How does Convo compare to other AI research platforms in 2026?
Published Last updated 9 min read
Kalil Vicioso Chief Research Officer at Convo
25+ years of market research
TL;DR
Convo is built to hold human-moderated and AI-moderated interviews in one dataset: upload the videos of interviews your own team ran and analyse them alongside AI-led ones, with the same themes, quotes and Research Assistant, in 40+ languages, with automatic highlight reels and white-glove research from Convo’s own team. Strella is the only other platform that matches on every criterion in this chart, and Dovetail combines both kinds as a repository without running interviews. Listen Labs keeps imported interviews in a study of their own, Conveo’s in-study uploads are in private beta and Outset doesn’t say whether uploads share a project with AI-moderated ones; Maze and UserTesting analyse them apart, and Qualtrics has no AI interviewer.
Key takeaways
- Only Convo, Strella and Dovetail put human-moderated and AI-moderated interviews in one analysable dataset; Listen Labs keeps imports in a study of their own, Conveo’s in-study uploads are in private beta and Outset doesn’t say where uploads sit, Maze and UserTesting analyse them apart, and Qualtrics has no AI interviewer
- Convo, Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo and Strella are built around AI-moderated interviews; Maze, UserTesting, Dovetail and Qualtrics come from testing, repository or survey backgrounds, though Maze now offers AI-moderated interviews on Enterprise plans
- Most platforms now answer questions about your data with cited quotes; Maze only through its MCP connector in AI apps such as Claude or ChatGPT, and UserTesting without conversational follow-up
- Research services from the vendor’s own team come with Convo, Strella, UserTesting and Qualtrics; Listen Labs has in-house researchers but doesn’t publish what their help covers, Outset sells services as add-ons and Conveo’s come from partner freelancers and agencies through a pilot marketplace; Maze and Dovetail are software-only
- Listen Labs runs interviews in the most languages (120+ languages and variants); Convo, Outset, Conveo and Strella cover 40+; Qualtrics supports 78 survey languages and Dovetail transcribes 82
What is an AI-moderated research platform?
An AI-moderated research platform runs interviews with real participants using an AI interviewer instead of a human moderator. It asks open questions, listens, and follows up in real time — then turns hundreds of conversations into themes, quotes and highlight reels. The result is qualitative depth at survey scale.
How does Convo compare to Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo, Maze, UserTesting, Dovetail, Qualtrics and Strella?
We compared nine platforms on the six capabilities research and insights teams ask us about most.
| Platform | Human + AI interviews in one dataset | Research Assistant | Human research services | Languages | Automated analysis | Highlight reels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConvoAI-moderated voice, video & chat interviews | Uploaded human-led videos analysed with AI interviews | Chat across a study; answers cite participant quotes | White-glove study design, moderation and synthesis | 40+ languages | Real-time themes, sentiment and quotes | Auto-generated insight reels |
| OutsetAI-moderated interviews | Uploads synthesised; cross-project via Research Desk | Ask questions of study results | Paid add-on managed research by Outset team | 40+ languages | Automated synthesis and themes | Video highlight reels |
| Listen LabsAI-moderated interviews | Imports form their own study; Library spans both | Chat with study results | In-house researchers; scope unpublished | 120+ languages and variants; voice in 42 | Automated themes and reports | Highlight reels |
| ConveoAI-moderated video & voice interviews | Uploads analysed in-study, private beta | Ask across all studies; answers cite evidence | Partner marketplace (pilot), quoted per request | 50+ languages | AI themes, coding and executive summaries | AI-assembled and manual quote reels |
| MazeProduct research & testing | Separate study types; cross-study via MCP only | No in-app chat; Q&A via MCP connector | Self-serve only | Multilingual tests; 20 AI-moderator locales | AI themes across interviews and surveys | Reels for tests, interviews and AI sessions |
| UserTestingPanel-based video testing | AI probes in early access; interviews apart | Cross-study Q&A with citations, no chat memory | Professional services team | Four test languages; others via screeners | AI summaries, themes, sentiment and smart tags | Manual reels plus instant per-task reels |
| DovetailResearch repository & analysis | Repository: uploads plus Outset AI reports | Ask questions across your repository | Software only | Transcribes 82 languages; no interviewing | Auto-tagging and themes | Highlight reels from recordings |
| QualtricsEnterprise survey & XM suite | No AI interviewer to combine with | AI assistants across the XM suite | Large professional services arm | 78 survey languages; AI follow-ups in nearly all | Text iQ themes and sentiment | Manual clips and reel builder, built in |
| StrellaAI-moderated interviews | Uploads join AI studies; human-moderated too | Chat with interview data | Advisory: full-service research, own team | 46 languages | Automated synthesis | Highlight clips |
FullPartialNot offeredBased on each vendor’s public product pages, documentation and changelogs, checked 20 October 2026. Features change often — check with vendors before buying.
