This TheySaid vs empirio.ai comparison looks at two AI survey tools that take very different paths to the same goal: better feedback. TheySaid is a conversational feedback platform built by former UserTesting engineers that turns surveys into AI-driven dialogues, making it a fit for UX researchers, product teams, and marketers who want depth over volume. empirio.ai is a German-built AI survey generator that drafts full questionnaires from a single sentence, aimed at students, SMBs, HR teams, and anyone who needs a polished survey live in minutes.
At a glance
The core difference is the format of the response itself: TheySaid replaces static forms with adaptive AI conversations that probe the "why" behind answers, while empirio.ai generates traditional structured questionnaires from a prompt and focuses on speed, simplicity, and EU data compliance.
What each tool does
TheySaid
TheySaid reimagines surveys as ongoing dialogues with an AI moderator. Instead of clicking through a fixed list of questions, respondents chat with an AI that adapts, follows up, and clarifies in real time, producing the kind of qualitative depth that usually requires a human interviewer. The platform bundles AI user tests, AI interviews, AI forms, AI surveys, AI polls, and AI pulses into one workspace, and is built by the team behind UserTesting, which gives it enterprise-grade research credibility. Automatic synthesis and pattern extraction replace hours of manual tagging, making it well suited for continuous discovery, win-loss analysis, and product-market-fit interviews.
empirio.ai
empirio.ai is a free AI survey maker that turns a short description into a finished questionnaire, with optional templates, drag-and-drop editing, and 35+ question types. Respondents still answer the same kinds of rating scales, multiple choice, NPS, and short-text items you'd expect from a classic survey, but the AI handles the drafting, open-text analysis, and result summaries. It is built in Germany, hosted on EU servers, and designed to be GDPR-compliant, which makes it a natural choice for European businesses, schools, and universities. The platform already supports more than 100,000 users and over 3 million collected answers, and it publishes real-time charts, CSV/Excel/JSON/SPSS exports, and a built-in AI assistant for analysis.
Feature comparison
Survey format and respondent experience
TheySaid's defining feature is its conversational interface: an AI tester or moderator asks questions, listens, and dynamically follows up based on what the respondent just said. empirio.ai keeps the familiar form-based format, but speeds up the build process by generating those forms from a natural-language prompt. If you want depth and storytelling, TheySaid has the edge; if you want respondents to feel like they are filling out a quick, mobile-friendly form, empirio.ai is the closer fit.
AI analysis and insights
Both tools lean on AI for analysis, but in different ways. TheySaid positions itself as an insight engine, automatically extracting themes, behaviors, and patterns across qualitative conversations, which is especially valuable for product and UX research teams. empirio.ai focuses on quantitative analysis with AI assistance: open-text summarization, sentiment analysis, and an AI summary panel that highlights key drivers like "84% are satisfied, criticism centres on delivery times." Teams that need structured charts and exports will lean toward empirio.ai; teams that want narrative insights will lean toward TheySaid.
Compliance, hosting, and data privacy
This is empirio.ai's strongest differentiator. The platform is built in Germany, hosted on EU servers, and explicitly designed around GDPR compliance, which is a major consideration for European organizations and any team handling sensitive HR or employee data. TheySaid does not foreground its data residency or compliance posture in the same way; its emphasis is on research workflows rather than regional data guarantees. For EU-based researchers, empirio.ai is the safer default.
Languages and scale
TheySaid advertises support for 70+ languages and is tuned for multilingual research across regions. empirio.ai currently lists 9 languages with automatic translation for multilingual surveys. On sheer user base, empirio.ai reports more than 100,000 users and 3M+ answers collected since 2018, while TheySaid emphasizes enterprise research credibility over disclosed user counts.
Pricing
Both apps list a free pricing model in the directory, which lowers the barrier to trying either one. TheySaid offers a free tier to get started (no credit card required per its site) and reserves demos for enterprise plans with advanced features like AI testers and act-alike audiences. empirio.ai is explicitly free to start, with all core features, EU hosting, and exports available in its free plan, and reserves paid tiers for higher response volumes and advanced controls. Neither vendor publishes detailed price tiers in the materials reviewed, so a live demo is the best way to confirm the cost for scaled use.
