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Nonprofits · head to head

CommCare vs ArcGIS Survey123

CommCare logo

CommCare

Nonprofits

Offline-first case management and mobile data collection for frontline health and development programmes

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ArcGIS Survey123 logo

ArcGIS Survey123

Maps

Form-centric field data collection that writes straight into an ArcGIS organisation

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CommCare pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.; ArcGIS Survey123 the app is free and the licensing is not: every person completing a secure survey needs a paid ArcGIS user type, so a hundred-person field programme costs tens of thousands a year before anyone counts credits.
  • They diverge on capability: CommCare covers Case management, ArcGIS Survey123 covers XLSForm authoring.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CommCare and ArcGIS Survey123 actually diverge.

Attributes where CommCare and ArcGIS Survey123 differ
AttributeCommCareArcGIS Survey123
Starting price$100/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by mobile user countPer user per year by ArcGIS user type
PlatformsAndroid, WebWeb, iOS, Android, Windows
CategoryNonprofitsMaps

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 CommCare

  • Case management
  • Offline-first mobile app
  • App builder
  • Multi-language support
  • Two-way SMS
  • Report builder
  • API access
  • BI integration

Only in ArcGIS Survey123

  • XLSForm authoring
  • Web designer
  • Offline collection
  • Direct ArcGIS write
  • Repeats and nested records
  • Media and signature capture
  • Webhooks and integration
  • Reports

What people use each for

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

CommCare

  • A community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot representnot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasonsnot ArcGIS Survey123
  • An NGO running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reportingnot ArcGIS Survey123
  • A research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirementnot ArcGIS Survey123

ArcGIS Survey123

  • A water utility recording hydrant inspections that must appear on the corporate asset map the moment they are submitted, not after a nightly importnot CommCare
  • A local authority running a public consultation where anyone can submit without a licence, while staff review responses in an ArcGIS dashboardnot CommCare
  • An environmental monitoring programme with complex conditional forms authored in XLSForm and completed offline in areas with no signalnot CommCare
  • A field crew already licensed for ArcGIS Field Maps that needs structured forms alongside map-based editing without adding another vendornot CommCare

Where each one falls short

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

CommCare

  • Pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.
  • The subscription is the small number; application design, device procurement, worker training and supervision dominate the real cost, and grant budgets that fund only the licence stall at deployment.
  • Grant funding cycles and subscription renewals rarely align, so programmes routinely face a year-four cliff where the software is embedded in a workflow and the money that paid for it has ended.
  • It is Android-only on the device side, which is usually right for the target markets but blocks iOS-issued staff and makes the platform a poor fit for programmes in higher-income settings.
  • The open source option is real but effectively theoretical: self-hosting CommCare HQ requires substantial engineering, so the licence being free does not translate into an escape from the subscription.

ArcGIS Survey123

  • The app is free and the licensing is not: every person completing a secure survey needs a paid ArcGIS user type, so a hundred-person field programme costs tens of thousands a year before anyone counts credits.
  • Esri does not publish user type prices on its main pricing pages, so buyers reconstruct the cost from marketplace listings or a sales conversation, which makes budgeting an ArcGIS rollout unnecessarily opaque.
  • Credits are consumed by geocoding, storage and some analysis, and a data collection programme that generates heavy attachment volumes can burn through the bundled allowance and trigger a mid-year top-up.
  • It is useless without ArcGIS. There is no standalone deployment, so the decision to use Survey123 is really a decision to buy or keep an ArcGIS estate.
  • Form authoring splits between a web designer that is easy but limited and XLSForm plus Survey123 Connect that is capable but requires learning a spreadsheet syntax, and teams routinely start in the wrong one and rebuild.

Pricing, plan by plan

CommCare

$100/month
  • Standard$100/month
    • 50 mobile users included
    • $2 per additional mobile user per month
    • Unlimited free web users
  • Pro$500/month
    • 250 mobile users included
    • Case sharing and child cases
    • Web report builder
  • Advanced$1000/month
    • 500 mobile users included
    • Power BI and Tableau integration
    • Web applications
  • Enterprise$4000/month
    • Custom mobile user count
    • Single sign-on
    • Named account management

ArcGIS Survey123

On request
  • Survey123 appFree
    • No separate charge for the app itself
    • Requires an ArcGIS Online or Enterprise organisation
    • Public surveys can be completed without a licence
  • Creator user type$undefined/year
    • Required to author and publish surveys
    • Foundational user type, can administer the organisation
    • Includes an annual credit allowance
  • Mobile Worker user type$undefined/year
    • Required for each person completing a secure survey
    • Dependent user type, must be added to an organisation with a foundational licence
    • Public marketplace listings have shown around $400 per year

Which should you pick?

Choose CommCare if

  • You need case management.
  • You work on Android, Web.
  • You also want offline-first mobile app.
CommCare review

Choose ArcGIS Survey123 if

  • You need xlsform authoring.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
  • You also want web designer.
ArcGIS Survey123 review

Questions people ask

Is CommCare or ArcGIS Survey123 better?
Neither clearly leads. CommCare starts at $100/month and ArcGIS Survey123 at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CommCare or ArcGIS Survey123?
CommCare starts at $100/month and ArcGIS Survey123 at On request.
Does CommCare or ArcGIS Survey123 run on more platforms?
CommCare runs on Android, Web. ArcGIS Survey123 runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows.
What is CommCare best used for?
CommCare is most often used for a community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot represent, a ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasons, an ngo running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reporting, a research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirement. Of those, a community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot represent and a ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasons are not what ArcGIS Survey123 is typically brought in for.
What can CommCare do that ArcGIS Survey123 cannot?
CommCare covers Case management, Offline-first mobile app, App builder, Multi-language support. ArcGIS Survey123 covers XLSForm authoring, Web designer, Offline collection, Direct ArcGIS write.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CommCare: How much does CommCare cost?

Standard is $100 a month for 50 mobile users, Pro $500 for 250, Advanced $1,000 for 500 and Enterprise from $4,000. Extra mobile users are $2 each per month; web users are unlimited and free.

ArcGIS Survey123: Is Survey123 free?

The app is. Using it is not, unless your surveys are public. Authoring needs a Creator licence and each person completing a secure survey needs a Mobile Worker, Editor, Creator or GIS Professional user type.

CommCare: Is CommCare open source?

Yes, CommCare HQ is open source, but self-hosting requires serious engineering capacity. Nearly all users take the hosted service.

ArcGIS Survey123: How much are the user types?

Esri does not list them on its main pricing pages. Public marketplace listings have shown roughly $700 a year for Creator and $400 for Mobile Worker; confirm with Esri or a distributor for your region.

CommCare: Where is our data stored?

You choose United States, European Union or India hosting, which is what makes it acceptable to ministries with data residency rules.

ArcGIS Survey123: Can respondents fill in a survey without a licence?

Yes, if the survey is shared publicly. Secure surveys require a licensed user type.

CommCare: Who funds CommCare?

Dimagi is a for-profit B Corporation funded by customer subscriptions and services. Individual deployments are usually funded by donors such as USAID successors, the Gates Foundation or national health budgets.

ArcGIS Survey123: Does it work offline?

Yes, in the mobile app, with sync when connectivity returns.

CommCare: Does it do case management or just forms?

Case management. Workers hold a caseload of individuals or households and see history and due actions, which is the main reason to choose it over a form tool.

ArcGIS Survey123: Is it the same as ArcGIS Field Maps?

No. Field Maps is map-centric editing; Survey123 is form-centric. Many organisations license both, which doubles nothing because user types cover the whole app suite.

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