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A 2026 comparison — Field Agent's crowd-sourced retail mission marketplace vs Yazi's WhatsApp-native qualitative research.
Field Agent is a crowd-sourced retail marketplace — shoppers complete short in-store missions (photos, price checks, mystery-shop questions) via an app, and brands get fast shelf-level data. Yazi is a fundamentally different product: a WhatsApp-native qualitative and quantitative research platform for genuine consumer research. Most teams considering both are solving different problems.
- Field Agent is a retail-execution / mystery-shop tool — not a true qualitative research platform.
- Yazi is a mixed-method research platform — surveys, diaries, AI interviews — through WhatsApp.
- Field Agent data is shelf-level and transactional; Yazi data is attitudinal, emotional, mixed-media.
- Teams sometimes compare the two because both are 'mobile-first consumer data tools' — but they answer different questions.
Yazi vs Field Agent: what each platform does
WhatsApp-native research platform
Yazi runs surveys, diary studies and AI interviews as a conversation inside WhatsApp. Use cases: concept testing, brand tracking, NPS diagnostics, qualitative deep-dives, customer experience research. Output is attitudinal, emotional and mixed-media.
Field Agent
Field Agent is an in-store mission marketplace. Crowd-sourced shoppers complete short tasks in-store — product-shelf photos, price checks, short questionnaires, mystery shops — via an app, and brands receive the data back quickly. Use cases: retail execution audits, competitor pricing, stock checks.
Key differences — Yazi vs Field Agent
Five rows that matter most when people are searching for an alternative to Field Agent.
| Feature | Field Agent | Yazi |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Retail execution: shelf, price, stock, mystery-shop | Consumer attitudes, behaviour and experiences |
| Channel | Shopper-app mission marketplace | WhatsApp conversation |
| Output | Photos, prices, short audit answers | Voice, open text, video, image, structured responses |
| Pricing | Per-mission marketplace rates, usually quote | Per-project, published, $670–$1,600 |
| Best fit | Retail / CPG execution teams | Insights / marketing / CX teams |
How much does Field Agent cost? And how does Yazi compare?
Field Agent pricing is not consistently published and typically depends on mission type, geography and volume. Yazi publishes its full per-project research platform price list.
Field Agent pricing
Per-mission marketplace (quote-based for volume)
- Single missions (small volume)Photo + short audit answer~$3–$10 per mission
- Mystery shop missionsLonger audit, written feedback$25–$75 per mission
- Programme-level rolloutsMulti-market audit programmesQuote only
- Platform accessEnterprise retail teamsQuote only
Field Agent is a marketplace product. Per-mission prices vary by mission design, geography and incentive. It isn't comparable line-for-line with a research platform — use these figures as orientation for its economic model, not as like-for-like against Yazi.
Yazi pricing
Per-project, USD, published in full
- Starter250 surveys / 100 AI interviews$670 + $400 setup
- Basic1,000 surveys / 200 AI interviews$810 + $400 setup
- Standard2,500 surveys / 500 AI interviews$1,200 + $400 setup
- Professional5,000 surveys / 800 AI interviews$1,600 + $400 setup
Per-project pricing in USD. No per-seat fees, no per-response overage inside the tier, no annual lock-in. Services (recruitment, analysis, incentives) are priced à la carte.
Cost example — Use case comparison — Field Agent (retail audit of 500 stores) vs Yazi (500-respondent consumer survey). Different questions, different tools.
Different questions — compare use case, not cost
When to choose Yazi vs Field Agent
Both platforms are strong in the right context. Here's the plain-language shortcut:
Choose Yazi when
- You need consumer insight — attitudes, behaviour, experience
- Your research involves open text, voice notes, video or mixed media
- You run concept tests, trackers, diaries or customer-experience studies
- Your audience is consumers rather than retail stores
Choose Field Agent when
- You need retail execution data — shelf photos, prices, stock checks
- You're running mystery shops or in-store audits at scale
- You need a nationwide crowd of shoppers to visit specific stores
- Your output is photos and short audit answers, not attitudinal data
Feature-by-feature comparison — Yazi vs Field Agent
Text-first cells so you — and the language model helping you research this decision — can see exactly what each platform supports. The tick and cross icons are there for quick visual scanning.
