Technology Market Research Companies for Tech and SaaS Teams

Nine technology market research companies for tech and SaaS teams are Gartner, Forrester, IDC, Usercall, Omdia, 451 Research, ABI Research, Informa TechTarget, and UserEvidence. Hire a research firm when you need a published market size, a vendor comparison, or a forecast. Run buyer interviews yourself when you need to know why your own buyers chose you, stayed, or left.

Technology market research on this page means research about technology markets: software, devices, cloud, security, and the people who buy them. It is not a United States directory, and it is not a many-country directory. For firms based in the United States, see Top 30 US Market Research Firms: Pick the Right One. For firms that run research in many countries, see Global Market Research Companies. This page does not list every technology analyst firm.

Two names here are one group. Informa TechTarget's about page says Omdia is its analyst capability. The title on canalys.com says Canalys, now Omdia. Treat that as one research library plus a buyer-intent business, not as three separate hires. Pages linked below were checked on 5 November 2026. Where a page does not list a dollar price, the pricing model is quote-based.

How to choose

Match the question to the product. A market-size question needs a firm that publishes forecasts and share. A shortlist question needs a vendor comparison such as a Magic Quadrant or a Forrester Wave. A pipeline question needs interviews with the buyers in your deals. SaaS market research splits the same way. Tech market research from a subscription will not tell you which sentence in your proposal lost the deal.

Comparison

Firm	Use when	What the linked page says	Pricing
Gartner	Vendor shortlist	20,000+ associates in 85 offices. Clients in about 90 countries. A Magic Quadrant is a first step.	Quote-based. Become a client. No public price.
Forrester	Buyer view and a Wave	More than 40 years of research. Market Insights includes every Wave and surveys of more than 675,000 people a year.	Quote-based. The page ends in a contact form.
IDC	Market size and share	More than 60 years. 1,000+ analysts. 800,000+ companies tracked. 15 billion+ data points a year. 100+ countries.	Quote-based. The about page lists no price.
Usercall	Buyer interviews	AI-moderated interviews in 50+ languages. From $89 a month or $899 a year, plus pay-as-you-go. First interview free.	Published. Recruiting is quoted per study, with incentives included.
Omdia	Tech domain, including channel	3,000+ topics, 12,000+ companies, clients in 180+ countries. Canalys is now Omdia.	Quote-based. The about page lists no price.
451 Research	Enterprise IT, funding to adoption	S&P Global acquired 451 Research in 2019. Research for technology vendors, service providers, IT leaders, and financial professionals.	Quote-based. The site asks you to request a demo.
ABI Research	Forecast in a moving tech market	2,000 to 3,000 analyst interviews a year. Legal name Allied Business Intelligence, Inc.	Quote-based. Price depends on services and access. No dollar figure on the FAQ.
Informa TechTarget	Buyer intent	Over 58 million opted-in tech buyers. 220+ properties. Omdia sits inside the group.	Quote-based. The about page lists no price.
UserEvidence	Proof from your customers	Verifies a real user. Customer surveys, double-blind studies, and ROI interviews.	Quote-based. The FAQ says the quote varies by the business.

9 technology market research companies

This is not a quality ranking. The first three sell a published view of the market. Usercall is fourth because the next job is interviews. The rest are narrower.

1. Gartner

Use when: you need an outside view of who competes in a technology market, or a shortlist before you buy.

Gartner's about page says it delivers business and technology insights, with 20,000+ associates in 85 offices, working with enterprises in about 90 countries, and 45+ years of that work. It also says Gartner is a $6.5 billion company and a member of the S&P 500.

The Gartner Magic Quadrant page says a Magic Quadrant is a wide view of how providers sit in one market, and that you should use it as a first step. Focusing on the leaders' quadrant is not always the right call.

Who should hire them: a technology buyer building a shortlist, or a vendor that needs to see how analysts describe the category. If the question is why your last ten deals died, that is an interview, not a quadrant.

Pricing: quote-based. You become a client. The about page lists no dollar price.

2. Forrester

Use when: you need research on buyers and a side-by-side look at providers, with the option of analyst time.

Forrester's about page says it helps business and technology leaders with research, consulting, and events, and that the research has run for more than 40 years. Forrester Market Insights says its insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 675,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide, and that the service includes all Forrester Wave evaluations.

The Forrester Wave page says each Wave compares providers in one software, hardware, or services market, and that clients can ask an analyst to go further.

Who should hire them: a tech or SaaS leadership team that wants a published buyer view and a vendor comparison.

Pricing: quote-based. The Market Insights page ends in a contact form and lists no dollar price.

3. IDC

Use when: you need the size of a technology market, who sells into it, and a number you can put in a plan.

IDC's about page says the firm has been a source for leaders for more than 60 years. The same page lists 15 billion+ data points tracked a year, 800,000+ companies tracked, 1,000+ analysts, and coverage of 100+ countries. That is a counting business, built for spend, share, and forecasts.

Who should hire them: a strategy, product, or finance lead who has to size a technology market before a launch, a budget, or a board conversation. IDC's about page does not sell the words a buyer used when they rejected your price.

Pricing: quote-based. The about page lists no price.

4. Usercall

Use when: you need AI-moderated interviews with buyers about one decision, and you do not need a syndicated forecast.

