As someone who works at Prelaunch, I’ve seen firsthand how the one-size-fits-all approach to market research often falls short. While Basis Research has strengths, I believe not every business needs the same solution. Our market is evolving rapidly, and so are the tools we use to understand it.
I wanted to share my insights on the various alternatives available today. In this guide, I’ll explore the top-tier platforms that offer unique features and a tailored approach to meet different business needs. Whether you’re a startup seeking to disrupt the market or an established enterprise aiming to refine its strategies, there’s an alternative out there that can elevate your market research game.
Let me show you what I consider to be the best Basis alternatives for 2025 and why they might be a better fit for your business.
Understanding Basis
Basis Research is a platform that offers a full suite of tools for conducting surveys, analyzing data, and generating insights. While Basis is a formidable tool, it may not be the ideal solution for every business.
Core Platform Strengths
- Quantitative and qualitative research: Basis uses a mix of surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus groups.
- Specialization: The platform often focuses on specific industries or niche markets.
- Behavioral science applications: Basis analyzes consumer motivations and decision-making processes to design marketing strategies that resonate with target audiences.
- Cultural insights and ethnographic studies: Basis also examines cultural trends and symbols and factors these insights into its recommendations.
However, there are still some things specific to Basis that may make you want to consider a different option.
Why Consider a Basis Alternative?
When choosing your platform for market research, it’s essential to weigh your specific needs against the potential drawbacks. Here are some reasons why you might want to explore Basis alternatives:
- Pricing: Working with Basis can be a significant investment, particularly for smaller businesses or those with limited budgets.
- Complexity: The platform’s advanced features can be overwhelming for users who are new to market research.
- Global Reach: Some alternatives have a more extensive global presence, enabling access to diverse markets and consumer groups, which can be crucial for international brands seeking insights.
- Customization: While Basis offers customization options, some users may find them limited or difficult to implement.
In the following sections, we’ll delve into some of the top-tier alternatives to Basis Research, highlighting their unique strengths and weaknesses. By understanding the nuances of these platforms, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your business goals.
Basis Alternative Comparison Chart
| Platform | Focus | Best For | Model | Review Summary | Price |
| Basis Research | Global market research | Large enterprises, multinational corporations | Combines qual. and quant. methods to gather consumer insights. | Good for cultural insights but has a high cost and can be complex for beginners | High |
| Prelaunch | Early-stage product validation | Enterprises and product teams | Uses product landing pages to validate product concepts. Identifies real buyers, optimal prices, and positioning. | Great team and great platform for market testing. Moderate learning curve with user-friendly interfaces. | Moderate |
| Kantar | Consumer behavior and preferences | Enterprises, multinational corporations | Gathers consumer insights via surveys, focus groups, and observational studies. | Real-time information and actionable insights, but can be slow | Moderate |
| IPSOS | Consumer behavior, preferences, and market trends | Large enterprises, multinational corporations | Gathers data via online surveys, telephone interviews, face-to-face interactions, and observational studies. | Easy to use with helpful metrics and widget options, but limited customization | Moderate |
| Nielsen | Audience measurement and data analytics within media (TV, radio, and digital media) | Media companies, consumer goods companies | Gathers data on shopping behaviors and media consumption patterns and links them to demographic data to provide a holistic view of consumer habits | Cloud-based downloadable data with easy customization and advanced segmentation. | High |
| Dynata | Market research and consumer insights | Market researchers, data scientists | Leverages a large database of respondents to collect data via online and mobile surveys | Easy to navigate, good customer support, but can be slow | Moderate |
Top Alternatives to Basis
Prelaunch
Best for: Enterprise companies and product teams looking to validate their product and co-create with future customers.
Key Features & Benefits
- Deposit-based Validation System: Unlike Basis, Prelaunch‘s system requires participants to make a small financial commitment. This creates a pool of highly qualified potential customers and provides uniquely reliable data about purchase intent. In my opinion, this is the silver bullet of what Prelaunch is and what makes our platform so effective at providing reliable assets.
- AI-powered Analysis: The platform leverages advanced AI to analyze not just responses but patterns of commitment. This combines quantitative data with qualitative insights to provide a fuller picture of market potential.
- Customer Clusters: This feature is the next generation of customer personas. Use it to identify key customer groups based on how they plan to use your product and their common interests and behaviors.
- In-depth Interviews: This feature allows you to engage with committed buyers and understand the “why” behind customer decisions. (There’s also no need to use third-party apps since it’s all done on the Prelaunch platform.)
- Concierge Support: Prelaunch also uniquely offers dedicated support for survey design and analysis. If you do not have the time to DIY, a team will run the prelaunch campaign for you and ensure that you get actionable insights from your research.
G2 Review Summary
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Reliable insights | Limited customization |
| Easy to set up | Some users find it too expensive |
| Responsive support team | It can be too hands-on if used without concierge service |
| Great platform for viewing real customer engagement | Complex analytics dashboard |
| Good for communicating with customers |
Kantar
Best for: Large enterprises, multinational corporations, and government agencies.
Key Features & Benefits
- Global Reach: With operations in numerous countries, Kantar can deliver insights that are culturally relevant and deeply informed by regional market dynamics. This global perspective offers a significant advantage over Basis, which may lack such extensive international coverage, potentially leading to gaps in understanding local consumer behaviors.
- Data Analytics and Visualization: Kantar uses advanced AI and machine learning technologies to analyze large datasets and present findings in user-friendly formats.