Pros and cons
TheySaid
- AI conversations can surface 10x deeper insights than static surveys
- Campaigns launch in minutes rather than weeks of recruiting and moderating
- Automatic theme and pattern extraction removes manual analysis work
- Enterprise research credibility from the UserTesting founding team
- 70+ language support for global research programs
- Conversational AI may not fit every feedback use case or audience
- Learning curve for teams used to traditional survey builders
- Pricing for advanced or enterprise tiers may exceed basic form tools
- Output quality depends on well-designed initial prompts and research goals
empirio.ai
- AI generates a full survey draft from a single natural-language description
- GDPR-compliant with 100% EU data hosting and strong privacy controls
- Real-time dashboard with AI summaries and sentiment analysis
- Mobile-optimized with drag-and-drop customization and modern templates
- Multi-format exports (CSV, Excel, JSON, SPSS) for flexible analysis
- Limited public detail on pricing tiers and plan limits
- Effective survey creation still depends on the quality of the initial prompt
- Analytics depth is bounded by the complexity of question design
- Conversational depth is more limited than dialog-driven competitors
Which should you pick?
Choose TheySaid if your priority is qualitative depth: you run continuous discovery, want to understand the "why" behind customer behavior, and need AI-moderated interviews, user tests, and polls that feel like real conversations. It is a strong match for UX researchers, product managers, and founders running win-loss or product-market-fit work.
Choose empirio.ai if you need fast, structured surveys at scale with strong data privacy. It is well suited for customer satisfaction, employee pulse, event feedback, and academic work, especially for European teams that need GDPR-compliant data storage and familiar rating-scale questionnaires rather than open-ended chats.
If you sit between the two, a useful test is the respondent experience you want: a chat with an AI that probes deeper, or a clean form that respondents can finish on a phone in 60 seconds. That single decision usually points to the right tool.
Other alternatives on HyperStore
If neither tool is quite right, these adjacent picks cover related ground. Auralis Zap is a conversational AI customer support tool that resolves inquiries in real time, useful if your "feedback" needs are actually support tickets. DenserBot turns business data into intelligent chatbots with one-click LLM deployment, which suits internal or knowledge-base feedback loops. For sales and marketing teams collecting testimonials and reviews, Richpanel brings GPT-4-powered automation to customer conversations.
Frequently asked questions
Is TheySaid better than empirio.ai for qualitative research?
Generally yes. TheySaid's conversational AI is designed to extract the "why" behind answers, which is closer to traditional qualitative research. empirio.ai is stronger for structured, quantitative surveys with clean exports.
Is TheySaid or empirio.ai better for GDPR and EU data hosting?
empirio.ai is the clearer choice. It is built in Germany, hosted on EU servers, and explicitly designed around GDPR. TheySaid does not foreground EU data residency in the same way.
Which tool is easier to set up for a first survey?
empirio.ai is faster for a first survey: describe your goal in one sentence and the AI drafts the questionnaire. TheySaid offers more capability but rewards teams who already understand research workflows.
Which platform supports more languages?
TheySaid advertises 70+ languages, which is broader than empirio.ai's 9 languages with automatic translation. For multilingual research across many regions, TheySaid has the advantage.
Do either tool integrate with CRM or analytics platforms?
Both platforms support exports and sharing workflows, but neither fact sheet lists deep CRM integrations. empirio.ai publishes CSV, Excel, JSON, and SPSS exports, while TheySaid focuses on internal research workflows and AI-generated reports. Confirm specifics with each vendor before committing.
Both TheySaid and empirio.ai use AI to shorten the path from question to insight, but they optimize for very different moments in the feedback loop. Run a small pilot on each, ship a real survey to a real audience, and judge them on the quality of the answers you actually get back.
