How Robbie compares.
Robbie charges £10 per 30 minutes of interview time. No annual contract, no minimum spend, no sales cycle — it fits a small business budget as easily as an enterprise one.
Here's how that compares to the other tools on the market.
Full comparison table
| Tool | Pricing model | Typical annual cost | Video interviews | Participant panel | Text/voice interviews | Contract required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robbie | £10 per 30 min of interview time | Pay only when you run research | No | No | Yes | No |
| Outset | Annual contract | ~£15,000–£25,000+ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Listen Labs | Base fee + per session | ~£15,000+ base | Yes | No | Yes (managed) | Yes |
| Marvin | Per-seat (custom quote) | Not publicly disclosed | No (repository-first) | No | Yes (added AI interviewer) | No |
| Conveo | Enterprise credits | ~$45,000+ | Yes | Yes | Voice only | Yes |
| Maze | Per-seat subscription | $99/month Starter; ~$15,000/year for AI Moderator | No | Yes (billed separately) | AI Moderator tier only | Yes on most plans |
| Strella | Seat-based, annual | ~$10,000–$25,000+ | Yes (chat-to-video) | Yes (8M+ panel) | Yes | Yes |
All competitor pricing is based on publicly available information and reported enterprise rates. Contact each vendor directly for a current quote. Robbie pricing is exact.
The tools
- See Robbie vs Outset
Outset
Enterprise AI research platform with annual contracts starting around £15,000–£25,000/year.
- See Robbie vs Listen Labs
Listen Labs
Managed research service with a per-session fee on top of an annual base cost.
- See Robbie vs Marvin
Marvin
Research repository with its own AI interviewer, for tagging and analysing existing and new research.
- See Robbie vs Conveo
Conveo
Video-first AI interview platform for enterprise teams, priced from around $45,000/year.
- See Robbie vs Maze
Maze
Prototype and design testing tool. Built for validating what you have built, not for discovery.
- See Robbie vs Strella
Strella
Chat-first AI interview platform with seat-based pricing and a built-in participant panel.
All six tools do something useful. The question is whether you need an annual commitment to do it.
FAQs
- What is the best AI interview tool for a small business or startup?
- For a small business running research occasionally rather than constantly, a usage-based tool with no annual contract is the better fit. Robbie charges £10 per 30 minutes of interview time, with no minimum spend and no contract, so it works for a small budget as easily as a funded one. Outset, Conveo, and Strella require annual commitments from roughly £10,000 to $45,000 a year, which usually only makes sense for a dedicated research team.
- Is Robbie only for tech companies?
- No. Robbie is built for any UK small business that wants to hear from its customers, not just software teams: retailers, clinics, agencies, hospitality, professional services. You don't need research training or a technical setup. Write your questions in plain English, share a link, and Robbie runs the conversation and writes up what it heard.
- Which AI interview tools include a participant panel?
- Outset, Conveo, Maze (paid add-on), and Strella all include or integrate with participant recruitment. Robbie, Listen Labs, and Marvin do not, you bring your own participants.
- Which AI interview tools support video interviews?
- Outset, Listen Labs, Conveo, and Strella support video interviews. Maze supports prototype and screen-based testing. Robbie runs text and voice interviews only.
- What is the difference between AI-moderated interviews and traditional user research?
- AI-moderated interviews use a conversational AI to ask questions, probe follow-ups, and adapt to each participant, without a human moderator on the call. They run asynchronously, at any time, at a fraction of the cost of a facilitated session. The trade-off is that a human moderator can pick up on visual cues and redirect mid-session in ways AI cannot yet replicate.