Softwr

Research · head to head

Valispace vs Zappi

Valispace logo

Valispace

Research

Requirements and systems engineering for hardware teams, with published per-seat pricing

From
$999/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zappi logo

Zappi

Research

Automated consumer insights platform for testing advertising, product concepts and brand health

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Valispace the three-seat minimum means a solo consultant or a two-person startup pays for a seat nobody uses, roughly 3,000 US dollars a year before anyone logs in.; Zappi nothing is published: pricing is a platform subscription plus a prepaid credit bundle quoted per customer, so a buyer cannot benchmark the cost against agency research without going through sales.
  • They diverge on capability: Valispace covers Live requirements, Zappi covers Validated study templates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Valispace and Zappi actually diverge.

Attributes where Valispace and Zappi differ
AttributeValispaceZappi
Starting price$999/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer user per yearquote
PlatformsWeb, On-premise, APIWeb

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Research).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Valispace

  • Live requirements
  • Budgets and margins
  • Component tree
  • Verification and validation
  • Python API and Jupyter
  • ValiAssistant
  • SSO and MFA

Only in Zappi

  • Validated study templates
  • Respondent panel access
  • Normative benchmarks
  • Creative testing
  • Brand health tracking
  • AI analysis over history
  • Unlimited users
  • Exports and integrations

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Valispace

  • A small satellite team keeping mass and power budgets live across a design cycle instead of rebuilding spreadsheets before each reviewnot Zappi
  • A drone manufacturer that needs requirement traceability for a certification authority but cannot justify an enterprise requirements databasenot Zappi
  • A university engineering department teaching systems engineering with real traceability under the flat education ratenot Zappi
  • An electronics-heavy hardware startup wanting requirements linked to the PCB design work happening in Altiumnot Zappi

Zappi

  • A beverage brand screening thirty flavour concepts before committing to two for consumer testingnot Valispace
  • A marketing team pre-testing three advertising edits in a day so a media booking deadline can be metnot Valispace
  • An insights function replacing repeated ad-hoc agency studies with a comparable, accumulating body of test resultsnot Valispace
  • A brand manager running continuous brand health tracking without negotiating a separate tracker contract each yearnot Valispace

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Valispace

  • The three-seat minimum means a solo consultant or a two-person startup pays for a seat nobody uses, roughly 3,000 US dollars a year before anyone logs in.
  • Ownership has changed twice in two years, from independent to Altium to Renesas by way of the Altium acquisition, and the technology has been repackaged as the Altium Requirements Portal, so the standalone roadmap is genuinely uncertain.
  • It is not a certified DO-178C or ARP4754 toolchain component in the way established requirements databases are, so highly regulated aerospace programmes may still need a recognised tool alongside it.
  • The parametric model rewards teams who structure their data properly at the start; teams that import a flat requirement list get a slower version of a document tool and none of the budget automation.
  • Integration depth outside the Altium and Jira world is limited, so linking to an existing PLM or a CAD-driven mass properties source usually means writing against the Python API yourself.

Zappi

  • Nothing is published: pricing is a platform subscription plus a prepaid credit bundle quoted per customer, so a buyer cannot benchmark the cost against agency research without going through sales.
  • Credits are prepaid against a forecast of the year ahead, which means a team that overestimates research volume ends the year having paid for studies it never ran.
  • The template model that makes studies fast also constrains them; a research question that does not fit a validated instrument either gets forced into one or goes to an agency anyway.
  • Normative benchmarks are strongest in fast-moving consumer goods categories where Zappi has depth, and thinner in business-to-business, financial services and niche categories, where the comparison numbers mean less.
  • Because respondents come from Zappi-sourced panels, sample composition is a vendor decision rather than yours, and any team that needs a bespoke recruitment specification or a low-incidence audience will find the automated route unsuitable.

Pricing, plan by plan

Valispace

$999/year
  • Valispace$999/year
    • Minimum three users
    • Requirements, components, V&V and analysis modules
    • ValiAssistant AI beta
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • On-premise deployment option
    • Staging servers with controlled update timing
    • Advanced support terms
  • Education$1000/year
    • Flat annual rate for an institution
    • Unlimited students and professors
    • Non-commercial projects only

Zappi

On request
  • Premium$undefined/year
    • Platform subscription with unlimited users
    • Access to all research solutions
    • Credit bundle scoped to annual research volume
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Platform subscription with unlimited users
    • Multi-market and global organisation controls
    • Connected insights across markets and brands

Which should you pick?

Choose Valispace if

  • You need live requirements.
  • You work on Web, On-premise, API.
  • You also want budgets and margins.
Valispace review

Choose Zappi if

  • You need validated study templates.
  • You also want respondent panel access.
Zappi review

Questions people ask

Is Valispace or Zappi better?
Neither clearly leads. Valispace starts at $999/year and Zappi at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Valispace or Zappi?
Valispace starts at $999/year and Zappi at On request.
Does Valispace or Zappi run on more platforms?
Valispace runs on Web, On-premise, API. Zappi runs on Web.
What is Valispace best used for?
Valispace is most often used for a small satellite team keeping mass and power budgets live across a design cycle instead of rebuilding spreadsheets before each review, a drone manufacturer that needs requirement traceability for a certification authority but cannot justify an enterprise requirements database, a university engineering department teaching systems engineering with real traceability under the flat education rate, an electronics-heavy hardware startup wanting requirements linked to the pcb design work happening in altium. Of those, a small satellite team keeping mass and power budgets live across a design cycle instead of rebuilding spreadsheets before each review and a drone manufacturer that needs requirement traceability for a certification authority but cannot justify an enterprise requirements database are not what Zappi is typically brought in for.
What can Valispace do that Zappi cannot?
Valispace covers Live requirements, Budgets and margins, Component tree, Verification and validation. Zappi covers Validated study templates, Respondent panel access, Normative benchmarks, Creative testing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Valispace: Who owns Valispace?

Altium acquired it in December 2023, and Renesas Electronics acquired Altium in 2024. It is therefore a Renesas-owned product, despite frequent reports elsewhere linking it to defence groups.

Zappi: Does Zappi publish prices?

No. It publishes the structure, a platform subscription plus credits plus optional services, but not the numbers.

Valispace: Is it the same thing as the Altium Requirements Portal?

They share a lineage. Requirements Portal is the Altium 365 packaging of Valispace technology. The standalone Valispace product is still sold with its own pricing.

Zappi: How fast do results come back?

Automated tests typically return within hours to a day, which is the main reason teams choose it over a commissioned study.

Valispace: What does it actually cost?

999 US dollars per user per year with a minimum of three users, billed annually. Enterprise with on-premise deployment is quoted separately.

Zappi: Do we still need an agency?

For standard concept, creative and brand tests, usually not. For bespoke methodologies and hard-to-reach audiences, yes.

Valispace: Can it replace a requirements database like DOORS?

For small and mid-sized hardware programmes, often yes. For programmes with contractual tool mandates, no.

Zappi: Is there a per-seat charge?

No. Both published tiers include unlimited users; the variable cost is research credits.

Share

Related pages

More on Valispace

More on Zappi

Keep looking

Other head to heads