Which platforms can analyse human-moderated and AI-moderated interviews together?
Most teams do not switch to AI moderation overnight: researchers keep running the sensitive or exploratory interviews themselves while the AI interviewer handles scale. Convo is built for that mix. Upload the videos of the interviews your team moderated and they sit in the same study as the AI-moderated ones, so themes, quotes, highlight reels and the Research Assistant draw on both together.
Strella supports the same pattern, adding uploaded recordings to a study that already holds AI sessions, and has run live human-moderated studies since October 2026. Dovetail does it as a repository that ingests uploads and Outset’s AI-interview reports but runs no interviews itself. Outset synthesises uploaded recordings but doesn’t say they sit in the same project as AI-moderated ones, and you ask across projects in Research Desk; Listen Labs turns imports into a study of their own that its Research Library searches alongside the rest, and Conveo’s in-study uploads are in private beta. Maze keeps moderated and AI-moderated studies apart, with cross-study questions only through its MCP connector, UserTesting’s AI analysis tools leave Live Conversation interviews out, and Qualtrics has no AI interviewer to combine with.
Which platforms let you chat with your research data?
Research assistants are now standard. Convo, Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo, Strella and Dovetail all let you ask questions in natural language across a study and cite the quotes behind each answer; Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo, Strella and Dovetail also search across every study you have run. Convo’s Research Assistant answers with counts and verbatim quotes from real participants, so every finding can be traced back to the conversation it came from. UserTesting’s Insights Discovery answers cross-study questions with cited evidence but without conversational follow-up, Maze has no in-app chat and instead connects your studies to AI apps such as Claude or ChatGPT through its MCP connector, and Qualtrics spreads its assistants across the wider XM suite.
Which platforms offer human research services?
If you need help designing or running a study, five platforms offer it from their own teams. Convo offers white-glove research: our team designs, moderates and synthesises your study, backed by the team’s 40 years of combined research expertise. Strella’s Advisory service runs engagements end to end, from scoping to executive readout. UserTesting and Qualtrics both run large professional services teams, better suited to enterprise programmes. Outset sells study creation, panel recruiting and end-to-end research from its own team as paid add-ons, Conveo’s Service Marketplace, still a pilot, connects you with vetted freelancers and agencies who quote each request, Listen Labs has in-house researchers but doesn’t publish what their help covers, and Maze and Dovetail are software-only.
How many languages does each platform support?
Listen Labs covers the most interview languages, 120 or more languages and variants, with voice interviews in 42. Convo, Outset, Conveo and Strella each run AI-moderated interviews in 40 or more languages, so participants can answer naturally in their own words, while Maze’s AI moderator lists 20 locales and UserTesting’s language filter and surveys cover English, Spanish, French and German, with other languages found through screeners. Qualtrics supports 78 survey languages, with AI follow-up questions in nearly all of them, and Dovetail transcribes 82 languages but doesn’t run the interviews itself.
Which platform is right for your team?
- Choose Convo if you want AI-moderated interviews, analysis and reels in one place, the interviews your own team moderates in the same dataset, and the option of expert help
- Choose Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo or Strella if you want a comparable AI interview tool; Outset and Strella can add research services from their own teams
- Choose Dovetail if you already have recordings and need a repository to analyse them
- Choose UserTesting if you mainly run usability tests with a recruited panel
- Choose Qualtrics if you run large, multi-language survey programmes across the enterprise
- Choose Maze if your focus is prototype and usability testing inside the product team, with AI-moderated interviews on Enterprise plans
Frequently asked questions
It depends on your team. Convo suits teams that want AI-moderated interviews, analysis and highlight reels in one place with optional expert help. Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo and Strella offer a similar mix, Dovetail suits teams analysing existing recordings, and Qualtrics suits large survey programmes.
No. AI moderation takes care of scale — running hundreds of interviews in parallel — while researchers provide the context, judgement and insight that turn findings into decisions.
Listen Labs supports the most interview languages, 120 or more languages and variants, with voice interviews in 42. Convo, Outset, Conveo and Strella each run interviews in 40 or more languages, Qualtrics supports 78 survey languages, and Dovetail transcribes 82.
Not for studies run in Convo. You can also upload videos or transcripts of the interviews your team moderated and analyse them in the same study as AI-moderated ones.
Interviews run in parallel and analysis is automated, so most teams read synthesised themes within days of launch rather than weeks.
No. Convo is the AI-moderated user research platform at getconvo.ai, built in Amsterdam. Conveo is a separate, unrelated company with a similarly spelled name; it also runs AI-led video interviews and is compared in the chart above.