Qualfacto vs Optimal Workshop for India: Tool or Participants?

Optimal Workshop's Starter plan is listed at US$199 a month billed annually with five launched studies a year (pricing page, as of October 2026). A launched study is a study you publish to participants, counted against your plan allowance. By our arithmetic (US$199 × 12 ÷ 5) that is US$477.60 per launched study before recruitment.

A cheaper or larger tool helps when the study cap is the problem. It does nothing when your users are in Delhi, Pune or Chennai and read menus in Hindi or Tamil, and what you need is the right people.

Card sorting asks people to group topics into categories. Tree testing asks them to find an item in a text-only menu. Both support information architecture (IA), the way a site or app organises its content. Both measure how a group of people thinks, so who the group is matters as much as the software.

This page separates the tool problem from the participant problem. It puts a cost on the second.

• For research with participants in India, we recommend Qualfacto, which recruits by city and checks identity before invitation.
• Switch tools only if the study allowance is the problem; a new tool does not supply the right people.
• In our model, one card sort of 40 people plus one tree test of 60 people costs up to about US$1,955 on Optimal Workshop, of which US$1,000 is recruitment credits at face value.

The problem is the tool when the five-study cap or the price stops you. It is the participants when your users live in particular Indian cities, speak another language or must match a household profile. Run these five checks. If the allowance check fails, see our guide to user testing platforms in India.

Our view: a card sort or tree test tells you how many people chose a label. It cannot tell you why. If the reason matters, pair it with a short round of live sessions, as in our guide to remote usability testing. If you already hold your own participant list and only need software, Optimal Workshop lets you invite them free; Qualfacto is for studies where you need the people recruited. For wider method choice, see which research methods to use.

Choose Qualfacto when the result depends on who takes part: people in a named Indian city, in a language other than English, matched to a household and demographic profile and checked before they are invited. Five reasons follow, each tied to a service we run.

1. Participants recruited by Indian city. We recruit by city and target by household and demographic profile, so a study meant for Pune is recruited in Pune.
2. Sessions in the language your users use. We run sessions in languages other than English. Menu labels are words, so we recommend testing in the language your users will see them in.
3. Identity checks before invitation. We check participants' identity before we invite them and screen them against your criteria. Our approach is guided by the ethical principles of the Market Research Society of India and ESOMAR (the European Society for Opinion and Market Research).
4. Live sessions that explain the result. We run in-depth interviews, focus groups, remote or lab-based usability and app testing, and online bulletin boards, and we can supply the moderators.
5. A quote for your study and a free pilot. We price each project from its method, audience, sample and scope, and we offer research buyers a free pilot.

On Optimal Workshop, one card sort of 40 people plus one tree test of 60 people comes to up to about US$1,955 in our model: US$955.20 of subscription and up to US$1,000 of recruitment credits at face value, as of October 2026. A Qualfacto study is quoted per project, so the comparison you need is a quote against that figure.

Sample sizes follow Optimal Workshop's own recommendation of 30 to 50 participants for a card sort and 50 to 100 per task for a tree test. The working below is our model, not Optimal Workshop's figure.

Assumptions: each card sort and tree test counts as one launched study, the panel is used for all participants, and managed (specialised) recruitment is excluded because it is quoted case by case. The tree test has a single task; each additional task needs its own 50 to 100 participants under Optimal Workshop's guidance. US$10 is a credit's face value, and larger credit bundles earn bonus credits and a lower per-credit price (pricing page), so the effective cost can be lower. If you invite your own participants, the credit line falls to zero.

Our recommendation: brief us on the live-session study you need and compare our quote with the Optimal Workshop cost above.

We need five lines: your research question, the method, the audience, the sample size and your timeline. Email them to support@qualfacto.io. We review the brief, assess feasibility and send a tailored proposal and commercial quote. Once scope, commercials and timelines are agreed, recruitment begins.

1. Question. Pass: one sentence that ends in a decision, such as "which top-level label do Pune shoppers expect for returns?" Fail: it names a topic but no decision.
2. Method. Pass: the method is named, for example in-depth interviews, focus groups, moderated usability sessions or an online bulletin board. Fail: the line says only "research". Our guide to sample size in qualitative research covers sessions.
3. Audience. Pass: the audience line names a city, a language and one household criterion. Fail: any of the three is missing. Our research screener template helps.
4. Sample. Pass: a number per group. Fail: one total for all groups.
5. Timeline. Pass: a calendar date for results. Fail: "soon" or "as quickly as possible".

Our market research brief template turns those five lines into a one-page document. We aim to reply within one business day, Monday to Friday, 10:00 to 18:00 India Standard Time (IST), and a free pilot is available. Email your brief to Qualfacto (support@qualfacto.io) and we will scope it with you.