- Consumer Panels: By maintaining ongoing consumer panels, Kantar continuously tracks changing preferences and behaviors over time.
- Brand Health Tracking: Kantar has specialized tools for assessing brand health and measuring critical parameters such as awareness, perception, loyalty, and market share. This is a notable benefit over Basis, which may not offer as thorough an evaluation of brand performance, leaving clients with less actionable insights regarding their brand strategy.
G2 Review Summary
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Provide a holistic data overview | The platform is slow sometimes |
| Information is compiled in real-time | Some users ask for more metric transparency |
| Good for understanding competitor strategies | It may be unsuitable for newbies |
| Actionable insights | Not suitable for all industries (e.g., legal) |
| Responsive support team |
IPSOS
Best for: Large enterprises, multinational corporations, and media companies.
Key Features & Benefits
- Global Reach: With operations in over 90 countries, Ipsos can deliver insights across global markets, making it suitable for brands with international presence. This is especially important since it’s one of the main concerns of Basis users.
- Comprehensive Research Services: Provides a broad spectrum of qualitative and quantitative research solutions, including surveys, focus groups, ethnographic studies, and more.
- Specialized Practices: Ipsos has specialized divisions focused on various sectors, including advertising, marketing, media measurement, opinion polling, and social research, allowing for targeted insights relevant to specific industries.
- Consumer Panels: They maintain ongoing consumer panels that provide continual insights into consumer attitudes, preferences, and behaviors, enabling longitudinal studies.
- Brand Tracking and Advertising Effectiveness: The platform also measures brand performance and advertising effectiveness. For Basis users curious to know how their marketing material landed with certain groups, this is a very helpful feature.
G2 Review Summary
*Note: IPSOS, like Neilsen and Dynata, split their platform into different products. So, if you’re looking to read more reviews on any, you might have to search for the specific service. (E.g., IPSOS Public Affairs, Dynata Product Suite, Nielsen Marketing Cloud)
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Easy to use | Limited field customization |
| Can tackle a large base of consumers | Data can be difficult to sort through |
| Collects large amounts of data | Not all features are activated automatically |
| Widget options | Some users report a “dull” interface |
| Helpful metrics (e.g., Social reputation score) |
Nielsen
Best for: Media companies, advertisers, consumer goods companies, and retailers.
Key Features & Benefits
- Media Monitoring and Analysis: Nielsen provides solutions for measuring media consumption, including traditional and digital media, enabling brands to optimize their advertising strategies. This is an entirely different ball game than Basis. While most of the focus nowadays has shifted away from traditional media consumption, Nielsen hasn’t, and the insights it provides are invaluable.
- Audience Insights: They provide in-depth analysis of audience demographics, psychographics, and behavior patterns across different media platforms, helping clients understand their target audiences better.
- Retail Performance Data: Nielsen tracks retail sales and market share data, enabling companies to analyze their performance relative to competitors and identify growth opportunities.
- Consumer Surveys and Panels: They conduct surveys and maintain consumer panels to gather insights on purchasing behavior, preferences, and attitudes, offering a deeper understanding of consumer sentiment.
G2 Review Summary
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| All data is kept in the cloud | Not suitable for small businesses |
| All data is downloadable | Complex interface |
| Easy to customize | Relatively expensive |
| Easy to narrow down the audience you’re looking for | Steep learning curve |
| Advanced data segmentation tools |
Dynata
Best for: Market researchers, data scientists, and advertisers.
Key Features & Benefits:
- Extensive Respondent Panel: Dynata boasts one of the largest online respondent panels globally, with millions of active participants across various demographics and geographies, facilitating diverse data collection. Being able to pull from this large pool is what makes them stand out from Basis.
- First-Party Data: The platform focuses on collecting first-party data, ensuring that the insights are derived directly from respondents’ interactions, which enhances data quality and reliability.
- Multi-Method Data Collection: Dynata employs various data collection methodologies, including online surveys, mobile surveys, and passive data collection, allowing for flexible research designs suited to client needs.
- Real-Time Data Access: Clients can access data in real time, enabling quicker decision-making and timely adjustments to marketing strategies and product offerings. For Basis users who expressed timing as a point of concern, this is a great benefit.
- Custom Research Solutions: Dynata offers tailored research solutions to meet specific client objectives, including specialized studies, longitudinal research, and qualitative insights.
G2 Review Summary
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Easy to navigate | Takes a long time to load |
| Reliable data collection | A limited number of respondents in certain regions |
| Customizable surveys | Survey flows may need to be manually corrected |
| Good customer support | Not suitable for small teams |
| Easy set up |
With this, we’ve explored some of the top alternatives to Basis Research. By understanding the unique strengths and weaknesses of each platform, you can choose the best tool to meet your specific needs and drive business growth.
Choosing the Right Platform for Your Needs
Selecting the right market research platform is crucial for making informed business decisions. While Basis Research is a powerful tool, it’s important to consider your specific needs and budget when choosing an alternative.
When evaluating potential alternatives, consider the following factors:
- Your Research Goals: What specific insights are you trying to gain?
- Your Budget: How much are you willing to spend on market research?
- Your Team’s Expertise: What level of technical expertise do you have?
- Your team’s Availability: Do you have the manpower to DIY, or will you need a platform capable of onboarding a team to conduct your market research?
By carefully considering these factors and exploring the options presented in this article, you can find the ideal platform to elevate your market research efforts and drive business success.
Disclaimer: If you notice any information about any of the tools or platforms listed in this article that is incorrect or outdated, please reach out to us, and we’ll happily make the needed updates.
