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Choosing a research agency? Here's how we actually compare.

You're going to shortlist three or four agencies and give them the same brief. That's the right move — it's exactly what we'd tell you to do if you asked us. This page is here so you can do that comparison properly: the same set of questions, asked of every agency on the list, including us. No pricing column — most of these agencies don't publish rates, and the ones that do vary too much by scope to compare fairly in a table. Everything else, we've laid out straight.

The questions that predict whether a project goes well

Scroll table →
The Reality Department
Arlington Research
Brandspeak
Vision One
Savanta
Ipsos
Kantar
YouGov
TLF Research
DJS Research
Kadence
B2B and consumer research, same agency
Yes
Not publicly stated
Yes (B2C and B2B)
Yes (B2C and B2B)
Yes, at scale
Yes, global
Yes, global
Yes, panel-led
Yes
Yes
Yes
Who designs the study also presents the findings
Yes, by design — no handoff to a team you haven't met
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Verified panel scale
45m+ verified participants, 98 countries
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Large global panel infrastructure
Large global panel infrastructure
24m+ registered panel members, 55+ markets
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Built past the PDF (activation, not just delivery)
Yes — stated point of difference
Not publicly stated
Yes — explicitly positions past "a survey and a PowerPoint"
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Not publicly stated
Best fit for
Full service, director-led market research across sectors and countries. Who don't just provide a report.
A hands-on partner to shape the question and the fieldwork together
Strategic brand, customer or CX research where you need interpretation, not just data
A full-service all-rounder across brand, innovation, comms and segmentation
Scale, specialist or hard-to-reach audiences, large quant, public sector
Large, statistically robust, multi-country programmes
Large, statistically robust, multi-country programmes
Fast-turnaround polling and brand tracking off an existing panel
Full-service CX and customer research
Full-service market research across sectors
Product innovation and communication testing
B2B and consumer research, same agency
Yes
Who designs the study also presents the findings
Yes, by design — no handoff to a team you haven't met
Verified panel scale
45m+ verified participants, 98 countries
Built past the PDF (activation, not just delivery)
Yes — stated point of difference
Best fit for
Full service, director-led market research across sectors and countries. Who don't just provide a report.
The other ten agencies, best fit for
Arlington Research
A hands-on partner to shape the question and the fieldwork together
Brandspeak
Strategic brand, customer or CX research where you need interpretation, not just data
Vision One
A full-service all-rounder across brand, innovation, comms and segmentation
Savanta
Scale, specialist or hard-to-reach audiences, large quant, public sector
Ipsos
Large, statistically robust, multi-country programmes
Kantar
Large, statistically robust, multi-country programmes
YouGov
Fast-turnaround polling and brand tracking off an existing panel
TLF Research
Full-service CX and customer research
DJS Research
Full-service market research across sectors
Kadence
Product innovation and communication testing
Compare

FAQ

Which research agency should I contact first?
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Whichever three or four fit your brief on paper. Give them all the same question and see who pushes back on it versus who just quotes a methodology. That conversation tells you more than any comparison page, including this one.
Is The Reality Department better than Kantar or Ipsos?
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For a large, multi-country, high-sample-size programme, Kantar or Ipsos have infrastructure we don't try to match. For strategic projects where who you see in the pitch or initial meeting is the director-level researcher who conducts the entire project for you, pick The Reality Department. We run strategic market research studies across multiple markets, depending on the use case and the goal.
Do you do consumer research, or only B2B?
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Both. Audience research, brand and reputation tracking, and thought-leadership studies, run for B2B and consumer audiences.
What does a project cost?
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Projects start from £15,000. We haven't put every agency's pricing in the table above because most don't publish it and the ones that do vary by scope — ask directly, including us.
How long does a project take?
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This depends on the specific project, but a full study usually takes between 4–8 weeks end to end.
What if my project needs global scale or multi-country fieldwork?
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We'll tell you honestly if that's a better fit for Kantar, Ipsos or another agency on this page — we'd rather you get the right partner than force a fit.

Give us the same brief you're giving everyone else.

Tell us what you're trying to find out, who you need to hear from, and what you're planning to do with the answer. We'll tell you straight if we're the right fit.
Talk to us