Who Owns UserTesting?
UserTesting is owned by Auros, the private company controlled by Thoma Bravo and Sunstone Partners that was known as UserTesting, Inc. until its September 2026 rebrand. Founded in 2007 in San Francisco, the platform pioneered remote usability testing and now serves over 2,500 customers through a participant network of 7.6 million people. It operates from Bellevue, Washington.
Parent Company
Founded
2007
Status
Private
Headquarters
Who Owns UserTesting?
- Parent Company: Auros (formerly UserTesting, Inc.)
- Ownership Type: Wholly owned
- Company Type: Privately Held
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| UserTesting | Auros (formerly UserTesting, Inc.) | Wholly owned |
Advertisement
History of UserTesting
- Founded: 2007
- Founders: Dave Garr, Darrell Benatar
UserTesting launched in 2007 on a simple premise: companies should watch real people use their products. The platform let product teams order video recordings of target users completing tasks on websites and apps, delivered within hours rather than the weeks traditional lab testing required.
That speed turned remote unmoderated testing into a standard UX practice. Through the 2010s UserTesting grew from a testing utility into a human insight platform, adding moderated interviews, surveys, card sorting and enterprise research management. Customers grew to include most of the Fortune 100.
The brand became a verb in design circles, the way teams said they would "UserTest" a flow the way earlier generations said "Xerox it." That linguistic penetration reflected genuine category creation: before UserTesting, watching strangers use your product required a lab, a recruiter and weeks of scheduling.
The November 2021 NYSE debut under ticker USER marked peak visibility, but public life lasted under a year. Post-pandemic growth slowed and Thoma Bravo and Sunstone Partners took the company private in October 2022 at $7.50 per share.
Advertisement
Consolidation followed. UserZoom merged into the company in April 2023, User Interviews joined in January 2026, and the corporate rebrand to Auros in September 2026 repositioned the business around verified human feedback for AI development. The UserTesting brand remains the customer-facing platform at the center of it all.
The brand's product evolved through those consolidations. Video-based unmoderated testing, the original core, now sits alongside moderated interviews, surveys, card sorting, tree testing, mobile testing and AI-assisted insight generation. The UserZoom merger added enterprise research management capabilities like longitudinal studies and advanced analytics that broadened the platform beyond its UX-team origins.
About Auros (formerly UserTesting, Inc.)
What is Auros?
Auros is the renamed corporate entity of the company formerly known as UserTesting, Inc. It provides customer experience research, AI training data and human insight services through the UserTesting and User Interviews product brands.
Who owns Auros?
Auros is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo with co-investor Sunstone Partners, which took UserTesting private for about $1.3 billion in October 2022.
Advertisement
Is UserTesting still a company?
The legal entity now operates as Auros following a September 2026 rebrand. UserTesting remains the name of the flagship product platform.
What happened to UserZoom?
UserZoom merged with UserTesting in April 2023 under common Thoma Bravo ownership. Its technology and customers have been consolidated into the combined platform now operated by Auros.
Where is Auros headquartered?
Auros is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, in the Seattle metropolitan area.
How many customers does Auros have?
Auros serves more than 2,500 customers, including more than half of the world's 100 most valuable brands, backed by a network of 7.6 million verified research participants.
Advertisement
- Founded: 2007
- Headquarters: Bellevue, Washington, USA
- Company Type: Privately Held
- Revenue: Estimated $150 million (private company, 2026 estimate)
- Employees: Approximately 1,900
Where Is UserTesting Made / Based?
- Headquarters: Bellevue, Washington, USA
UserTesting Categories & Tags
UserTesting Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Thoma Bravo backing funded the acquisitions that eliminated its top competitors
- +Private ownership lets the brand restructure pricing and packaging without public scrutiny
- +The Auros corporate umbrella separates product brand equity from company strategy
Considerations
- -Three names in four years creates buyer confusion between UserTesting and Auros
- -Private equity ownership means an eventual exit or resale is likely
- -Post-merger product consolidation has required customers to relearn packaging
Sources & Further Reading
Advertisement
Competitors to UserTesting
No direct competitors found in the same category. This could be because UserTestingoperates in a unique market segment or we're still building our competitor database.
