--- title: "Lightster Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about Lightster Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Market Research products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/10018060/Lightster/" page_type: "product" language: "en" --- # Lightster Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on September 16, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) Lightster ## What is Lightster? Lightster is a market research platform that helps you run surveys, focus groups, or interviews with your target audience from our community of over 50,000+ users and beyond. What's different about Lightster is that you get full visibility into each participant before you engage, and can directly interact without having to create tests or projects. To find your target audience, you can choose from 100+ of available criteria (job title, industry, age, gender, family status, and more), as well as your own screening questions. You will instantly see your matches, and get new ones every day. With each of your matches, you can conduct moderated sessions, send out surveys, or engage in a direct message conversation with each participant. Start from just $50 monthly and $12.50 per moderated session. ## What is Lightster used for? [Market Research](https://www.capterra.com/market-research-software/)[User Testing](https://www.capterra.com/user-testing-software/)[User Experience (UX)](https://www.capterra.com/ux-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 9 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive \- Neutral \- Negative \- Starting price $50 Per User, Per Month Free trial available Free version not included Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for Lightster?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/lightster/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Lightster Overview Updated September 2026 AI summary Lightster enables small and midsize businesses to gather user feedback and insights through usability testing, surveys, and analytics. Covering user testing, market research, product management, and UX, it offers features like quantitative metrics, video recording, and transcriptions, with options for A/B testing, generative AI, and moderated sessions. Lightster is delivered as a cloud-based solution. ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### Lightster 4.7 (9) VS. [4.8 (547)](https://www.capterra.com/p/197141/Tremendous-Rewards/reviews/) Starting Price $50 Per User, Per Month Starting Price Contact vendor Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.4 (9) Ease Of Use 4.9 (547) Value For Money 4.6 (8) Value For Money 4.8 (486) Customer Service 5.0 (8) Customer Service 4.7 (475) ## Lightster alternatives [4.6 (10,512)](https://www.capterra.com/p/253516/SurveyMonkey/reviews/) Starting price $30.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (455)](https://www.capterra.com/p/131426/Zoho-Survey/reviews/) Starting price $35.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 96% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Semrush](https://www.capterra.com/p/151962/SEMrush/) [4.6 (2,329)](https://www.capterra.com/p/151962/SEMrush/reviews/) Starting price $139.95 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 96% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/151962/SEMrush/) [Typeform](https://www.capterra.com/p/137289/Typeform/) [4.7 (979)](https://www.capterra.com/p/137289/Typeform/reviews/) Starting price $39.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 96% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/137289/Typeform/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/10018060/Lightster/alternatives/) ## FAQs about Lightster Overview ### What company size and specific industries is Lightster built for? Lightster is designed for founders, product teams, and consultants in the digital product space, making it a fit for startups, small businesses, and product-focused organizations. It is suited to teams working on digital products that use user-centered design and involve co-creation with users. Features and Usability ### What are the key features of Lightster? Lightster offers survey builder and survey/poll management, plus usability testing for moderated and unmoderated studies. It includes A/B testing, question branching, customizable questions and fields, panel management, and multi-channel distribution across websites, mobile, face-to-face, phone-based, and social media. Reporting tools include real-time analytics, data visualization, and video recording/transcriptions. Pricing ### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included? Lightster starts at $50 per user per month for the Premium Plan, and a free trial is available. The plan includes 24/7 e-mail support, 100+ targeting criteria, custom screening questions, double-screen with free messaging, surveys, and both unmoderated and moderated testing. ## Features AI summary Based on 696 Market Research reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of user testing software rank the following features as their top priorities: - **Usability Testing** (**52%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Software Testing Management** (**35%**) - **User Management** (**42%**) Lightster supports all three of the features reviewers value most: **Usability Testing**, **Software Testing Management**, and **User Management**. Together, these capabilities help businesses evaluate product experiences, coordinate testing workflows, and manage participant access more effectively, allowing teams to collect clearer feedback and make better product decisions. Usability Testing 4.8 (4) 100.00% of 4 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Process of evaluating a product or website by testing it with representative users. Video recording/Transcriptions 5.0 (2) 100.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Recorded video session of the tests Survey Builder 4.0 (2) 100.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create and manage surveys Survey/Poll Management 4.5 (2) 100.00% of 2 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create and administer polls and surveys Customizable Fields 4.