Free Lyssna Alternative for Card Sorting
Lyssna (formerly UsabilityHub) requires a $175–$400/month paid plan to run card sorting studies. CardSort runs the same studies with no participant limits, no study limits, and no payment — ever.
Lyssna is a versatile research platform. But "versatile" means you're paying for five research methods when you only need one. If card sorting is your priority, you're funding first-click tests, five-second tests, and preference tests you're not using.
What Lyssna Charges for Card Sorting
Lyssna's pricing (as of 2026):
- Free plan: No card sorting. Only first-click tests and navigation tests at limited scale.
- Basic ($175/month): Card sorting enabled. Limited to 30 responses per study.
- Pro ($400/month): Unlimited responses. Full analytics. Team collaboration.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing, minimum commitment.
So the cheapest plan that includes card sorting is $175/month, billed annually — $2,100/year. The 30-response cap on the Basic plan is genuinely limiting; most card sorting research requires at least 15–30 participants, and studies with complex navigation problems often need 50+.
What CardSort Provides
| Feature | CardSort | Lyssna Basic | Lyssna Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 | $175 | $400 |
| Open card sorting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Closed card sorting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hybrid card sorting | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Response limit | Unlimited | 30/study | Unlimited |
| Study limit | Unlimited | Limited | Unlimited |
| Similarity matrix | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dendrogram | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CSV export | ✓ | Paid add-on | ✓ |
| AI test responses | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Participant panel | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Other test types | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
The Feature Lyssna Doesn't Have: Hybrid Card Sorting
Hybrid card sorting lets participants both use predefined categories and create their own. It's the most flexible format for research on navigation problems where you have some existing structure but want to understand where it's failing.
Lyssna supports open and closed only. CardSort supports all three methods — and you can run all of them at no cost.
The Feature Lyssna Has That CardSort Doesn't: Participant Panel
This is the honest trade-off. Lyssna includes access to a paid participant panel — real people you can recruit for studies without sourcing them yourself. If you can't recruit participants (no email list, no customer base to survey, no access to relevant users), this is a significant differentiator.
Paying $175–$400/month for Lyssna when you're using it mainly for the participant panel makes sense. Paying for Lyssna when you already have a way to recruit participants — sending a link to your users, posting in a Slack community, using social media — doesn't.
Migrating from Lyssna to CardSort
If you've been running card sorts in Lyssna, switching is straightforward:
- Export your card lists from existing Lyssna studies (CSV format)
- Create a new study in CardSort
- Paste your cards — the input format is identical
- Set your study type (open, closed, or hybrid)
- Replace your Lyssna link with the new CardSort link in your recruitment messages
Results are stored indefinitely. Your historical Lyssna data stays in Lyssna unless you export it first.
When Lyssna Is Worth the Cost
Lyssna earns its subscription fee in three scenarios:
Multi-method research programs: Your team runs card sorts, five-second tests, preference tests, and first-click tests regularly. Consolidating everything in one platform simplifies reporting and avoids context-switching between tools.
Built-in participant recruitment: You don't have a user base to survey and you're regularly paying for participant panels anyway. Lyssna's panel may be more cost-effective than buying credits from Respondent or UserInterviews separately.
Client-facing research delivery: If you're a UX agency delivering branded research to clients, Lyssna's white-labeling and polished reports justify the cost as a client deliverable.
None of these scenarios are about card sorting capabilities. They're about the platform's other features.
Running Your First CardSort (Without Switching Costs)
You don't need to fully migrate to try CardSort. Run your next card sort there and compare:
- Go to freecardsort.com
- Create a study (no account needed)
- Add your cards and configure the sort type
- Send participants the link
- View results in the same similarity matrix and dendrogram format you know from Lyssna
If the results quality matches what you're getting from Lyssna — and it will, because the underlying methodology is identical — you have a clear comparison of what $2,100/year is actually buying you.
Start a card sort for free today. No Lyssna subscription needed. Create your study →