---
title: "UX Audit – What It Is, Cost, Report Contents | Sweet Lava"
description: "UX audits in practice – the process step by step, prices (€2,000–12,000), report contents, example findings, app and store audits, a DIY review checklist."
url: https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/ux-audit/
lang: en
alternate_pl: https://sweetlava.eu/pl/blog/audyt-ux-co-to-jest-ile-kosztuje/
---

UX/UI/AX

# UX audit – what it is, what it costs and what you get

Sweet Lava Team ·  Published 9 June 2026 ·  Updated 4 August 2026 · 7 min read 

**Key answer:** A UX audit is an expert analysis of a website or application that shows where users hit problems and what to fix first. It covers a walkthrough of key paths, data analysis (analytics, session recordings) and an assessment against usability heuristics. An expert audit typically costs €2,000–6,000; an audit with user research €5,000–12,000\. The deliverable is a prioritised fix list with reasoning, not a generic report.

Table of contents
1. [01The short answer](#the-short-answer)
2. [02What is a UX audit?](#what-is-a-ux-audit)
3. [03When a UX audit pays off](#when-a-ux-audit-pays-off)
4. [04How a UX audit works, step by step](#how-a-ux-audit-works-step-by-step)
5. [05How much does a UX audit cost, and what drives the price?](#how-much-does-a-ux-audit-cost-and-what-drives-the-price)
6. [06What does the report contain? Example findings](#what-does-the-report-contain-example-findings)
7. [07UX audit vs UI audit](#ux-audit-vs-ui-audit)
8. [08UX audit of a web or mobile application](#ux-audit-of-a-web-or-mobile-application)
9. [09UX audit of an online store](#ux-audit-of-an-online-store)
10. [10How to do a UX audit yourself: a starter checklist](#how-to-do-a-ux-audit-yourself-a-starter-checklist)

## The short answer

A UX audit is an expert analysis of your website, store or application that shows where you lose users and why. The deliverable is not a doorstop report but a prioritised fix list: from tomorrow's changes to strategic decisions, each with its reasoning. It typically costs €2,000–6,000 (with user research €5,000–12,000) and is the cheapest way to stop guessing why "there's traffic but no sales".

## What is a UX audit?

A UX audit (also called a usability audit) is a structured assessment of a digital product from its user's perspective. The auditor checks whether a person arriving with a specific intent can complete it without friction: find a product, buy, create an account, get in touch. The assessment combines three sources of knowledge – data (analytics, session recordings), an expert walkthrough of the key paths, and recognised usability heuristics such as Nielsen's principles.

It differs from a redesign in that nothing changes yet: the audit makes the diagnosis and sets the order of work. It differs from an opinion in that every conclusion is backed by data or a specific usability principle, which ends the internal arguments about whether "that button is really a problem".

## When a UX audit pays off

An audit makes sense when the product is live and has traffic, but the results disappoint. Typical signals:

- many visits, few enquiries or orders;
- full carts and few completed checkouts;
- users sign up and vanish after the first session;
- campaigns bring traffic that doesn't convert;
- the team has argued about the causes for months and decisions run on opinions.

It also makes sense before a rebuild – it often turns out that instead of a new site you need a dozen specific fixes, and that's a difference of tens of thousands. We say this plainly, because sometimes the audit ends with the recommendation "don't rebuild". There's no point auditing a product without traffic: a freshly launched site needs users first, and a diagnosis second.

## How a UX audit works, step by step

**Data analysis.** We start with analytics: where users enter, where they drop off, what separates buyers from abandoners. The data points at the places worth looking at – without it, an audit is guesswork.

**Key path walkthrough.** The auditor completes the user's most important tasks (finding a product, buying, contacting, registering) on desktop and mobile, noting every point of friction.

**Heuristic evaluation.** We assess the product against recognised usability principles: visibility of state, consistency with conventions, error prevention, clarity of language.

**Recordings and heatmaps.** Where available, we analyse real user behaviour: what they fail to click, what they ignore, where they circle.

