TestBox Review – The Good and Bad for 2023

You know how frustrating it can be to find the right software for your business. The process of going through free trial periods and demos can quickly become protracted and complicated. Whether you’re searching for an easy way to compare products or you are a B2B SaaS provider that wants to make it easier for leads to try out your platform, TestBox is the problem-solver you need. It’s software that enables sales and marketing teams to create engaging and effective product demos and proof of concept for buyers.

TestBox: The Good and the Bad

As a company that loves to get into the nitty gritty of products and software, we were immediately pleased to find TestBox. It’s a boon to people on both sides of the software purchasing journey—SaaS providers get an easier way to offer test drives to their B2B prospects, while buyers get a platform that makes it much easier to compare software options side by side.

What TestBox Is Good At

TestBox revolutionizes the way customers get their hands on SaaS products for the first time. No more barren interfaces where customers have to imagine what the software can do when integrated with their own systems. Instead, TestBox provides fully functional product playgrounds that allow potential customers to test a product’s features and functionality and compare options to one another.

Customer-led buying platform

You want to put any prospective customer in the driver’s seat during the buying process. TestBox makes that possible by crafting living, breathing product trials tailored to each individual.

A TestBox playground is like a supercharged free trial designed specifically for each lead. It’s a true one-to-one sandbox of your live software, prepopulated with realistic sample data and preconfigured workflows.

This allows prospects to actively test drive your product as if they’ve had it integrated with their systems for months. Every link, feature, and function works exactly as it does in your real app. Playgrounds always reflect your latest UI and capabilities.

This enables hands-on, self-guided exploration. Leads can click around to test features, visualize reports, and collaborate with colleagues.

The difference that makes is significant. While product tours and sales-guided demos engage leads briefly, TestBox users spend an average of two and a half hours immersed in playgrounds. 30% of those users even spend over 10 hours testing out the platform.

For B2B companies serving multiple personas, each with unique needs, TestBox provides the tools to tailor what testers see. Sales reps can remove distracting, unnecessary features before sending a playground to leads. This curation keeps prospects focused on the functionality that matters most to them.

Marketers can take personalization even further by building persona-based journeys that showcase capabilities for specific roles and industries. Customizing the features visible in TestBox helps buyers in finance, operations, or IT stay laser-focused on their priorities.

You can still offer hands-on guidance during a prospect’s time in a TestBox playground, in addition to letting them test things out on their own.

Picture your sales reps as product guides instead of just pitching from a sales sheet. They can create custom journeys showing how your software solves each potential buyer’s unique needs. TestBox is the theater where your product’s value shines.

Feature walkthroughs

We know it’s common for leads evaluating a new product to encounter unfamiliar features, and their unfamiliarity may mean that they don’t even bother trying them out. Without guidance, testers may miss your biggest differentiating features and tools simply because they don’t realize what valuable problems those tools solve.

TestBox provides the perfect solution, by letting you create walkthroughs of specific features within the Quick Links menu. These step-by-step explanations showcase how specific capabilities work and how prospects can leverage them for maximum value.

Instead of leaving it up to chance, you can provide the context buyers need to fully grasp what’s possible with your product. These guided walkthroughs are a game changer, letting you highlight your product’s awesomeness without having to chaperone testers while they utilize a playground version of your software.

Sample and custom data

TestBox populates your playgrounds with realistic sample data, no integration required. This overcomes a major hurdle that often blocks prospects from properly evaluating products.

Asking leads to connect real systems, like their CRM or email, to test out your solution is a non-starter for many. It’s too risky to share their inside info before they’re confident they’ll actually purchase your solution.

TestBox cleverly sidesteps this issue by infusing demos with fake yet functional data.

For example, customer support platforms can have playgrounds populated with dummy support tickets, so buyers can view and reply without linking their real inboxes. Data management tools can showcase sample integrations with mock data, so leads see your platform at work without any tedious setup.

Even better, for companies targeting distinct industries with very different data needs, TestBox can build fully customized datasets into your playgrounds.

Essentially, TestBox removes the friction of needing to create or upload genuine datasets just to have a workable test product. Leads get to truly experience the flow and functionality, armed with realistic data at their fingertips.

Integration with lead gen and nurturing

TestBox playgrounds aren’t just for closing deals with warmed-up leads. You can tout a personalized, interactive demo version of your software on any landing page to generate more and stronger leads.

Embed interactive product demos wherever your prospects search for solutions online. Send a visitor to your website right into a tailored playground showcasing key features. Or, direct users that are interacting with your chatbot to TestBox for a hands-on experience.

You can insert live, fully interactive playgrounds wherever your ideal buyers are, from your website and emails to third-party sites like G2 and TrustRadius. This makes it effortless for prospects to experience critical “aha” moments that motivate them to purchase.

Each prospect who enters a playground becomes a tracked lead you can nurture thanks to TestBox’s seamless integration with Salesforce and other platforms. From there, you can send targeted follow-up emails, run personalized retargeting ads, and empower sales to reach out based on specific engagement data.

