CardSort vs Maze: Which Open Card Sorting Tool Should You Choose?

Maze restricts open card sorting to its Enterprise tier with custom pricing, while CardSort offers open card sorting free with unlimited studies and participants — making CardSort the only practical option for teams without an Enterprise contract. If you're searching for open card sorting in Maze and finding yourself blocked behind a "contact sales" wall, CardSort solves that problem in under 10 minutes.

Key Takeaways

• Maze gates open card sorting: Open sort is not available on Maze's Free, Starter ($75/mo), or Organization ($350/mo) plans — only Enterprise (custom pricing) includes it
• Maze also gates tree testing: Same Enterprise-only restriction applies to tree testing — the two core IA validation methods are bundled into the highest tier
• CardSort open card sorting is free: Unlimited studies, unlimited participants, no sales call required
• CardSort adds hybrid sorting: A method Maze doesn't offer at any tier — participants can both use your categories AND create new ones
• No contract commitment: CardSort works without procurement cycles, Enterprise contracts, or annual commitments
• Best fit: Choose CardSort for any team without an existing Maze Enterprise contract

Quick Summary

Maze is a comprehensive UX research platform that includes open card sorting only on its Enterprise tier. The Free, Starter, and Organization plans cover prototype testing and surveys but exclude open card sorting (and tree testing) entirely. CardSort is purpose-built for information architecture research and offers open card sorting as a free first-class feature alongside closed and hybrid sorting.

The Maze Open Card Sorting Paywall

Maze's pricing structure puts open card sorting out of reach for the vast majority of teams. Here's where each tier lands:

Both core IA validation methods — open card sorting AND tree testing — are gated to Enterprise. To use either on Maze, you need to:

1. Contact Maze sales
2. Sit through discovery and demo calls
3. Negotiate an annual Enterprise contract (typically tens of thousands per year)
4. Wait for procurement and legal review
5. Onboard your team

For methods most teams use periodically — to design and validate a navigation every 6-12 months — this commitment rarely makes sense.

Why Open Sorting Specifically Matters

Open card sorting (where participants create their own categories) is the recommended starting point for any new information architecture project. It reveals how users naturally group content before you commit to category labels.

Closed card sorting (where you provide categories) is what you do after an open sort — to validate that your proposed structure works. Maze including closed but not open is backwards from how research actually flows. You can't run a meaningful closed sort if you haven't run an open one first.

This is part of why the Maze open-sort gate matters more than it first appears: the method Maze restricts is the one teams need at the start of an IA project, when budgets and Enterprise contracts haven't been approved yet.

Pricing Comparison

CardSort's pricing model is the opposite of Maze's: open card sorting comes free, with no participant caps, no study limits, and no contracts.

CardSort

• Free: Unlimited open, closed, and hybrid card sorts. Unlimited participants. No sales call.
• Pro: $29/month — White labeling, advanced analytics
• Enterprise: Custom pricing — SSO, dedicated support

Maze

• Free: 1 active test, up to 10 responses, no open card sorting
• Starter: $75/month — 5 active tests, 100 responses, no open card sorting
• Organization: $350/month — Unlimited tests, 300 responses, no open card sorting
• Enterprise: Custom pricing — Open card sorting included

Winner: CardSort by a margin of "free vs. Enterprise contract." There is no comparable tier on Maze for open card sorting.

Open Card Sorting Features

Both tools support the core open card sorting workflow when you can access them: define a list of cards, let participants create their own categories, and analyze how groupings emerged.

CardSort matches Maze on core open sort capability and adds hybrid sorting plus dendrogram analysis. The functional gap favors CardSort even before pricing enters the equation.

Hybrid Sorting: The Method Maze Doesn't Have

CardSort uniquely supports hybrid card sorting — where participants can both use your predefined categories AND create their own when nothing fits. This is the most common real-world IA validation pattern, because:

• Pure open sort is messy when you already have working categories
• Pure closed sort masks edge cases that don't fit your structure
• Hybrid combines the best of both: structure where it works, freedom where it doesn't

Maze offers neither hybrid sort nor a workaround. Even at Enterprise tier.

