Our advanced targeting with hundreds of demographic and location filters is available on all plans, not just the most expensive one.
- •Transparent and Friendly Pricing: Sondar.Ai's pricing is clear and designed to be accessible for various team sizes and budgets. As a profitable, bootstrapped company, our focus is on customer satisfaction and long-term sustainability, not maximizing investor returns. This translates to more stable and customer-friendly pricing.
- •Comprehensive AI Capabilities: Sondar.Ai leverages AI for much more than just transcriptions. We offer adaptive questions, dynamic follow-ups, and AI analysis for sentiment and theme detection, all designed to give you deeper, actionable insights faster.
Summary
When Sondar.Ai Makes Sense:
- •You want access to all research methodologies without being forced into enterprise pricing.
- •Your team needs advanced participant targeting and AI-driven insights at an affordable price point.
- •You value transparent, predictable pricing and want to avoid feature-gating.
- •You need comprehensive research capabilities including website testing, prototype testing, and AI-led behavioral inquiry.
Maze Might Be a Better Fit If:
- •You're already deeply integrated into the Maze ecosystem and workflow.
- •Your organization specifically requires Maze's self-recruitment features on lower-tier plans.
- •You have an existing enterprise agreement with favorable terms.
- •Your team is specifically trained on and familiar with Maze's interface.