Fiuto vs Optimal Workshop
Fiuto vs Optimal Workshop: what you get with Fiuto
Fiuto writes the study, runs it with AI testers and real people, recruits when you need it, and reads the results back. From the web app or the coding agent you already build in.Free to start, in minutes, no research experience required.
Fiuto's mark beside Optimal Workshop's, with "vs" between them.
How it works
Fiuto runs your full research loop
Paste a URL and Fiuto takes it from there. No research experience needed.
What you get with Fiuto
The differences that change how a study gets made, not a feature checklist.
A free plan, and a study a month on it
Every method including card sort and tree test, 1 live study a month, 10 responses, and 300 AI credits, no card. Optimal Workshop has no free plan; its Starter plan is $199 a month billed annually for 5 studies a year.
A study drafted in minutes, not a blank builder
Paste your URL and say what you need to learn. Fiuto reads your product, picks the items worth sorting, and drafts the card sort and tree test for you to review. On Optimal Workshop you build each study yourself.
The full loop from your editor over MCP
Fiuto's MCP server creates, launches, and reads back studies from Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Lovable, v0, Replit, and Bolt, on every plan including Free. Optimal Workshop's MCP lets AI clients search, analyse, and report on research you already ran; its page does not describe creating or launching studies.
AI testers go first
A cast of AI testers sorts and navigates your study before anyone else, so you get a first read on the structure in minutes and catch a bad label before real people see it. Optimal Workshop has no equivalent.
Studies that do not count against a yearly bundle
Fiuto's plans are per month: 1 live study a month on Free, 3 on Core, 10 on Pro. Optimal Workshop's Starter plan launches 5 studies a year, with more sold as bundles.
Recruitment or your own people, in one place
Describe the audience you need and Fiuto recruits it from Prolific's global panel, or share the link with your own customers and community. Runs are labelled by who answered. Optimal Workshop's standard recruitment costs 1 credit per participant.
It remembers your product
Fiuto keeps a profile of your product, your audience, and what you are trying to learn, and carries it into every study it drafts. The second study is faster than the first.
Beyond IA, in the same account
When the structure is settled, test the prototype, the landing page, the pricing, or the onboarding flow with the same tool: 18 methods, every one on every plan.
Built by a practitioner
Fiuto was built by a UX researcher with over a decade of running studies, first as an internal tool, because no research tool could draft a study from code or hand the findings back to it.
Side by side
The facts, sourced and dated. Where Optimal Workshop publishes nothing, the row says so.
Optimal Workshop is the information architecture specialist: card sorting, tree testing, first-click, surveys, and qualitative analysis, with unlimited seats and unlimited responses per study, AI-powered analytics, standard recruitment paid in credits, and an MCP that lets AI clients search and analyse your research. Its Starter plan is $199 a month billed annually for 5 studies a year, and there is no free plan. If your team runs a large IA programme and wants the deepest card sort and tree test analysis on the market, it is the reference tool. This page is about what Fiuto adds for everyone who needs an IA test this week.
| Fiuto | Optimal Workshop | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Every method, 1 live study a month, 10 responses per study, 300 AI credits a month, no card. | None. A free trial, then Starter. |
| Entry paid plan | Core, $29 a month, flat per account. 3 live studies a month, 100 responses per study, 3,000 AI credits. | Starter, $199 a month billed annually. 5 studies launched per year, unlimited seats, unlimited responses per study, all tools. |
| Seats | None. Unlimited collaborators from Core; view-only sharing with anyone on every plan. | Unlimited seats on every plan. |
| Study drafting | AI drafts the whole study from your URL and goal, on every plan. | You build each study. AI-powered analytics, sentiment and thematic analysis on every plan. |
| AI testers | Yes, on every plan. A first read in minutes before real people. | Not published. |
| MCP server | Read and write: create, launch, and read results. Seven agents. Every plan including Free. | Search, analyse, and report on existing research from any MCP client. Creating or launching studies is not described. |
| Recruitment | Fiuto recruits from Prolific's global panel with demographic filters, or share the link with your own people. | Standard recruitment at 1 credit per participant, pay as you go or credit bundles. Managed recruitment by sales. |
| Methods | 18 method blocks, every one on every plan. | Card sort, tree test, first-click, surveys, qualitative analysis, and video recording. |
Every Optimal Workshop claim on this page was checked on 3 September 2026 against Optimal Workshop's pricing page and Optimal Workshop's MCP page. Where Optimal Workshop publishes nothing, the table says so instead of guessing.
