Userlytics review: what it pays and how to pass a UX test

What Userlytics is

Userlytics sells usability research to companies and recruits testers around the world to do it. You test websites, prototypes, advertisements, videos and other material, from small start-ups to large well-known corporations. If you have doubts about a test’s content, the platform suggests contacting it before you begin.

No experience is needed. Userlytics says outright that many clients actually prefer testers who have never done usability testing, because their feedback is closer to that of real-world users.

How to get started

Signing up is short: you submit your email and take a quick practice test. Then you complete your profile and answer the platform’s surveys. Sometimes Userlytics asks testers to take a separate qualification test.

When you sign up you choose a tester ID. Clients who pay for your test can see your demographic profile, but never your full name. At the same time, Userlytics may use portions of your feedback — screen, voice, webcam, written answers — in samples for clients and in marketing. If that does not suit you, the platform frankly advises you not to sign up.

The equipment you need

The platform’s hardware requirements are simple, but worth checking before your first invitation.

• a Mac with OS X 10.11 or higher, or a PC with Windows 7 or higher
• high-speed internet and a standard browser such as Chrome or Edge
• headphones and a working built-in microphone; Userlytics advises against external microphones, which often interfere with the recording
• for some tests a webcam, in which case your face must be clearly visible; connect only one webcam
• for mobile tests an iPhone with iOS 16 or higher, or Android 9 or higher

How a test works

You follow the client’s instructions and keep speaking your thoughts out loud throughout. Examples of tasks from the Userlytics FAQ: register on a site and add a friend; search for a pair of jeans, look through the results and proceed to checkout without confirming the order; compare a home page with a competitor’s; react to a series of advertisements.

After the tasks you are asked about navigation, the overall concept, ease of use, design, specific processes such as registration or search, and whether you would recommend the site to a friend. You do not need to install the recorder in advance: you download it from your dashboard once an invitation arrives, and some tests run straight in the browser.

You do not have to use real data. If a test asks for a card number, passwords, your home address or other financial and personal details, Userlytics asks you to stop the test and contact support.

Your rating: why criticism wins

Clients rate the quality of every piece of feedback. The best, according to Userlytics, combines webcam, spoken and written comments. Above all, clients want criticism. They do not want to hear that their site is great; they want to learn where it is not great, what can be improved and where the problems are.

Your rating affects your invitations. Some tests start with screening questions, and the platform warns that dishonest answers can earn you a poor rating, after which you may not be invited again.

Live sessions with a moderator

Besides unmoderated tests, Userlytics runs Live Conversations: moderated sessions that feel like a one-to-one interview. The moderator is either a member of the client’s team or a Userlytics researcher. You see and hear each other, and your screen and webcam are shared.

For such a session you need the latest Chrome, a stable connection of at least 600 kbps, ideally 1.5 Mbps, and a working webcam. Open the session link at least 15 minutes before the start.

Cancellation rules

You can cancel a live session with no penalty at least 8 hours before it starts. After that, penalties apply.

• a no-show earns a 1-star rating, which reduces your future invitations
• cancelling 8 to 2 hours before the start earns a 1-star rating
• cancelling less than 2 hours before for the first time earns a 1-star rating
• cancelling less than 2 hours before for the second time suspends your account for 4 weeks
• if the client cancels less than 4 hours before, you are automatically paid half the incentive

How much Userlytics pays

Userlytics does not publish participant rates: the amount is shown in the invitation before you start. The most useful outside benchmark comes from dscout’s help centre for clients: most usability tests offer between $10 and $50.

Under the tester terms, payments are made in US dollars, except for testers based in Europe, including the EU and the UK, who are paid in euros.

How and when you get paid

Once the client has reviewed and positively rated your feedback, the test is marked as approved. Userlytics pays automatically to PayPal on a Friday every two weeks: the first Friday after 15 days have passed since the approval date. The example in its help centre: a test approved on the 1st is paid on the first Friday after the 16th. Under the tester terms, you are paid no later than 30 days after fully completing a test.

In your profile, enter the email linked to your PayPal account, the one you log in with. There are no other methods: PayPal is the only one.

Userlytics from Ukraine

The platform keeps it simple: if your country supports PayPal, you should have no trouble taking part. PayPal works in Ukraine, and receiving payments without currency conversion into Ukrainian personal accounts is currently free. But that is a temporary PayPal arrangement valid until 30 September 2026 inclusive, "until further notice", so check the current fees before you withdraw.

The test language is up to the client: Userlytics lets clients write tasks in any language. The platform does not publish how many tests are available to participants in Ukraine or in which languages. Realistically, be ready to speak English.

Invitations are irregular

Once you register, you are included in the invitation algorithm, but that does not mean invitations arrive right away or regularly. An email comes only when a test matches your profile, and selection from the large pool is random. Userlytics says plainly that it cannot predict how often you will be invited and that asking for more tests does not help.

What does help: a complete profile, answering the platform’s surveys, and adding userlytics.com to your email contacts so invitations do not land in spam. If something breaks during a test, get in touch straight away: clients want quick results, and your slot may go to another tester.

Rules that get accounts banned

One tester, one account. If Userlytics finds that someone has several accounts, it removes the duplicates together with any payments they generated, and may ban the tester permanently.

To register you must be old enough to form binding contracts in your country, or have your parents’ signed approval. Children under 13 take tests only with their parents present. Under the platform’s terms, copyright in the video and audio recordings from tests passes to Userlytics.

Userlytics does not issue tax forms, and reporting the income is the tester’s responsibility. We cover how this works in Ukraine in a separate article on research income taxes.

Pros and cons

Userlytics suits people who are comfortable thinking aloud in English and have a computer with a microphone.

• pro: no experience needed, and many clients prefer testers without it
• pro: short tests of 20–40 minutes, some without installing anything
• pro: open to any country with PayPal, including Ukraine
• pro: half the incentive if the client cancels a live session in the last 4 hours
• con: rates are not published, you only see the amount in the invitation
• con: PayPal only, with a wait of roughly two to three weeks
• con: random invitations and penalties for late cancellation of live sessions