What Maze Enterprise Offers That CardSort Doesn't

If your organization is already invested in the Maze ecosystem, the Enterprise tier gives you integrated capabilities CardSort doesn't focus on:

• Prototype testing — Test Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD designs
• Live moderated interviews — Schedule and run sessions in-platform
• First-click tests on prototypes — Test designs before they're built
• Mission-based test sequencing — Combine multiple methods into a single participant flow
• Enterprise SSO and admin controls — SAML, SCIM, audit logs

Maze Enterprise makes sense for teams running 5+ different research methods continuously with budgets in the $30k-$100k+ annual range.

What CardSort Offers That Maze Doesn't

CardSort focuses on accessibility and depth in IA methods specifically:

• Free open card sorting — Zero cost, no Enterprise contract required
• Hybrid card sorting — A method Maze lacks at any tier
• Dendrogram visualization — Cluster analysis Maze doesn't include
• Unlimited participants — No response cap on the free plan
• Tree testing in the same workspace — The natural follow-on to open sorting, also free
• No participant accounts — Participants take tests via shareable link without signing up

CardSort makes sense for solo researchers, small teams, agencies, and anyone who needs IA validation as a periodic activity rather than a full-platform commitment.

Time to First Test

The setup-time gap shows up most concretely.

CardSort:

• Sign up free → ~30 seconds
• Create an open card sort → 5-10 minutes
• Share participant link → instant
• Total: under 15 minutes

Maze (Enterprise):

• Contact sales → 1-3 days for response
• Discovery call → 1-2 weeks
• Demo and pricing → 1-2 weeks
• Procurement and legal → 2-6 weeks
• Onboarding and team training → 1-2 weeks
• First test setup → 30-60 minutes
• Total: 6-12 weeks

If you have an information architecture project on the calendar, the Maze procurement timeline often outlasts the project itself.

When to Choose Each Tool

Choose Maze Enterprise if:

• Your organization already has an Enterprise contract with Maze
• You run 5+ research methods monthly and want them in one platform
• You have budget approval for $30k+ annual research tooling
• Your procurement timeline allows 6-12 weeks for new tools

Choose CardSort if:

• You need open card sorting without a sales call
• You're a solo researcher, small team, or agency
• You want to validate IA on a project-by-project basis
• You need open, closed, AND hybrid sorts in the same workspace
• Your budget for IA research is closer to $0 than $30k
• You'd rather start sorting today than 12 weeks from now

How to Switch from Maze Open Sort to CardSort

If you're stuck on Maze's open-sort paywall, switching to CardSort takes about 15 minutes:

1. Sign up free at validatethat.io — no credit card, no sales call
2. Create a new card sort from your dashboard
3. Choose "Open" as the sort type — participants create their own categories
4. Add your card list — paste indented text, upload CSV, or use a template
5. Share the participant link — no participant accounts needed
6. Watch results in real time with similarity matrix and dendrogram analysis

The Bottom Line

If you're searching for "Maze open card sorting" and discovering it's gated behind Enterprise, you have two real options:

1. Commit to a multi-month, multi-thousand-dollar Maze Enterprise contract for a method you'll use periodically
2. Use CardSort open card sorting free, today, in 15 minutes

For most teams, the second option is the obvious one. The first makes sense only when open sorting is a small part of an existing Enterprise commitment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Maze offer open card sorting on its standard plans?

No. Open card sorting is restricted to the Enterprise tier with custom pricing. The Free, Starter ($75/month), and Organization ($350/month) plans do not include open card sorting.

Can I run a closed card sort on standard Maze tiers?

Yes — closed card sorting is available on Maze's standard tiers. But closed sort without first running open sort is methodologically backwards: closed sort validates an IA, while open sort generates one.

Is CardSort really free for open card sorting?

Yes. CardSort's free plan includes unlimited open, closed, and hybrid card sorts; unlimited participants; real-time results; CSV export; and dendrogram analysis. There is no sales call and no time-limited trial.

What about tree testing — is that also Enterprise-only on Maze?

Yes. Maze gates both open card sorting AND tree testing to Enterprise. See our Maze tree testing pricing breakdown for details.

How does CardSort compare to Optimal Workshop's OptimalSort?

OptimalSort (Optimal Workshop) is the longtime leader in card sorting. CardSort matches OptimalSort's core feature set — open, closed, and hybrid sorts; similarity matrix; dendrogram — at zero cost. See our comprehensive comparison.

Get Started

Stop waiting on Maze procurement. Start your first open card sort on CardSort — free, no credit card, no sales call.

For related comparisons:

• CardSort vs Maze tree testing
• Tree testing without an Enterprise plan
• Maze tree testing pricing breakdown