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Yazi vs Outset compared: browser vs WhatsApp interviews, prototype testing, panel, diaries and human takeover, so you can pick the right AI interview platform.
Outset is an enterprise AI interview platform with prototype testing, used by UX and insights teams. Yazi runs AI interviews, diaries and surveys inside WhatsApp, with its own panel and a researcher able to step in.
Book a 15-min demo →The short version: Outset, founded in San Francisco in 2022, has raised $51M including a $30M Series B in December 2025. It runs AI-moderated interviews by video, voice or text, screen-share usability on Figma prototypes, live sites and apps, and concept tests. In 2026 it added Visual Intelligence, an Outset Agent for Claude, ChatGPT, Figma and Notion, Co-Design, diary studies and digital twins.
Yazi works differently. The study runs in WhatsApp, so participants reply by text, voice note, photo or video in a chat they already use. Yazi brings its own panel, the AI follows up on every answer, a researcher can take over any conversation live, and the same study can run a survey, AI interviews and a diary over days.
A tick marks the platform with the edge on that row. Details from each company's public website, October 2026.
| Outset | Yazi | |
|---|---|---|
| Where participants take part | Browser link, desktop or laptop recommended | ✓Inside WhatsApp, with no app or login |
| How people answer | Mostly voice, with video or text | Text, voice notes, photos or video |
| Prototype and usability testing | ✓Yes, Figma, live sites and apps, with heatmaps | Not built for screen-share testing |
| Diaries | Added August 2026 | Multi-day diaries with scheduled activities and reminders |
| Human takeover | Not found on its site | ✓A researcher can take over any conversation live |
| Own panel | No own panel; recruitment built in through 25+ partner panels such as Prolific and User Interviews | ✓1.8M+ with reach in 25+ countries, or your own |
| Languages | 40+ | Native moderation in English, isiZulu, Swahili, French, Portuguese and more; AI translation across 100+ |
| Completion | Not published | ✓90% completion rate |
| Certifications and compliance | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 42001, GDPR | POPIA, GDPR and CCPA; hosted on AWS in the UK and Ireland |
Outset participants open a link and answer an AI interviewer, mostly by voice, ideally on a desktop or laptop. Yazi participants get the study as WhatsApp messages and reply however suits them, with reminders in the same chat, which is why studies hold a 90% completion rate.
If the job is watching people use a Figma prototype or a live site, Outset is built for it, with screen share, heatmaps and click data. Yazi isn't a usability testing tool.
Outset doesn't run its own panel; recruitment is built in through 25+ partner panels such as Prolific and User Interviews, or your own list. Yazi has its own 1.8M+ panel, deepest where WhatsApp is the default way people talk, and you can also bring your own customers without asking them to install anything.
Both run AI moderation with analysis on top. On Yazi, a researcher can step into any conversation live and hand it back, and group discussions can be run by a human moderator or the AI.
If you need AI interviews and prototype testing in one tool for a product or UX team on an online panel, Outset is a strong choice. If you want people to answer in WhatsApp in their own way, with a panel built in, Yazi is built for that.
“Yazi let us engage Gen Z on their preferred platform, WhatsApp, and the AI interviewer surfaced depth we hadn't captured with traditional methods.”
No. Outset doesn't run its own panel; recruitment is built in through 25+ partner panels such as Prolific and User Interviews, or your own participants. Yazi has its own 1.8M+ panel with reach in 25+ countries.
For AI interviews, diaries and surveys where participants answer in WhatsApp, and for mobile-first audiences, yes. For screen-share prototype and usability testing, Outset is the better fit.
Yes, since August 2026. Yazi runs multi-day diaries in WhatsApp, with scheduled activities and reminders in the same chat.
Yes. A researcher can step into any conversation live and hand it back to the AI.
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