TestBox also equips you with visitor behavior analytics on who viewed what features. You gain incredible visibility into what prospects value most. See exactly who entered the playground, the time spent on each area, the most-used features, and more. Use these insights to tailor follow-ups based on how prospects behaved in the demo space.

This also enables clever win-back campaigns by targeting once-interested prospects who previously didn’t convert. Send personalized playground links, allowing them to re-engage on their terms with no pressure. This earns you a second chance at winning their business.

Intuitive UI

We’ve talked a lot about what TestBox offers SaaS and other B2B software providers, but let’s get into a couple appealing aspects of the experience for testers.

Despite such a novel product offering, we were impressed by the intuitive nature of TestBox’s user interface.

Right away, the clean layout and navigation struck us. You get a nice top menu bar with sections for testing various products, a notebook for sharing findings and other notes with your team, and an overview dashboard.

With the menu pleasantly tucked away at the top of the screen, the rest of your window is a nice blank sandbox for using the playground version of any software you’re comparing.

The notebook feature is accompanied by a persistent Add Notes button on the menu bar. As you evaluate product playgrounds, you can leave detailed notes for feedback, scoring the experience and spotlighting issues and benefits to share with your team before committing to a purchase.

The tester UX is further enhanced by the Quick Links feature. Embedded into every product playground, it allows buyers to instantly jump to the specific features or functionality they want to evaluate without hunting through the entire interface.

For software providers, the TestBox team works closely with you to identify the key areas of your software that you most want prospective buyers to experience. Those high-value features get built right into the Quick Links menu for each customized playground.

Combining this with the Features Walkthrough feature makes it super simple for buyers to fully understand your product’s capabilities on their own time.

Comparisons page

The comparisons section of the TestBox website places popular playgrounds front-and-center and lets visitors simply check a box for each product they want to test and compare, then see how they stack up against one another.

For example, you can simply check a box each for HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Zoho CRM. Then, with the click of a button, you’re instantly whisked away to the first product playground.

This lets you dive right into key differences in functionality, setup and use, data protection, updates, integrations, pricing, and more. TestBox also embeds G2 review scores directly in the page.

SaaS providers themselves can also take advantage of this nifty web-based feature by asking TestBox to add their own product to an existing category of comparison. For example, if you have a wonderful new project management platform that you’re confident can revolutionize the category, petition TestBox to add it here and let users test-drive it alongside big names like Asana, ClickUp, and Trello.

TestBox’s Potential Drawbacks

For all its unique and tangible benefits, there are some big issues that we found with TestBox. For one, our own hands-on experience wasn’t as great as we had hoped. And a few other aspects we’ll get into also didn’t inspire confidence in us. Carefully weigh these drawbacks against the potential benefits we just discussed before you commit tens of thousands of dollars to TestBox.

Our demo experience wasn’t great

We have to be honest with you—our experience testing TestBox’s playgrounds while conducting research for this post wasn’t good.

We were eager to get into the software comparisons TestBox offers on their homepage, but we ran into issues immediately.

First, we had to create a TestBox account to get into any of the playgrounds. While not unusual, it’s a multi-step process that quickly becomes a nuisance because of all the fields to fill out and questions to answer.

Once we did that, though, some product playgrounds just failed to load. We were greeted with nothing but error messages and blank screens when first trying to get into the Zendesk playground.

We moved onto another playground, Dixa. This time we got a bit further into the actual platform, but quickly ran into another error message.

There was a lot of variation in the accessibility of these playgrounds. For example, our HubSpot playground loaded nicely and instantly, but the playground for Pipedrive needed time to be built for us. We assume this is because of some personalized elements of the playground version of the software, but it was still jarring to go from a fully functional playground to one that wasn’t ready instantly.

Worse, the Zoho CRM playground wouldn’t load at all unless we were using Chrome for our browser and downloaded a Chrome extension. That’s too much work for what seemed to be a streamlined way to test Zoho out.

Also, switching between playgrounds created even more error messages. And, when we tried to swap out our product selection, the popup window wasn’t responsive. We clicked Save Products, yet nothing happened. Even when the popup went away, our newly selected products didn’t show up in the sidebar.

We tend to be persistent through tech challenges, but TestBox’s live trials repeatedly failed us. We could barely scratch the surface of assessing the playgrounds on offer and there were just too many constraints to make it an enjoyable or enlightening experience.

So, disappointed, we reached out to customer service for some assistance. Unfortunately, the disappointments kept coming.

Weak support and help center

Although a TestBox rep responded quickly when we reached out via live chat, they never followed through on their promise to email us with the information we requested about pricing details and swapping demo products.

We know that responsive and helpful customer service is key to creating a positive experience for potential customers. Unfortunately, our experience with TestBox’s support left us feeling frustrated and unsupported. Surprisingly, they even took the time to check us out on LinkedIn. But we never got that email. Maybe we weren’t important enough. Or maybe they forgot.

On top of that, TestBox’s help center page is not as good as it could be. When you click through, you’ll arrive at a mostly blank page with a giant header, a search bar, and one section for FAQs.

Those frequently asked questions? There are three of them: how much TestBox costs, how to reset your password, and instructions on logging in. Nothing at all about features or the platform in general.