**A prioritised report.** Every problem gets a weight (critical, significant, cosmetic), a recommendation and the reasoning. The list can be implemented with us or with your own team.

## How much does a UX audit cost, and what drives the price?

An expert audit of a website or application typically costs €2,000–6,000\. An audit extended with user research (task-based testing, interviews) runs €5,000–12,000\. The ranges are wide because the price depends on concrete factors:

- **Product size:** the number of templates and paths to analyse. A company website with a contact form is a different scale of work than a SaaS application with a dashboard, onboarding and billing.
- **Number of platforms:** desktop and mobile versions of a site, iOS and Android apps.
- **Data availability:** configured analytics and session recordings shorten the work; without them, part of the conclusions has to rest on expert analysis alone, or measurement has to be set up first.
- **Research scope:** every round of user testing means recruitment, moderation and analysis, which is why the research version costs more. Even five tests uncover most critical problems, so you rarely need a large sample.

The price includes a prioritised fix list with reasoning. Before we start, we come back to you with specifics: scope, timeline and a price matched to your product.

## What does the report contain? Example findings

Our audit report has three layers. The first is a summary for decision-makers: the most important conclusions and their impact on results, readable in a few minutes. The second is the prioritised problem list, where every item carries a weight, the place it occurs, a recommendation and the reasoning (data, or the usability principle the product breaks). The third is a set of quick wins: fixes with a big effect and a small implementation cost, the right place to start.

What do typical findings look like? A form demands data nobody ever uses, and every unnecessary field lowers conversion. The key button is invisible on a phone. Delivery costs appear only in the cart – the main cause of abandonment. Navigation speaks the language of the company's structure instead of the customers'. The site loads too slowly on mobile. Most of these sound mundane, and that's exactly why they escape teams who look at their product every day.

## UX audit vs UI audit

The two often appear together as a UX/UI audit, but they assess different layers. A UX audit checks whether the user reaches the goal: the logic of paths, information architecture, the content of messages, forms. A UI audit assesses the visual layer – component consistency, typography, contrast, hierarchy and element states. In practice it's worth ordering both at once, because the problems usually share a source: an illegible button is a UI defect and an obstacle on the path at the same time. We explain the difference between the disciplines themselves in [UX vs UI](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/ux-vs-ui-differences/).

## UX audit of a web or mobile application

In applications the audit's centre of gravity shifts from acquisition to retention. We analyse onboarding (how many steps separate registration from first value), empty states and error messages, the repeatable tasks of daily work, and the places where users ask for help. In SaaS products there's also the path from trial to payment. We check consistency with platform conventions too, because an app that ignores iOS or Android habits forces users to learn from scratch. App audit conclusions concern information architecture more often than website ones do, so the report includes structural recommendations, not just screen-level fixes.

## UX audit of an online store

In e-commerce the audit concentrates on the purchase funnel: product page, cart, delivery and payment. That's where most money leaks, and the typical findings are mundane: delivery costs revealed too late, forced registration, a form with fields nobody reads. Improving conversion by a fraction of a percentage point can repay the audit within a month – which is why stores are the most audited type of product. We cover the specifics of stores, from product pages to abandoned carts, in a separate article on the [e-commerce UX audit](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/ecommerce-ux-audit/).

## How to do a UX audit yourself: a starter checklist

You can run a basic review without an agency. Work through these points, preferably on a phone, because that's where problems show fastest:

1. **Complete a key task like a customer would:** find a product through search, buy it, send an enquiry. Note every moment of hesitation.
2. **Check your analytics:** on which pages users end their visit, where they abandon a form or a cart, how behaviour differs between phone and desktop.
3. **Watch 5–10 session recordings:** you'll see what people click, what they ignore and where they circle.
4. **Read your forms:** is every field genuinely needed, and do the error messages say how to fix the problem?
5. **Measure speed:** slow loading on a phone can undo every other fix; we describe how to check it in our article on [Core Web Vitals](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/core-web-vitals-why-speed-sells/).
6. **Ask someone from outside the company** to complete the same tasks, and only observe, without prompting.