MCP for user research
Your data is yours. Stay in Claude Code
Create, launch, and read back studies over MCP from the coding agent you already build in. Every result is yours, out through a per-study token or MCP, on every plan including Free.
Create studies from
Claude Code
Cursor
Codex
Lovable
v0
Replit
BoltPricing, in more detail
Fiuto's free plan needs no card: every test method, 1 live study a month, 10 responses per study, and 300 AI credits a month. Core is $29 a month, held from $59 at current launch pricing, with 3 live studies a month, 100 responses per study, and 3,000 AI credits a month. Pro is $69 a month, held from $129, with 10 live studies a month, unlimited responses per study, and 12,000 AI credits a month. Every price is per account, with no seats.
Optimal Workshop's Starter plan is $199 a month billed annually, which is $2,388 a year, for 5 studies launched per year, unlimited seats, unlimited responses per study, and all tools, with additional studies sold as bundles. Enterprise is custom pricing by sales. Standard recruitment costs 1 credit per participant, bought pay as you go or in bundles. There is no free plan.
The practical contrast: Fiuto's Core plan launches 36 studies a year for $348, and its free plan launches 12 for nothing. Optimal Workshop's Starter plan launches 5 for $2,388, with unlimited responses on each and the deepest IA analysis in the category.
Who fits which tool
Fiuto fits people who want the study done for them
You need an IA test this week, would rather review a drafted card sort and tree test than build them, and want it on a free plan.
Fiuto fits teams that test more than structure
After the navigation you will test the prototype, the copy, and the pricing, and you want one account and one price for all of it.
Optimal Workshop fits large IA programmes
You run card sorts and tree tests at scale with hundreds of participants each, and want the deepest analysis views in the category.
Optimal Workshop fits teams with a research budget
You have $199 a month for a specialist tool, a research repository to fill, and a team that authors every study itself.
Frequently asked questions
01Is Fiuto an Optimal Workshop alternative?
Yes, for teams that want a card sort or tree test drafted, run, and analysed for them at a published price, with a free plan to start. Fiuto adds AI testers, recruitment, and a read-and-write MCP on every plan, and covers 17 more methods in the same account.
02Does Optimal Workshop have a free plan?
No. Its pricing page lists Starter at $199 a month billed annually for 5 studies a year, and Enterprise by sales, with a free trial to start. Fiuto's free plan runs 1 live study a month with every method, including card sort and tree test, and the AI included.
03Does Optimal Workshop have an MCP server?
Yes. Its MCP lets any MCP client, including Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Cursor, and Gemini, search, analyse, and report on research you already ran. Its page does not describe creating or launching studies. Fiuto's MCP creates, launches, and reads back studies from seven coding agents on every plan including Free.
04Can Fiuto run card sorts and tree tests?
Yes, on every plan including Free. Open and closed card sorts, and tree tests on a text-only outline of your navigation, with the most common group for every card and where the tree test lost people read back for you.
05Does Fiuto recruit participants?
Yes. Describe the audience you need and Fiuto recruits it from Prolific's global panel, with demographic filters. You can also share the study link with your own customers, waitlist, or community, and the two kinds of run stay labelled separately.
06Do I need research experience to use Fiuto?
No. Paste your URL and say what you need to learn. Fiuto writes the study, runs it with AI testers, recruits real people if you want them, and reads the results back into findings and a deck. You review each step before it launches.
07How does sharing work on Fiuto?
There are no seats. Invite as many collaborators as you like from Core, and publish a study, its results, its insights, or its deck behind a view-only link for anyone on every plan.