BriefScore vs hiring a research firm
Traditional research firms deliver thorough analysis — but at £5,000+ and 4-6 weeks. BriefScore delivers structured, data-driven validation in 10 minutes for £19.99. Here's how they compare.
| Research Firms | BriefScore | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £5,000 – £50,000+ | £19.99 |
| Delivery time | 4–6 weeks | ~10 minutes |
| Real companies analysed | Varies (typically 5-15) | 30 products per report |
| Validated methodology | Sometimes — varies by firm | Always — measured AUC on held-out data |
| Custom primary research | Yes — surveys, interviews, focus groups | No — secondary research and public data only |
| Ongoing advisory | Yes — follow-up sessions, workshops | No — one-time report delivery |
What research firms offer
A good research firm will conduct primary research (surveys, interviews, focus groups), synthesise findings with analyst expertise, and deliver a comprehensive report with strategic recommendations. They bring industry expertise, stakeholder management, and nuanced qualitative insights. For large investments (Series A+, major product pivots), this depth is valuable and often necessary.
What BriefScore offers instead
BriefScore automates the structured part of market research: finding comparable products, analysing success and failure patterns, deriving category-specific rules, and evaluating your idea against them. It doesn't replace primary research or qualitative insights. What it does is give you a data-driven baseline in 10 minutes for £20 — the structured analysis that would take a research firm weeks and thousands of pounds to deliver manually.
The real comparison
Most founders and product managers who need market validation don't have £5K and 6 weeks. They need a structured framework now — not a perfect 80-page report later. BriefScore fills the gap between 'I asked ChatGPT' and 'I hired McKinsey.' It gives you the rigorous, data-backed analysis to make informed decisions quickly, and if the result warrants deeper investigation, you'll know exactly what to brief a research firm on.
The bottom line
If you're making a £10M+ investment decision, hire a research firm. If you're validating an idea, choosing between two approaches, or need a structured analysis to inform your next step, BriefScore gives you 80% of the insight at 0.4% of the cost and 0.1% of the time.
Ready to validate your idea?
30 real products researched. 8 rules derived. Methodology validated.
Get your report — £19.99