A review like this catches the obvious problems. An expert audit adds what you can't replace on your own: experience from dozens of products, knowledge of patterns and a fresh eye – the one thing a team working on its own product simply doesn't have. The best moment for a DIY review is before you talk to an agency: you'll narrow the scope and judge the offers better.

Want to know where your product loses users? [Order a UX audit](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/ux-ui-ax/) or simply [write to us](https://sweetlava.eu/en/contact/) and we'll advise whether an audit is the right first step in your case.

## Related services

- [ UX audits & UX/UI design → ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/ux-ui-ax/)

## Related articles

E-commerce · 19 July 2026

## [ E-commerce UX audit – what we check and what it costs ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/ecommerce-ux-audit/) 

Traffic but no sales? A UX audit of an online store shows where conversion leaks – from the listing to the checkout. We explain what it covers, what it costs and what you get in the report.

Development · 12 May 2026

## [ How much does a website cost in 2026? A realistic pricing guide ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/how-much-does-a-website-cost/) 

From €800 for a template site to €40,000+ for a corporate platform. We break down what actually drives the price of a website and how to read agency quotes.

UX/UI/AX · 17 March 2026

## [ UX vs UI – what's the difference and why you need both ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/ux-vs-ui-differences/) 

UX and UI get used interchangeably, yet they describe two different layers of a product. We explain the difference with examples – and what happens when one is missing.

Development · 3 March 2026

## [ Core Web Vitals and site performance – why speed sells ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/core-web-vitals-why-speed-sells/) 

A slow website loses customers twice, in Google (lower rankings) and after the visit starts (abandonment). We explain LCP, INP and CLS, and how to genuinely improve them.

## Related terms

- [Conversion & conversion rate](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/conversion-rate/)
- [CRO (conversion rate optimization)](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/cro/)
- [Heatmap](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/heatmap/)
- [Usability testing](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/usability-testing/)
- [UX (user experience)](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/ux/)

## Frequently asked questions

What is a UX audit?

An expert analysis of a digital product – a website, store or application – that shows where users hit problems. The auditor walks the key paths, analyses data (analytics, session recordings, heatmaps) and assesses the product against recognised usability heuristics. The result is a list of problems with priorities and recommendations.

How much does a UX audit cost?

An expert audit of a website or application typically costs €2,000–6,000, depending on product size. An audit extended with user research (testing, interviews) runs €5,000–12,000\. A UX audit of an online store usually fits the same ranges, with the focus on the purchase path. The price is driven mainly by the number of paths and templates to analyse and by how much data is available.

What does a UX audit report contain?

A prioritised list of problems, where every item has a weight (critical, significant, cosmetic), the place it occurs, a recommended change and the reasoning. Plus a summary for decision-makers and a set of quick wins – fixes with a big effect and a small implementation cost. You can implement the list with us or with your own team.

What is the difference between a UX audit and a UI audit?

The scope of assessment. A UX audit checks whether users reach their goals – the logic of paths, information architecture, content and forms. A UI audit assesses the visual layer – component consistency, typography, contrast and hierarchy. In practice they're usually ordered together as a UX/UI audit, because problems in both layers often share a source.

How do I do a UX audit myself?

You can run a basic review on your own. Walk the most important paths on a phone, check your analytics (where users drop off), watch a few session recordings. That will catch the obvious problems. An expert audit adds experience from dozens of products, knowledge of patterns and a fresh eye – the one thing a team working on its own product simply doesn't have.

What does a UX audit actually find?

Typical findings from our audits – a form demands data nobody needs (conversion drop), the key button is invisible on mobile, delivery costs appear only in the cart (the main cause of abandonment), navigation uses the company's language instead of the customers', the site loads too slowly on phones.

## Want to know where your product loses users?

A UX audit ends with a prioritised list of fixes, each with a rationale. Scope and quote within a few days.

[ Get in touch ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/contact/?source=blog-ux-audit-guide)