UserTesting Review: $10 For 15 Minutes: Too Good To Be True?
How do you fancy earning $10 for 15 minutes of work? On paper, it sounds like easy money. And to be fair, with UserTesting, it often is. But it’s not as smooth or as reliable as some of the marketing makes out. I’ve used it long enough to know both the good bits and the frustrations, so let’s strip it back and look at what you can realistically expect.
👉 Take a look at the best user testing sites.
UserTesting review
A great place to make some extra money each day from home, with some fairly generous rates of pay. While you’ll have to go through several screener surveys before qualifying for a task, the platform remains one of the most professional and high-paying options in the user testing space.
Pros
- Consistently high number of tasks available
- One of the best pay rates in the industry
- Handy mobile app for testing on the go
Cons
- High volume of screeners before qualifying
- Payments processed in USD via PayPal
Reviewed by Household Money SavingUserTesting
I have spent the last six years trying various side hustles in an attempt to boost my earnings. Some have been great… others, not so. But a decent earner I have stumbled across is website testing. One site I regularly use is UserCrowd, and when I discovered a similar site available, I jumped at the chance to give it a go.
What is UserTesting?
UserTesting is a platform that connects companies with users (i.e. you). These companies are keen to find out how their websites work in the real world and so ask members of the public to try them out to make sure there are no usability issues.
In exchange for being a test participant and sharing your thoughts and opinions, you’ll be paid cash.
Is it safe?
You may be concerned about your privacy, especially if you share your opinion with many companies. But it’s only UserTesting that requires your personal information. If a company you’re completing a test for wants information you’re uncomfortable sharing, don’t. In some tests, you might be asked to input details into the website, like your email address. However, there’s no reason why you can’t make this information up.
How does it work?
As I’m sure you’re aware, sharing your opinion by writing down your thoughts takes quite some time and it can be a little difficult to get everything you want to say across. With UserTesting, you speak aloud as you test. Using the UserTesting Browser Recorder, you allow your computer, tablet or mobile device to record your voice as you work through your task. In some cases, you may even be required to record a video too, so the company can see your reaction.
However, because you need to be able to speak and share your thoughts clearly, UserTesting needs you to complete a short sample test before you get started. This ensures you understand the process and can communicate effectively in English. They also need to know they’re dealing with real users and not bots. Don’t worry, it’s pretty simple.
Once your user test is complete, UserTesting will review it. Although it says on their site that this takes around three days, mine are often passed in just one.
Finding work
Once your account is confirmed, you’ll need to provide some basic information about yourself, such as your work, family and qualifications so UserTesting can send you tests they think you are suitable for.
Then you need to visit the UserTesting dashboard to search for tasks you fancy completing. Now, although you’ve already filled out that basic information, it doesn’t mean that every task on your dashboard you’ll qualify for.
For every task, you’ll be required to complete an unpaid screener to ensure you’re a good fit before you start. These are usually 4 or 5 questions to see that you are their target audience.
If you prefer, you can allow UserTesting to send you emails when there’s a new test on their site. But these emails don’t give you anything other than a reference number, so you don’t know how much they pay or how long they take. So it’s best just to check your dashboard regularly to see what’s available.
If you want more ways to earn, then you should also download the UserTesting app to your phone and/or tablet. You’ll find tasks here that you can’t complete from the main site.
What kind of tasks can you expect?
The majority of the tasks on the UserTesting site work in a similar way. You’ll be asked to give your user experience on a test lasting between 10 and 20 minutes in exchange for $10. These are unmoderated tests, which means that you don’t have to speak to somebody directly and you test websites and share your thoughts through the screen recorder.
But there are longer test opportunities available that pay more. This is known as moderated testing and you’ll participate in a live interview to discuss your thoughts as you conduct your ability testing. This is hosted by an interviewer and is a one-on-one conversation conducted from your computer or phone. And although that may sound daunting, they’re actually quite easy to do. The best part is, that they usually pay around $60 for every hour.
You will occasionally see a shorter test on your dashboard. These take just a few minutes and pay around $4.
The pay
Because UserTesting is based in the United States, you’ll be paid in $US, with an average rate of pay of $10 for around 15 minutes of work. Once you’ve completed a test, as long as the company is happy with your contribution, you’ll receive payment into your PayPal account within seven days.
From your PayPal account, you can transfer the money into GBP straight into your bank account. Although there are no fees for doing this, I have to point out that PayPal does give you a bit of a crappy exchange rate. Unfortunately, there’s no way around it.
Merger with IntelliZoom
In January 2025, UserTesting merged with IntelliZoom. This was another website testing site. And this merger was great news as it meant more work for UserTesting members.
These tests often last between 10 and 30 minutes and pay $8. Depending on the test, they can either be done on mobile or desktop. However, they do fill up quite quickly.
Also worth reading
Want other ways to earn? Why not check out the best sites for online interviews and focus groups?
Keep to a good standard
Because UserTesting pays their testers well, they’re keen on users giving decent, valuable feedback. To check that you’re doing a good job, you will be rated out of 5 for each task that you complete. There’s nothing to worry about if you receive a couple of poor ratings. But if you continue receiving them and it’s deemed that your usability testing isn’t up to scratch, you’ll be invited to complete fewer tasks.
Any downsides to UserTesting?
It all can’t be good though. Can it?
For a user testing website, there are plenty of tasks available. Unfortunately, I did find that I failed to qualify for a lot of the jobs. Many of the tasks on my dashboard required me to be a professional in a certain field, such as a software developer or a background in marketing. I would have hoped these tasks would have been phased out from my initial profile.
The email notifications for new studies are a little annoying. You can get quite a few in a day and as I said above, they don’t give you any indication as to what the study is about.
I also find it a little frustrating that the earnings are paid in $US and that you have to use PayPal. It means that you never get paid quite as much as you should due to PayPal’s exchange rates.
What other people think
When writing my reviews, I always like to take a look at what others think. Over on TrustPilot, UserTesting scores an excellent 4.6 out of 5 from almost 1,000 reviews. On the positive side, users say that it’s an easy way to make money and the tests are quite interesting to do. However, negative reviewers state that they stopped receiving tasks or were continually screened out of them.
My UserTesting review conclusion
Despite the negatives I mentioned above, this really is a great site to make some extra money. How much money you make depends on your profile and your background, but even so, it’s one of the best sites to make a little extra money. If you’re willing to spend some time finding the right tests, there’s no reason why you couldn’t easily make over $30 per day.
And let’s be honest, it’s not difficult work. Being a website tester is all about giving your opinion. There are no wrong or right answers.
If you want to try this site out for yourself, then click on the button below.
Further reading
Why not take a look at my Userbrain review as another way to make money from testing websites?
FAQs
Is UserTesting a scam?
No, this is a legitimate user testing site and I have been a member for many years without any issues.
