SapplyValues combines the questions of the Sapply political compass test with the interface of 8values. Its author describes a few wording changes and improvements to navigation, result-image downloads, and shareable result links. Its question set and result structure differ from 8values.
Votely offers 57 dimensions, a 3D cube, and a match to one of 81 named ideologies on the long quiz. Its optional in-depth report explores the tradition you matched. The choice is between the result you want to see and how much explanation you want afterward.
TL;DR
Pick SapplyValues if you want a compass placement with a separate progressive-conservative score and public source code. Pick Votely if you want a named ideology match and a written explanation of that tradition.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Votely | SapplyValues |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 57 (3 macro, 54 sub) | 3 result axes: left-right, authority-liberty, progress-conservatism |
| Named ideology matching | 81 on the long quiz | Not shown in the published result |
| Visualization | 3D cube | 2D compass plus progressive-conservative scale |
| Answer format | 0-100 percentage sliders | 5 choices, from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree |
| Sign-up required | No | No |
| Free | Quiz yes; in-depth report sold separately | Yes |
| Time investment | 2-12 min | No completion-time estimate documented on its homepage |
| Open source | No | Yes, MIT license |
| Lineage | New project | Sapply questions with the 8values interface |
Where SapplyValues is honestly better
The public source code lets you inspect its questions and scoring. Its author also documents practical improvements over the original Sapply interface: downloadable result images and links that preserve your result. Those are useful features if your goal is to share a familiar compass chart.
The result keeps the visual explanation compact. It plots left-right and authority-liberty on a compass, with progressive-conservative shown separately. You can read those scores without working through a named ideological tradition.
Where Votely is better
Votely adds a more detailed ideology match. Its long quiz uses 60 questions to match your views to one of 81 traditions; the 12-question short quiz gives a broader placement. The 3D cube lets you explore where your result sits among those traditions.
The writeup is the other difference. Votely's optional paid in-depth report covers the history of the tradition you matched, its strongest critiques, and a reading list. SapplyValues' published result focuses on scores and a shareable chart.
Who should pick which
Pick SapplyValues for its compass format, separate social score, and inspectable source. Pick Votely for a named ideology and more reading about the tradition you matched. Taking both can be useful, but a difference between their results does not by itself tell you which test is more accurate.
Sources
This comparison checks SapplyValues against its project explanation, question interface, published result code, and source license.