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Marketing · head to head

CleverTap vs SurveyCTO

CleverTap logo

CleverTap

Marketing

Mobile-first engagement and retention analytics billed on monthly active users

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
SurveyCTO logo

SurveyCTO

Surveys

Offline field survey platform priced by submissions rather than seats, built for research data quality

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SurveyCTO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CleverTap the platform assumes the mobile app is the main surface, so teams whose lifecycle runs mostly through the browser or through long B2B email sequences pay for capability they will not use.; SurveyCTO pricing is by submission volume, forms and storage rather than by users, so a small team running continuous high-volume collection can pay more than a 200-person survey team that runs for six weeks
  • They diverge on capability: CleverTap covers Cross-channel journeys, SurveyCTO covers Offline collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CleverTap and SurveyCTO actually diverge.

Attributes where CleverTap and SurveyCTO differ
AttributeCleverTapSurveyCTO
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by submission volume
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, REST APIWeb, Android, iOS
CategoryMarketingSurveys

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CleverTap

  • Cross-channel journeys
  • Product analytics
  • TesseractDB
  • Clever.AI
  • Experiments
  • Web and app personalisation

Only in SurveyCTO

  • Offline collection
  • XLSForm authoring
  • Automated quality checks
  • Audio auditing
  • Case management
  • Random assignment
  • Server region selection

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CleverTap

  • A consumer app with millions of installs but low monthly activity that does not want to pay for dormant profilesnot SurveyCTO
  • Reactivating lapsed users with push and WhatsApp sequences triggered by behaviour rather than by list membershipnot SurveyCTO
  • Running holdout tests to prove that lifecycle messaging causes retention rather than correlating with itnot SurveyCTO
  • Consolidating a separate analytics tool and a separate messaging tool into a single event pipelinenot SurveyCTO

SurveyCTO

  • A household survey with 200 enumerators across a country where paying per seat would cost more than the fieldworknot CleverTap
  • An impact evaluation that needs audio auditing and timing metadata to prove interviews were conducted as reportednot CleverTap
  • A panel study revisiting the same households annually and needing offline case assignment to find them againnot CleverTap
  • A statistics unit that must keep data inside a specific region and produce a SOC 2 report for its fundernot CleverTap

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CleverTap

  • The platform assumes the mobile app is the main surface, so teams whose lifecycle runs mostly through the browser or through long B2B email sequences pay for capability they will not use.
  • Billing on monthly active users is cheaper for dormant-heavy bases but more expensive for products with high activity rates, and the definition of an active user is set in the contract rather than by you.
  • Event volume caps sit alongside the user caps, so a chatty instrumentation plan can trigger overage charges that are negotiated rather than published.
  • Deliverability support for email is thinner than at dedicated email providers, and teams sending high email volumes often keep a separate ESP for the largest campaigns.
  • Segmentation quality depends entirely on the event taxonomy, so without an owner who governs event naming the reports and segments diverge from reality within a couple of releases.

SurveyCTO

  • Pricing is by submission volume, forms and storage rather than by users, so a small team running continuous high-volume collection can pay more than a 200-person survey team that runs for six weeks
  • Forms are authored in XLSForm spreadsheet syntax, which is precise and versionable but has a real learning curve, and organisations without someone comfortable in it stall at form design
  • Overage is charged at 100 US dollars per 1,000 extra submissions, which is easy to trigger on the Basic tier at 5,000 a month and produces surprise invoices during an active field round
  • Server region selection only appears on the Pro tier and a custom GDPR data processing agreement only on Advanced, so European data protection requirements push the price to at least 315 and often 630 dollars a month regardless of volume
  • It is built for structured research fieldwork, not for business process forms, so it has no dispatch, no invoicing and no formatted document output, and a field service business would be buying the wrong tool

Pricing, plan by plan

CleverTap

On request
  • Essentials$undefined/year
    • Billed on monthly active users rather than stored profiles
    • Push, in-app and web messaging
    • Standard segmentation and analytics
  • Advanced$undefined/year
    • Adds email, SMS and WhatsApp channels
    • Journey orchestration and experiments
    • Higher event and MAU allowances
  • Cutting Edge$undefined/year
    • Full AI and personalisation modules
    • Extended data retention
    • Dedicated technical account management

SurveyCTO

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Permanent free subscription for testing and training
    • 10 forms
    • 200 monthly submissions
  • Basic$225/month
    • Billed annually, 250 USD month to month
    • 100 forms
    • 10 GB storage
  • Pro$315/month
    • Billed annually, 350 USD month to month
    • 500 forms
    • 25 GB storage
  • Advanced$630/month
    • Billed annually, 700 USD month to month
    • Unlimited forms, storage and submissions
    • Advanced offline case management

Which should you pick?

Choose CleverTap if

  • You need cross-channel journeys.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, REST API.
  • You also want product analytics.
CleverTap review

Choose SurveyCTO if

  • You need offline collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Android, iOS.
  • You also want xlsform authoring.
SurveyCTO review

Questions people ask

Is CleverTap or SurveyCTO better?
Neither clearly leads. CleverTap starts at On request and SurveyCTO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CleverTap or SurveyCTO?
SurveyCTO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for CleverTap and Free for SurveyCTO.
Does CleverTap or SurveyCTO run on more platforms?
CleverTap runs on Web, iOS, Android, REST API. SurveyCTO runs on Web, Android, iOS.
Can I use SurveyCTO for free?
Yes. SurveyCTO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CleverTap starts at On request.
What is CleverTap best used for?
CleverTap is most often used for a consumer app with millions of installs but low monthly activity that does not want to pay for dormant profiles, reactivating lapsed users with push and whatsapp sequences triggered by behaviour rather than by list membership, running holdout tests to prove that lifecycle messaging causes retention rather than correlating with it, consolidating a separate analytics tool and a separate messaging tool into a single event pipeline. Of those, a consumer app with millions of installs but low monthly activity that does not want to pay for dormant profiles and reactivating lapsed users with push and whatsapp sequences triggered by behaviour rather than by list membership are not what SurveyCTO is typically brought in for.
What can CleverTap do that SurveyCTO cannot?
CleverTap covers Cross-channel journeys, Product analytics, TesseractDB, Clever.AI. SurveyCTO covers Offline collection, XLSForm authoring, Automated quality checks, Audio auditing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CleverTap: Does CleverTap charge for users who stopped opening the app?

No. Billing is on monthly active users, so a dormant account stops counting without you deleting anything, which is the opposite of contact-based email pricing.

SurveyCTO: Do I pay per enumerator?

No. Users and devices are unlimited on every paid tier. You pay for monthly submissions, forms and storage.

CleverTap: Can it replace a product analytics tool?

For funnels, cohorts and retention it usually can. For exploratory analysis across many custom properties, teams tend to keep a warehouse copy and query it directly.

SurveyCTO: Is there a free version?

Yes, a permanent community subscription with 10 forms, 200 monthly submissions and 200 MB of storage, intended for testing and training rather than production.

CleverTap: What happened to Leanplum customers?

CleverTap acquired Leanplum in 2022 and migrated customers onto its own platform, so Leanplum contracts are not a live option.

SurveyCTO: What happens if I exceed my submissions?

Extra credits are 100 US dollars per 1,000, with discounts of 20 per cent or more at volume. Plan the tier around your peak field month, not your average.

SurveyCTO: Can I choose where the data is stored?

Only on Pro and above. If data residency matters, budget for at least the Pro tier.

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