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What Cluster is Not

Understanding Cluster's boundaries helps you decide if it's right for your needs.

Not a Transcription Service​

Cluster does not transcribe audio or video files. It works with transcripts you already have:

  • Microsoft Teams meeting transcripts (.vtt files in SharePoint)
  • Zoom cloud recording transcripts
  • Otter.ai, Rev, or other transcription service exports
  • Manual transcripts you've created
Future Roadmap

AI transcription (via Whisper or similar) is on the roadmap but not in the current version.

Not a Recording Tool​

Cluster does not record meetings or research sessions. Use dedicated tools for recording:

  • Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet for remote sessions
  • Lookback, UserTesting for moderated research
  • Loom, Grain for async video capture

Cluster integrates with your recordings stored in SharePoint or Google Drive.

Not a Participant Recruitment Platform​

Cluster does not help you find research participants. For recruitment, consider:

  • User Interviews — General participant recruitment
  • Respondent — B2B and professional panels
  • Prolific — Academic and research panels
  • UserTesting — Integrated panel + testing

Not a Usability Testing Platform​

Cluster does not run unmoderated usability tests. For that, use:

  • Maze — Prototype testing and surveys
  • UserTesting — Moderated and unmoderated testing
  • Lookback — Live session recording
  • Optimal Workshop — Card sorting, tree testing

Cluster helps you synthesize the results from these tools.

Not a Survey Tool​

Cluster does not create or distribute surveys. For quantitative research:

  • Qualtrics — Enterprise surveys
  • Typeform — Conversational surveys
  • SurveyMonkey — General-purpose surveys
  • Sprig — In-product surveys

Not a Full Repository (Yet)​

Cluster currently focuses on synthesis workflows:

✅ Annotating transcripts and videos ✅ Clustering and affinity mapping ✅ Creating insights ✅ Exporting in W3C format

The following repository features are on the roadmap:

⏳ Full-text search across all research ⏳ Research project management ⏳ Participant database ⏳ Research calendar and scheduling

When to Choose Cluster​

Choose Cluster if:

  • Data ownership is a priority
  • You're in a regulated industry (healthcare, finance, government)
  • You want to avoid vendor lock-in
  • You need W3C-compliant annotation export
  • You prefer self-hosted solutions
  • You're building a custom research stack

Consider alternatives if:

  • You need an all-in-one solution today
  • You want built-in transcription
  • You prefer managed SaaS with no infrastructure
  • You need extensive integrations out of the box

Complementary Tools​

Cluster works well alongside:

CategoryToolsIntegration
RecordingZoom, Teams, MeetImport recordings from SharePoint
TranscriptionOtter, Rev, TemiImport .vtt/.srt files
RecruitmentUser InterviewsManual participant metadata
TestingMaze, UserTestingImport session recordings
Knowledge BaseNotion, ConfluenceExport insights for sharing

Next Steps​