Company: Applause, Framingham, MA
Company Description: Applause is the world leader in testing and digital quality, partnering with the world’s greatest brands to ensure that their digital assets and experiences are of the highest quality and work as intended. Our disruptive approach to digital quality harnesses the power of our enterprise-grade testing platform and leverages a vetted community of more than one million digital experts worldwide.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year - Computer Software - Large
 Nomination Title: Applause
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated organization since January 1 2022, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 189 words used.
Applause, the world leader in crowdtesting, continued to have record-breaking years in 2022 and 2023 marked by continued client expansion, revenue growth, and cutting-edge innovations in software testing.
We finished 2023 with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 67, up over 5 points from 2021, and well above the average of 41 for B2B software and SaaS brands (per Relently).
This strong performance reinforces Applause as the premier partner global enterprises turn to for authentic, real-world feedback on the quality of their digital experiences. Applause’s disruptive approach to testing and quality harnesses the power of the company’s enterprise-class software platform and leverages a global community of more than 1M digital experts worldwide.
Applause’s community can test and assess from the perspective of a brand’s targeted customers – in every possible condition, including country, local language and device configuration, and through the lens of demographic and psychographic data.Our platform allows us to enable the testing and digital quality process with speed, scale, security and enterprise-class performance. No other company can provide such mission-critical, actionable insight and learning, to ensure that a brand’s digital assets perform to their customers’ expectations.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 239 words used.
Applause continues to set new standards in the digital quality testing market. This innovative strategy has not only pushed the boundaries of traditional software testing paradigms but also confirmed the indispensable role of crowdtesting in validating the real-world effectiveness of large language models (LLMs) and other AI applications.
By subjecting AI algorithms to rigorous testing, Applause helps clients identify areas for improvement, enhance model performance, and ensure reliable and unbiased outputs. The testing process encompasses real-world scenarios and diverse user interactions, providing valuable insights into the algorithm’s capabilities and limitations.
Applause is also a leading provider of accessibility testing, We help test that applications don’t just conform to legal requirements but are designed for inclusivity for all. To comply with local laws and the pending EU Accessibility Act in June 2025, companies must commit to advancing their focus on accessibility and inclusivity of their digital products and experiences.
Applause garnered widespread recognition for its exceptional workplace culture and industry-leading performance in 2023. The company was named one of the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work for the fifth year, secured a spot on the Inc. Best Workplaces in the USA and Boston Business Journal’s best place to work lists. Applause featured prominently on the Software Development Times Top 100 list for the third consecutive year, and received recognition from the Globee American Best in Business Awards. Additionally, our innovation in AI/ML solutions was recognized with an International Business Award.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Global enterprises like AllTrails, Apple’s 2023 iPhone App of the Year winner, consistently select Applause as their premier partner for authentic, real-world assessments of their digital offerings.
“Applause’s services have been transformative for our digital operations, playing a pivotal role in our recognition as Apple’s 2023 iPhone App of the Year and an honorable mention as Google Play Best of 2023. Collaborating with Applause and its global community allows our team to concentrate on innovating and crafting user-centric designs that propel our customers confidently into new explorations.” Adam Blumberg, Director of Engineering, QA, AllTrails - the largest outdoor platform with 60M users in 150 countries.
While we love to promote our successes, we also are asked to help promote quality testing within our clients’ companies. The linked video is a snippet of a video requested by Microsoft to share across product teams to showcase how we can help improve their product’s accessibility status. Applause not only tests for basic conformance to accessibility standards, but our community includes persons with disabilities who can test the usability of products with assistive technology.
Applause created the crowdtesting model back in 2007, and continues to be the market leader. Gartner showcases Applause in the Market Guide for Application Testing Services, Worldwide as the largest crowdtesting vendor with the largest crowd.
We continue to grow profitably, despite economic pressures, delivering increased revenue and ARR. And, we continue to expand within our happy customer accounts, with 40% more seven-digit contracts over the past five years.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 116 words used.
Sharing some links to our 2022 + 2023 wrap-up press releases, a link to a customer video (in case it didn't work above), a link to our Dec 22 award wrap-up press release, a video overview of Applause, and a video of how our crowdtesting community works.
Applause Delivers another Record-Breaking Year, as Global Demand for Digital Quality Testing Accelerates
https://www.applause.com/videos/microsoft-champions-inclusivity-with-applause/
Applause Named a Top Place to Work by The Boston Globe for Fifth Year and Awarded for Excellence in Over a Dozen Technology Awards
Video: Release Faster, With Confidence
Video: Our Global Community for Testing and Digital
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