Advertisement
Independent Alternatives to UserTesting
Looking for brands with different ownership structures? These similar brands are not owned by Auros (formerly UserTesting, Inc.), giving you alternative choices that support different corporate structures.
Technology SoftwareBox
Owned by Box, Inc.
Enterprise cloud content management platform founded in 2005, serving more than 100,000 paying organizations from Redwood City, California.
cloud-storageenterprise-softwarecontent-management
Publicly Traded
Box operates independently without a large parent corporation.
Technology SoftwareDataminr
Owned by Dataminr, Inc.
Real-time AI event, threat, and risk intelligence platform used by corporations, governments, defense agencies, and newsrooms worldwide.
artificial-intelligencereal-time-intelligencethreat-detection
Privately Owned
Dataminr operates independently without a large parent corporation.
Technology SoftwareGainsight
Owned by Gainsight, Inc.
Customer success software brand that created its category, now a Vista Equity Partners-backed platform used by more than 2,000 companies.
customer-successretentionsaas
Privately Owned
Gainsight operates independently without a large parent corporation.
Technology SoftwarePhenom
Owned by Phenom People, Inc.
Applied AI talent platform for enterprise recruiting and employee experience, built by private HR tech company Phenom People.
hr-techrecruitingtalent-management
Privately Owned
Phenom operates independently without a large parent corporation.
Technology SoftwareQualtrics
Owned by Qualtrics
Experience management software platform used by enterprises for customer, employee, patient, and market research feedback. Flagship brand of the privately held Qualtrics company, owned by Silver Lake and CPP Investments.
experience-managementsurveyscustomer-experience
Privately Owned
Qualtrics operates independently without a large parent corporation.
Technology SoftwareSalesloft
Owned by Salesloft, Inc.
Revenue orchestration and sales engagement platform, now the combined brand of the 2025 Salesloft and Clari merger under Vista Equity Partners.
sales-engagementrevenue-intelligencesales-tech
Privately Owned
Salesloft operates independently without a large parent corporation.
Jobs at Auros (formerly UserTesting, Inc.)
Advertisement
Latest News About UserTesting
Related Articles About UserTesting
View more articles
Health
Hospital and Clinic Brand Ownership
HCA Healthcare is the largest for-profit hospital system (190 hospitals, $75.6B revenue). Tenet has 50 hospitals ($21.3B). UHS has 346 behavioral facilities. Fresenius leads dialysis. Explore our database.
Who Brands StaffNov 14, 2026
Hca HealthcareTenet HealthUhs
Health
Eye Care Brand Ownership: Bausch & Lomb to Alcon
J&J Vision (Acuvue) leads contact lenses at 27-30%. Alcon (Novartis spin-off) holds 25-27%. CooperVision has 22-24%. Bausch + Lomb has 12-15%. EssilorLuxottica dominates lenses at 30.7%. Explore our database.
Who Brands StaffNov 13, 2026
Bausch LombAlconCoopervision
Health
Dental Brand Ownership Beyond Colgate and Crest
Colgate holds 41.3% global toothpaste share. P&G (Crest, Oral-B) has 14.1%. Haleon (Sensodyne) has 4.4%. Church & Dwight is the only independent at scale. The oral care market is $47.2B. Explore our database.
Who Brands StaffNov 12, 2026
ColgateCrestOral B
Advertisement
People Also Searched
Discover popular brands and companies in the Technology & Software category and related searches from other users.
Branddigital-audio-workstation
Ableton Live
Berlin-developed digital audio workstation for music production and live performance, created by Ableton AG and first released in 2001.
Brand in Technology & Software
dawmusic-production
Brandpdf
Acrobat Reader
Free PDF viewing software developed by Adobe Inc., originally released in 1993. Acrobat Reader is the world's most widely used PDF reader, available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Brand in Technology & Software
softwaredocument-management
Brandpdf
Adobe Acrobat
PDF creation, editing, and document management software developed by Adobe Inc. Launched in 1993 alongside the PDF format. Now includes Acrobat Studio and AI Assistant features.
Brand in Technology & Software
softwaredocument-management