Elliot RylandsLab / Compare
Optimal Workshop alternative (free card sort & tree test)
Optimal Workshop is the industry default for card sorting and tree testing. It deserves that reputation: mature analysis, participant management, and a full research platform when you need scale.
This site hosts free, zero-backend versions of the two methods most teams reach for first. They are not a feature-for-feature replacement. They are an honest option when you need a quick study without a subscription.
| Feature | OptimalSort, Treejack, and the wider OW suite | This site |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Subscription | Free |
| Account required | Yes | No |
| Card sort | OptimalSort | Yes |
| Tree test | Treejack | Yes |
| Cross-participant stats | Yes | No |
| Study sharing | Invite links | URL hash |
Where Optimal Workshop wins
- Cross-participant dashboards, p-values, and dendrograms for quantitative studies
- Participant panels, email invites, and study management at scale
- Multiple methods in one account (first-click, prototype tests, etc.)
- Mature analysis exports trusted in enterprise research ops
Where this free tool wins
- Free, no account, no trial countdown
- Study encoded in the URL: share a link, done
- Runs entirely in the participant's browser; nothing stored on a server
- CSV/JSON export per participant for manual merge
What this tool does not do
- No cross-participant analytics or statistical testing
- No participant email pipeline or panel recruitment
- One result set per person; you merge spreadsheets yourself
- No first-click, prototype, or survey methods
Choose Optimal Workshop if
Teams running twenty-plus participants with quantitative rigour, or agencies billing research ops that need one platform for multiple methods.
Choose this free tool if
Designers running quick validation with five to ten people, students, or teams sanity-checking IA before committing budget to a platform.