Surveys · alternatives
Alternatives to LimeSurvey
20 surveys tools sit alongside LimeSurvey in this directory. Below is what separates each from LimeSurvey on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 13
- Cheaper to start
- -
- LimeSurvey starts at
- Free
Why people look past LimeSurvey
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. LimeSurvey has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Survey and feedback platform for research teams
- No free tier, where LimeSurvey has one.
- Sold on a Tiered annual subscription published on the vendor site model rather than Open source, with paid cloud hosting.
Form builder with document generation and e-signature
- No free tier, where LimeSurvey has one.
- Sold on a Tiered monthly subscription published on the vendor site; HIPAA-capable plans priced separately model rather than Open source, with paid cloud hosting.
Powerful forms made easy
- Publishes an entry price of $24/month, where LimeSurvey does not.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than Open source, with paid cloud hosting.
- 4 tiers to LimeSurvey's 2.
Offline-first data collection for humanitarian, development and research field work
- Publishes an entry price of $21/month, where LimeSurvey does not.
- Sold on a Per month by submission count model rather than Open source, with paid cloud hosting.
- 5 tiers to LimeSurvey's 2.
Offline field survey platform priced by submissions rather than seats, built for research data quality
- Publishes an entry price of $225/month, where LimeSurvey does not.
- Sold on a Per month by submission volume model rather than Open source, with paid cloud hosting.
- 5 tiers to LimeSurvey's 2.
Survey and experience management platform with a permanently free tier capped at 200 responses
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than Open source, with paid cloud hosting.
- 4 tiers to LimeSurvey's 2.
Every LimeSurvey alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LimeSurvey (this page) | Free | Open source, with paid cloud hosting | 2 | |
| AlchemerHosted research-grade logic and reporting for teams that do not want to run servers | On request | Tiered annual subscription published on the vendor site | - | vs LimeSurvey |
| FormstackStronger workflow and document generation where the survey is part of a business process | On request | Tiered monthly subscription published on the vendor site; HIPAA-capable plans priced separately | - | vs LimeSurvey |
| Cognito FormsSimpler hosted forms with conditional logic and payments for non-research use | Free, then $24/month | Subscription | 4 | vs LimeSurvey |
| KoboToolbox | Free, then $21/month | Per month by submission count | 5 | vs LimeSurvey |
| SurveyCTO | Free, then $225/month | Per month by submission volume | 5 | vs LimeSurvey |
| QuestionPro | Free | Per user per month | 4 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Sogolytics | Free | Per user per month | 3 | vs LimeSurvey |
| SurveyLegend | Free, then $15/month | Per month by responses per survey | 4 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Tally | Free, then $29/month | Free tier, paid for branding and team features | 2 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Zoho Survey | Free | Free tier, then per user per month | 2 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Fillout | Free, then $15/month | Per month by response count | 6 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Microsoft Forms | Free | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately | 4 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Google Forms | Free | Included with Google Workspace, not sold separately | 4 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Jotform | Free, then $39/month | Freemium | 5 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Paperform | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Medallia | On request | Quote | 1 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Device Magic | On request | Quote | 2 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Zonka Feedback | On request | Quote | 2 | vs LimeSurvey |
| Qualtrics CoreXM | On request | Quote | 1 | vs LimeSurvey |
| GetFeedback | On request | Quote | 1 | vs LimeSurvey |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the LimeSurvey badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (13)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Cognito Forms , Free, then $24/month
- KoboToolbox , Free, then $21/month
- SurveyCTO , Free, then $225/month
- QuestionPro , Free
- Sogolytics , Free
- SurveyLegend , Free, then $15/month
- Tally , Free, then $29/month
- Zoho Survey , Free
What you would be giving up
LimeSurvey is most often brought in for a university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional servers, a public body procuring survey software under european data protection rules, a market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logic, a team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not support. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If LimeSurvey is broadly right and the question is cost, the LimeSurvey pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Surveys category lists everything the directory holds, and best surveys tools ranks them.
LimeSurvey runs on web, self-hosted. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about LimeSurvey alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to LimeSurvey?
- 20 other surveys tools are listed in this directory, led by Alchemer, Formstack, Cognito Forms, KoboToolbox. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to LimeSurvey?
- 13 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Cognito Forms, KoboToolbox, SurveyCTO, QuestionPro, Sogolytics.
- Is there a reason to switch away from LimeSurvey?
- Nothing in the data flags one. LimeSurvey has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from LimeSurvey?
- LimeSurvey is most often brought in for a university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional servers, a public body procuring survey software under european data protection rules, a market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logic, a team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not support. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to LimeSurvey?
- None of the surveys tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these LimeSurvey alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Surveys, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare LimeSurvey against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against LimeSurvey covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every surveys tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Surveys category, 20 tools beside LimeSurvey. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.