Okay, so maybe most of the informative content is hidden or not tagged as an FAQ. Thinking the search function would reveal some more useful information, we tried a few terms we knew were associated with features and actions in TestBox.

We got bupkis. Even searching for “playground,” the term for the core offering of this product, returned nothing.

This isn’t a great look. While TestBox isn’t legally obligated to provide in-depth help documentation, just offering something (anything!) useful in this knowledge base would absolutely improve the experience of potential customers. The limited FAQs sure won’t cut it for users who encounter issues and challenges within the software.

Sparse product updates and resources

That underwhelming nature extends to other TestBox resources and documentation.

The company was founded in 2020, so there isn’t a ton of history to its development. But we only found three software updates mentioned on TestBox’s website. That seems worryingly low for such a new and novel product.

On top of that, other channels for promoting TestBox and educating potential users are sparsely populated.

The podcast, blog, and YouTube channel have published limited, inconsistent content so far. The blog only started publishing content earlier in 2023 but, apart from a spree of five posts in May, it seems to average only one new post per month. The YouTube channel is even more of a ghost town, with only two videos published, the most recent of which is from February 2023.

For users relying on these materials to understand more about TestBox, the lack of information raises concerns.

We understand startups must prioritize product refinement and supporting current customers first. But, especially for a complex product like TestBox, creating robust educational and supplemental resources is a key part of inspiring confidence in prospective users.

TestBox Plans and Pricing

Pricing for TestBox is high, but it’s important to consider the value that the platform can provide in terms of generating high-quality leads and closing deals faster and more effectively. Whether you’re looking to improve your sales and marketing or add your product to the TestBox marketplace to reach a wider audience, TestBox has a range of pricing options available.

For Marketing Teams

TestBox offers a powerful solution for SaaS and software businesses that want to boost lead generation.

You’ll get access to the core offering of TestBox playgrounds for your platform, plus the ability to embed them in your website, emails, profiles on G2 and TrustRadius, and even in retargeting ads.

Pricing is custom, and TestBox provides a demo of their own product and a quote for interested buyers. Rates start at around $17,000 annually.

For small to mid-sized companies, this starting price may put TestBox out of reach. Their model seems better suited for well-funded B2B enterprises.

That said, TestBox does deliver unique and immense value by letting you insert dynamic product demos across your website, listings, emails, and ads. These immersive experiences can significantly improve engagement and conversions when prospects are able to truly try out your solution before they buy.

For marketing teams struggling to connect buyers with free trials or showcase product value, TestBox may justify the price. Our advice is to schedule a live demo and custom quote to determine if the boost in high-quality leads outweighs the hefty cost.

For Sales Teams

TestBox delivers its same core offering for sales teams, plus adds more intricate analytics on what testers of your software do in TestBox playgrounds. This enables more targeted, personalized follow-ups to help your reps close sales after prospects test-drive your platform.

But prepare to pay a premium. Though exact pricing requires a custom quote, expect the baseline cost to be at least $27,000 per year for access to TestBox for Sales Teams.

Given the expense, TestBox positions itself for well-funded sales teams of pricey SaaS platforms that want to close more deals using enhanced software demos.

Since you can generate personalized product playgrounds to engage prospects, the value of those deals closed could make up for the yearly expense of TestBox in just months or weeks. And, on this particular TestBox package, you get a lot more detailed information about prospects’ usage of your playground and behavior.

Start by requesting a live demo and custom quote to assess the ROI for your business, based on your sales goals and the closed deals TestBox might help you attain.

B2B Partnerships

TestBox offers an intriguing partnership model for companies seeking more leads through product demos. Just be ready to share a portion of your revenue.

The core premise of this partner plan is that TestBox allows you to add your software to their native marketplace of demos. On the website, visitors can see, access, and evaluate your solution compared to others in the same software category.

This exposure lets you put your solution in front of ideal buyers and turn them into prospects without even needing them to come to your own site or digital properties.

In exchange for this access and visibility, you’ll agree on a revenue share percentage with TestBox for converted leads. This rate seems to usually be around 20% of the revenue from customers who discovered you through TestBox.

So, if your SaaS product requires a contract of $5,000, TestBox would take a $1,000 cut. Fortunately, though, TestBox only gets paid when your product generates sales. So, you’re not really on the hook for any costs unless your playground is successfully converting visitors into buyers.

Same as the other plans, you can get started by requesting a demo from TestBox.

Final Thoughts

TestBox is certainly a platform to keep an eye on. On the one hand, it’s a novel approach to enhancing software demos for better lead generation and conversion. TestBox seems to really understand its role—product demos can be imperfect, so it has built a better way to showcase SaaS platforms to prospects with more personalization. That leads to more closed deals.

On the other hand, our experience with TestBox’s playgrounds and support was not great at all. TestBox is still a relatively new company, so perhaps they’re still working out some issues of their own. All we can say is, while TestBox sounds like a great idea, we recommend you proceed with caution and take full advantage of getting a demo (and some reassurances) from the TestBox team before committing to its high-priced plans.