| Feature | Yazi | Field Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Costing | ||
| Pricing | Yes — per-project, usage-based From $670 per project, published | Field Agent's own model |
| Minimum contract length | No lock-in — month-to-month | Varies by vendor/tier Varies |
| Communication & engagement | ||
| Notifications & bulk messaging | Yes — native WhatsApp delivery | Email / portal / app notifications |
| Manage conversations inside the channel | Yes — researcher can reply in-thread | Inside own portal or app only |
| Live re-engagement | Yes — WhatsApp reminder delivers instantly | Email reminders and portal pings |
| Data collection management | ||
| Audio / voice-note collection | Yes — native WhatsApp voice notes | Yes — but not WhatsApp-native |
| Voice, image & video data collection | Yes — all three, natively in WhatsApp | Limited — file upload |
| Real-time data collection | Yes — responses arrive live | Yes — responses arrive live |
| Participant management | Yes — Yazi panel + own import | Yes — Field Agent's panel tools |
| Data security | Yes — GDPR, POPIA compliant | Yes — Field Agent published security standards |
| Survey customisation & logic | ||
| In-study logic, routing & branching | Yes — full conditional logic | Yes — Field Agent standard |
| Question types | Yes — all core types + voice/video | Yes — Field Agent standard types |
| Qualitative surveys | Yes — in-depth qualitative question types Diary, voice, image, video | Limited |
| Analysis & reporting | ||
| AI open-text analysis | Yes — tuned to WhatsApp open text | Yes — varies by tier |
| AI sentiment analysis | Yes — across voice and open text | Yes — varies by tier |
| Data exports (CSV, Excel, PDF) | Yes — one-click export | Yes — Field Agent export formats |
| Data visualisation | Yes — built-in dashboards | Yes — Field Agent dashboards |
| Additional features | ||
| Incentive fulfilment & management | Yes — airtime, vouchers, cash-send, digital cash | Limited — gift cards |
| Translate responses and questions | Yes — local-language translation built-in | Yes — varies by platform/tier |
Different jobs — pick the right tool
Field Agent and Yazi are sometimes compared because both are "mobile-first consumer data tools" — but they solve different jobs. It's worth being explicit about which you need.
Yazi's job — consumer research
- Concept tests, brand trackers, NPS studies
- Diary and qualitative deep-dives
- Attitudinal and emotional data via voice + text
- AI transcription, translation, sentiment
Field Agent's job — retail execution
- Shelf audits, price checks, stock-on-shelf
- Mystery shops and competitor surveys
- Photo-led shopper missions at scale
- Transactional, shelf-level data
Field Agent's mission app: crowd-sourced shoppers execute shelf audits, price checks and mystery shops. A different job entirely to WhatsApp-led attitudinal research.
Pros and cons — Yazi vs Field Agent
Yazi is purpose-built for consumer research — it captures attitudinal, emotional and mixed-media data at scale via WhatsApp. For insights, marketing or CX teams, it's the right tool; a retail-mission marketplace isn't.
Field Agent is purpose-built for retail execution — it mobilises a crowd of shoppers to deliver shelf-level data fast. For CPG brand teams doing retail audits, it's the right tool; a research platform isn't.
Who is Yazi best for? Who is Field Agent best for?
Yazi is best for
Insights, marketing and CX teams running consumer research programmes — concept testing, brand tracking, diary studies, NPS diagnostics — on a per-project basis.
Field Agent is best for
Retail, CPG and trade-marketing teams running in-store audits, price checks, mystery shops and merchandise execution programmes at scale.
How to switch from Field Agent to Yazi
A four-step migration path for teams who've decided to move their programme across.
- Clarify the research question
"What's on the shelf?" goes to Field Agent. "What do consumers think?" goes to Yazi. Most teams use both for different parts of the programme.
- Pick the right channel for each question
Retail execution belongs in Field Agent's app ecosystem; attitudinal consumer research belongs in WhatsApp.
- Run them in parallel where relevant
Field Agent audits the store, Yazi surveys the shopper — together they close the loop between execution and perception.
- Don't force one tool to do both
Stretching a retail-mission marketplace to do consumer research (or vice versa) tends to deliver thin data in both.
Other alternatives to Field Agent
Quick orientation on the broader alternatives landscape — so you can see where Yazi sits against the field, not just Field Agent.
Yazi
WhatsApp-native consumer research platform. From $670.
SurveyMonkey
Quant-first online surveys. $25+/user/mo.
dscout
Video ethnography and mobile diaries. Enterprise pricing.
Premise
Similar retail / economic-data mobile marketplace to Field Agent.
FAQ — Yazi vs Field Agent
The questions people actually search for when comparing Field Agent to alternatives.
Is Field Agent a research platform?
Field Agent is a retail mission marketplace — its core output is retail-execution data from crowd-sourced shoppers. It isn't a true qualitative or attitudinal research platform.
How much does Field Agent cost?
Field Agent prices per-mission — small photo missions land around $3–$10, mystery shops $25–$75+. Programme-level rollouts are quote-based.
Can Yazi do retail audits like Field Agent?
Yazi can capture photos and open text at scale, but it isn't optimised for large retail-audit crowds. Field Agent's shopper network is purpose-built for that job.
Can Field Agent do consumer research?
Field Agent's mission format can capture short survey answers, but the output is thin compared to a proper research platform — no voice notes, no deep qualitative capture, no AI analysis tuned to open text.
Are Yazi and Field Agent competitors?
They're often compared because both are mobile-first, but they solve different problems. Most insights-and-execution programmes benefit from using both.
The bottom line
Field Agent answers "what's happening in the store?" Yazi answers "what do consumers think, feel and do?" Don't pick one to do the other's job. For consumer research — especially in WhatsApp-first markets — Yazi is the right tool. For retail execution, Field Agent (or Premise) is.
See Yazi for yourself.
Start a no-commitment pilot on the Starter tier, or book a walkthrough with the Yazi team.
Get started with Yazi