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Customize data fields to support various needs and use cases Customizable Questions 5.0 (1) 100.00% of 1 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Tailored or customizable questions for more targeted and relevant data collection Lightster 45 features ### All Features - A/B Testing: Test multiple versions of emails, forms, content, or other campaign elements to gauge effectiveness - Access Controls/Permissions: Define levels of authorization for access to specific files or systems - Activity Dashboard: Dashboard to view the status of ongoing processes, identify current incidents and track past activities - Activity Tracking: Track and document all activities across devices, networks, and other systems - Alerts/Notifications: Alerts or notifications of various types such as pop-up messages, sounds, banners, or badges - Calendar Management: Track and manage schedules and meetings via an integrated calendar - Collaboration Tools: Provides a channel for team members to share AI models, media files, communicate, and work together - Commenting/Notes: Leave comments and notes on documents for others to view - Conditional Logic: Capability of a software or system to make decisions and perform actions based on specified conditions - Customer Segmentation: Process of dividing customers into groups based on common characteristics - Customizable Fields: Customize data fields to support various needs and use cases - Customizable Questions: Tailored or customizable questions for more targeted and relevant data collection - Customizable Reports: Alter the layout and content of reports - Data Visualization: Graphical representation of data - Email Reminders: Reminders sent via email - Engagement Tracking: Tracks metrics that provide insight into how a user interacts with any interface or product - Face-to-Face: Market research conducted via in-person interviews - For Mobile: Compatible with mobile devices - For Websites: Software is used for working on online pages - Generative AI: Use AI to generate content in the form of text, images, videos, etc. - Moderated Usability Testing: Conduct user tests while watching/moderating the session - Multi-Channel Distribution: Multiple channels (email, web link, or social media) to distribute products, services, or surveys to customers - Multiple User Accounts: Allow multiple users with individual logins and varying permissions to use the same account, software, portal, or service - Offline Access: Ability of websites, web applications, or mobile applications to function without an active internet connection - Panel Management: Conduct and manage panel discussions for the purpose of market research - Phone-Based: Market research conducted via telephone - Quantitative Metrics: Metrics that are measured statistically. - Question Branching: Survey design technique that directs respondents to different questions based on their previous answers - Question Library: Pre-written repository of questions that can be reused within a course or for assessment or interviews - Real-Time Analytics: Analyze and gain insights into data in real-time - Real-Time Data: Receive data and information in real time - Real-Time Notifications: Notifications that are delivered to users as soon as an event occurs - Reminders: Timed notification for any upcoming task, deadline, appointment, or activity - Reporting/Analytics: View and track pertinent metrics to find patterns and gain insights from data - Search/Filter: Search and filter data across systems to locate required information by entering keywords or certain criteria - Single Sign On: Allow users to access multiple services after entering their login credentials once - Social Media Integration: Integrate with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. - Survey Builder: Create and manage surveys - Survey/Poll Management: Create and administer polls and surveys - Surveys & Feedback: Gauge satisfaction and receive information for improvement and success - Usability Testing: Process of evaluating a product or website by testing it with representative users. - User Journeys: Track user's interaction with the prototype - User Management: Manage user accounts, profiles, roles, permissions, and other details across applications, devices or networks - User Research Analysis: Analyze and gain insights into user experience - Video recording/Transcriptions: Recorded video session of the tests --- Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.4 (9) 4.4 Based on 9 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.6 (8) Free Trial [View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/10018060/Lightster/pricing/) Premium Plan $50.00 Per User,Per Month It includes: - Choose from 100+ criteria (job title, industry, age, location, and more) - Custom screening questions - Double-screen with free messaging - 24/7 e-mail support - Unmoderated and moderated testing - Surveys Value for money 4.6 (8) 4.6 Based on 8 reviews Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 5.0 (8) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 5.0 (8) 5.0 Based on 8 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.7 Based on 9 reviews Filter by rating 5(6) 4(3) 3(0) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent RG Ryan G. Founder, CEO Computer Software ### "Simple user research recruitment" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 21, 2024 It has been great and would recommend them to anybody looking to do user research. Pros Lightster makes recruiting people for user research extremely simple and easy. Before working with them we had to manually reach out to people ourselves which is time consuming. Cons No fault of Lightster but sometimes it's difficult to know if people are the right fit until you speak with them. Job titles may be the same but every company is different. Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. AT Andrew T. Founder Human Resources ### "A solid and dependable way to have conversations I would not have otherwise had" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 June 3, 2024 Generally a positive one. \[sensitive content hidden\] was very communicative and proactive. The people with whom I spoke were kind and helpful. Pros It was a painless way to find people in the industry and roles I needed to speak with to discover more about them and their needs. Cons I suppose the cost (especially for the US). Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. CB Courtenay B. COO Market Research ### "Great Market Research Tool " 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 28, 2024 I had a great experience using Lightster. My team was trying to narrow down the target customer for a product we were building and wanted to talk to people from outside our networks and fields - Lightster was the perfect solution. We were able to administer a survey to a large audience and gather insights - and if we had decided to proceed further we would have utilized the panel and interview features to dig deeper. However, with just a little bit of research we learned that our idea wasn’t solving a big enough problem so we ditched it. In a way, this product saved us tons of time and money. Pros Finding participants for our surveys is the hardest part of early market research - when me and my team are just trying to figure out if there is any promise to our idea/ product. Lightster gives us access to our target audience so we can conduct quick and cheap validation. Cons It is still an early stage company so some parts of the product are still a bit limited and manual. The quality of survey candidates can also vary - depending on what you’re looking for. Switched from [Google Forms](https://www.capterra.com/p/176571/Google-Forms/) [UserTesting](https://www.capterra.com/p/173755/UserTesting/) I made the switch from Google Forms because Lightster had the additional feature of having a pool of people that we could survey about our product. We switched from UserTesting because Lightster was more affordable and relevant to our needs. Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. JM Jeff M. Founder CEO Marketing and Advertising ### "AIO Spot for Testing Needs" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 24, 2024 Pros everything is very simple and straightforward. and all in one source for testing needs. Cons i have not found anything I dislike as of yet. Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. GN Gerald N. Marketing Food & Beverages ### "Great for User Testing, UX, and Market Research" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 May 24, 2024 My overall experience was excellent. \[sensitive content hidden\] provided such an amazing experience that it's now my go to user testing and UX software. Pros The Lightster team is amazing. \[sensitive content hidden\] is very responsive and is there to help you out with whatever you need. They take a white glove approach to customer service and will help you out in any way they can. Amazing experience. Cons It was a little hard to understand how the software worked at first. Once I reached out to the team they explained everything to me and walked me through the process and everything made sense from there. Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. VA Valencia A. Product Design Hospitality ### "Lightster for Product Development" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 8, 2024 Good, convenient and flexible. There is no sense of urgency to stick with one topic, so things were very flexible. There was little intervention in the research we were doing, so privacy was good. Pros The responsive and understanding customer support, as well as the flexibility to reschedule cancel and start/end any round of research. Very quick to get people signed up for interviews. Cons There was no real platform, notifications of reminders, changes to appointment, pre-interview consent signing, a way to compensate either parties for being late, sometimes false or outdated information of the participants background (e.g. interviewee is not a current kitchen owner, but was one many years ago). Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. AN Anonymous User Founder Real Estate ### "Excellent solution to validate product and conduct market reasearch" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 March 26, 2024 \- Overall, the experience has been remarkable. We had not been able to conduct first-hand market research this easily in the past. It's a huge value add for our product, marketing and sales teams. Would highly recommended. Pros \- Access to prospective clients to conduct first-hand market research such as validate product requirements and test other aspects like pricing, compare products against competitors. - Easy scheduling and connection with support to handle the scheduling whenever there are conflicts, need for reminders, etc. - Simple way to track contacts. - Company prepares a detailed porfile of the target persona and matches with leads are very close to our ICP. Cons \- Tracking more detailed information about the prospects might be useful to make sure we ask relevant questions during the interviews. Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. DZ Daniel Z. CEO Internet ### "Survey Swfty" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 7/10 March 4, 2024 Very good. I havent done interviews yet. Pros Getting feedback about questions. I havent done interviews yet. Cons cost was pretty high. I havent done interviews yet. Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. DS Dmitry S. Product manager Information Technology and Services ### "User friendly and easy-to-use use testing tool" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 February 28, 2024 Totally satisfied with the user experience and the results Pros Huge audience to target, very intuitive and simple user interface, calendar synchronization, great support Cons I cannot modify the targeting after it's created, but it's not a big deal Review source Vendor Referred - Incentive Offered: This reviewer was invited by the software vendor to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Response from Vendor March 1, 2024 Thank you so much for your feedback! You can certainly change the targeting criteria after it's created by visiting "Update criteria", or by creating a new list! [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/10018060/Lightster/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.