Antidote

Overview

Antidote is a game-focused platform for organizing playtests and turning player sessions into research and analytics. It best suits studios that want recruitment, build access, feedback capture, and analysis in one workflow, though plan limits make the right fit depend on team size and test volume.

Studios can run their own tests, commission managed playtesting, or use market research services. Antidote says setup review takes no longer than 24 hours and results are typically available as players finish, which can help teams fold feedback into active development rather than wait for a later research cycle.

Founded in 2017, Antidote is made by Sensing Emotions and Knowledge Group, S.L., based in Barcelona, Spain. Its focus on game development, hybrid test environments, and Unity and Unreal support make it a more specialized choice than a general UX research platform.

Key features

Recruitment, distribution, and access

Teams can recruit targeted players through Antidote’s community or manage their own participants. Builds can be delivered through Antidote, a developer’s download link, or launchers including Steam, Epic, Google Play, and the App Store. Cloud streaming lets selected players access a game through Antidote’s private server without downloading it, a useful option when build access or installation would otherwise slow participation. Antidote natively supports PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and browser games; console testing is possible by arrangement.

Role-based access control lets studios invite team members and stakeholders, while invite links provide a way to control player access. Antidote describes NDAs, optional identity verification, secure distribution, controlled launches, watermarking, and encryption as security measures. These controls matter for studios sharing unreleased builds, though console support requires an arrangement rather than the stated native workflow.

Capture and analysis

Capture options include surveys, gameplay and face recordings, think-aloud comments, mobile screen touches, controller inputs, game events, and AFK detection. That range can help teams connect what players say with what they do, while mobile touch and controller data address input types that a basic survey alone would miss.

Analysis includes AI Insights, top moments, annotations, think-aloud transcripts, survey and sentiment analysis, face emotion detection, automated reports, and data exports. Together these tools provide several routes from raw sessions to findings; the trade-off is that the more extensive analysis and capture menus do not mean every paid plan has unlimited results or questions.

Pricing

Antidote uses a freemium model, with a free plan, paid plans, and a 14-day trial. The plan structure separates small-team access, per-project community recruitment, and recurring per-game testing, so readers should compare the caps as closely as the headline price.

• Free Trial: free, billed 14 days. It includes 1 playtest, up to 5 community players, 20 survey questions, and sessions of up to 20 minutes. This is a tightly capped way to try a short test, not an ongoing free workflow.
• Indie: free, billed Monthly. It is for teams under 10 with no publisher or investors, and includes 1 Antidote-community playtest per month for a PC or Mac game that is not free-to-play. The no-cost option suits qualifying small studios, but its eligibility rules and monthly test cap rule out larger or more frequent programs.
• Pay as you go: $25, paid once, starting at $25 per user playing your game. It is charged per project and uses Antidote’s player community; final price may vary for complex recruitment or setups. This avoids a recurring per-game commitment, but costs rise with player count and may rise further for more involved work.
• Indie Plus: $99.95 a month, billed Monthly. It covers teams under 30 with a publisher or investment and includes 1 Antidote-community playtest per month for a non-free-to-play PC or Mac game. It accommodates a different studio profile from Indie, but retains the same one-playtest monthly limit.
• Starter: $115 a month, billed PER GAME / MONTH. It offers unlimited community playtests and player invites, up to 50 results per playtest, up to 20 survey questions, 2 team members, and support for PC, Mac, iOS, or Android. It fits teams needing recurring tests, but the results, survey, and seat caps constrain larger studies or broad collaboration.
• Master: $475 a month, billed PER GAME / MONTH. It includes Starter features plus unlimited results and survey questions, unlimited team members, PC and Android game streaming (usage limits apply), and up to 5TB of download data. The expanded capacity suits teams with heavier analysis and collaboration needs; streaming is limited to PC and Android and remains subject to usage limits.

Platforms

Antidote lists Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web, and Windows availability. Its stated game support also includes browser games, with PC, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS supported natively and consoles possible by arrangement. Paid-plan platform coverage varies: Starter supports PC, Mac, iOS, or Android, while Master streaming covers PC and Android. Teams testing Linux or browser games should confirm that their intended plan and workflow fit before committing.

Who it's for

Antidote is aimed at game studios of all sizes, from indie teams to large developers. Its free Indie plan is narrowly suited to teams under 10 without a publisher or investors; Indie Plus targets teams under 30 with publisher or investment backing. Starter and Master are better aligned with recurring per-game work, while the pay-as-you-go option suits projects that need community players without a monthly per-game fee.

It is less compelling for studios whose testing needs do not center on games, teams requiring frequent community playtests on the free plans, or projects whose platform is outside a chosen plan’s stated coverage.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Recruitment, build delivery, data capture, and analysis sit within one game-focused workflow, reducing the need to assemble separate tools for each stage.
• Pro: Native support across desktop, mobile, and browser games, plus streaming for selected players, gives teams several ways to reach participants.
• Pro: Free options include both a short trial and an ongoing Indie plan for qualifying small teams.
• Con: Indie and Indie Plus allow only one community playtest per month, limiting their usefulness for teams working through frequent iterations.
• Con: Starter caps results, survey questions, and team members, so broader studies may require Master.
• Con: The plans are not interchangeable by platform: Starter has four stated platform families, and Master streaming is limited to PC and Android.

Alternatives

FirstLook Engagement Analytics is worth considering when player-profile scale and ongoing email reach are central: its Forever Free plan includes 100k player profiles, up to 500 playtesters, and 1,000 emails per month. Antidote, by contrast, combines playtest operations with session capture and analysis.

PlayProbe may suit teams seeking a low-cost structured testing start: its free plan covers 1 game, 3 tests, 20 sessions per test, pre- and post-surveys, and a results dashboard. Antidote offers a wider set of capture and research modes, while its trial has a shorter session cap.

Userplay is an option to compare for teams considering its free Indie plan, which includes up to 10 seats, unlimited playtests, up to 1,000 players, and 30-day recording retention. Antidote’s free Indie plan instead limits community testing to one playtest monthly and has team eligibility conditions.

Go Testify may fit teams wanting a free single-project workflow: its Essential plan includes unlimited playtesting and insight reports within one active project, with GT Intelligence priced at $30/hr of footage analysed. Antidote offers more varied research and capture options, with plan-specific limits.

Playcocola is another option for readers comparing playtesting software.

Poki Playtesting is a free web-based option where Poki controls the nature and number of players in a test; Antidote gives studios more control through its recruitment and invite workflows.

Lysto is worth comparing for one-off studies priced on a scope-and-proposal basis, with no project minimums, custom recruitment, and AI analysis. Antidote is structured around self-run tests as well as managed research options.

playtesting.de is another alternative to consider for playtesting.

For broader comparisons, see Game Playtesting Platforms and Game Testing Software.

Verdict

Antidote is a strong fit for game studios that want recruitment, testing, capture, and analysis in one game-specific platform, particularly when they need targeted participants or managed research alongside self-organized tests. Its main advantage is breadth across the playtest workflow; its main drawback is that free plans and lower paid tiers impose meaningful eligibility, volume, seat, and platform limits. Choose it when those limits match your studio and game, and look elsewhere when you need unrestricted testing on a small budget or support for a platform outside your plan.