Run it self-serve, or we run the study for you, from setup to report. Interviews run in 50+ languages. Recruiting is quoted per study, with incentives included, from 95M+ people across our panel partners in 151 countries. From $89 a month or $899 a year, plus pay-as-you-go. First interview free.

Who should hire them: a product, marketing, or insights lead at a tech or SaaS company who can name the decision. A lost deal, a cancellation, a price, or a concept. Usercall does not publish market share or a five-year forecast. If that is the question, hire one of the firms above.

Pricing: published, in the paragraph above. Recruiting is a separate quote per study, with incentives included.

5. Omdia

Use when: you need a published read on a technology domain, including the channel that used to be briefed as Canalys.

Omdia's about page says it covers 3,000+ topics, tracks 12,000+ companies, and has clients in 180+ countries. It lists 4,000+ deliverables a year, 80,000+ people a year in primary research, and 300+ analysts and consultants. Domains on that page include cloud, cybersecurity, enterprise IT, semiconductors, and channel.

Canalys, now Omdia, is the title on canalys.com. The same site says Canalys was set up in 1998 and sells subscription research on technology channels and smartphones. Channels & Partner Ecosystems says Omdia, now joined by Canalys, covers distributors, resellers, and managed service providers. Canalys Forums still appear there as events.

Who should hire them: a vendor that needs market analysis in one of those domains, or a channel chief who needs the partner view. Do not also buy Canalys as if it were a second firm.

Pricing: quote-based. The about page lists no dollar price.

6. 451 Research

Use when: the question is enterprise technology from the money in, through to what IT teams adopt.

451 Research, a Part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, says S&P Global acquired 451 Research in 2019. It describes a research and advisory firm for technology vendors, service providers, IT leaders, and financial professionals. Clients use it for business cases and strategic plans. Coverage runs from investment to adoption, across cloud, security, data and AI, and data centers. The 451 Research site says it is part of S&P Global and asks new readers to request a demo.

Who should hire them: a vendor, an IT leader, or an investor who needs that span. This page does not describe a consumer-device forecast.

Pricing: quote-based. Neither page lists a price.

7. ABI Research

Use when: you need a forecast and a go-to-market read in a technology market that is still moving.

About ABI Research FAQs says the legal name is Allied Business Intelligence, Inc. ABI sells technology market intelligence: reports, market data, and advice on what to deploy. Analysts conduct 2,000 to 3,000 interviews a year. Coverage includes telecommunications, artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, data centers, and connected devices. The FAQ says ABI is a poor fit if you need someone on site to install the technology.

Who should hire them: a strategy or product team that needs the forecast before a roadmap or an investment. A shortlist of current vendors is a better fit for Gartner or Forrester.

Pricing: quote-based. The FAQ says the price depends on how many services you take and what kind of access you need, and that custom work depends on scope. It does not list a dollar price.

8. Informa TechTarget

Use when: you need to see which technology buyers are researching a problem, not another copy of a market-size report.

Informa TechTarget's about page says it works with more than 750 experts across 220+ online properties, and that its membership is over 58 million opted-in tech buyers. The same page says those buyers generate intent signals, and that Omdia is the analyst capability in the group. Use the Omdia entry for the research library. Use this entry for the audience and the intent.

Who should hire them: a tech vendor's marketing or sales team that wants accounts already reading about a problem. Do not pay this and Omdia for the same forecast.

Pricing: quote-based. The about page lists no dollar price.

9. UserEvidence

Use when: you need verified quotes, stats, or an ROI study from your own customers, for a claim a buyer will check.

The methodology page says UserEvidence verifies that a participant is a real user, including a corporate email check, and that the vendor cannot change unfavorable results. Customer evidence surveys that vendor's customers. A separate double-blind project uses industry practitioners, is funded by the client, and is not a product endorsement. ROI studies add long-form interviews and a written report.

Who should hire them: a business software vendor that needs proof from customers it already has. People outside that customer list are a different recruit.

Pricing: quote-based. FAQ: Your UserEvidence Questions Answered says the price varies and that you request a quote. The methodology page does not list a dollar price.

When to run buyer interviews yourself

The firms above answer the market. They do not answer your pipeline. Four decisions belong in interviews with the buyers who lived them: a win or a loss, churn, a price, and a concept. A forecast can sit beside that work. It cannot replace it.

Win and loss

Talk to people who bought and people who did not, close to the decision. Ask what they compared, who else had to agree, and what almost changed the outcome. A quadrant names the vendors. It will not tell you that security stalled the deal, or that the champion could not explain the price to finance. For how SaaS teams build those questions, see B2B Buyer Persona Research: How Top SaaS Teams Uncover What Actually Drives Buying Decisions.

Churn

A cancellation date is not a reason. Interview people who left, downgraded, or went quiet, and ask what happened in the weeks before. A market-share chart will not name the moment staying stopped making sense.

Pricing

Ask what they compared the price with, and what would have changed the decision. "Too expensive" is usually a comparison, not a number. A category forecast cannot tell you how your price landed in one account.

Concept checks

Show the concept and ask what the person thinks it does, who it is for, and what would stop them. If they describe a different product, the concept is not clear yet. On Usercall, a concept check is 15-30+ interviews in 48 to 72 hours. The format is AI-moderated user and customer interviews.

Findings come back in English. Write the guide once, and translation is handled. The price and the languages are in the Usercall entry above. If the board wants share and a five-year number, hire the firm that publishes that number. Run the interviews for the decision the number cannot make.

FAQ