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Surveys · head to head

Device Magic vs KoboToolbox

Device Magic logo

Device Magic

Surveys

Offline mobile forms for field crews, quote-only with a three user minimum, now under GoCanvas

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
KoboToolbox logo

KoboToolbox

Surveys

Offline-first data collection for humanitarian, development and research field work

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only KoboToolbox has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Device Magic neither plan publishes a price and both carry a three user minimum billed annually, so a two-person business cannot buy it at all and a small firm cannot benchmark the quote against published competitors; KoboToolbox the free Community plan caps at 5,000 submissions a month and 1 GB of file storage, and any form collecting photographs exhausts storage long before it exhausts the submission count.
  • They diverge on capability: Device Magic covers Fully offline capture, KoboToolbox covers Offline data collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Device Magic and KoboToolbox actually diverge.

Attributes where Device Magic and KoboToolbox differ
AttributeDevice MagicKoboToolbox
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by submission count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, Android, Self-hosted

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

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 Device Magic

  • Fully offline capture
  • Formatted PDF output
  • Destinations
  • Dispatch and scheduling
  • Resource data
  • Conditional logic
  • White labelling

Only in KoboToolbox

  • Offline data collection
  • XLSForm and browser form builder
  • Skip logic and validation
  • Multilingual forms
  • GPS and media capture
  • Case management
  • Exports and analysis
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

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

Device Magic

  • A mechanical contractor whose service certificates must reach the customer as a specific PDF layout immediately after the visitnot KoboToolbox
  • An inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working daynot KoboToolbox
  • A utility that needs the day's jobs dispatched to named engineers with the right form attached to each onenot KoboToolbox
  • A business replacing carbon-copy job sheets where the office currently re-keys every sheet into an accounting systemnot KoboToolbox

KoboToolbox

  • A rapid needs assessment after a disaster where enumerators work for days without mobile coveragenot Device Magic
  • A ministry of health running a national survey that must be self-hosted in country for data protection reasonsnot Device Magic
  • An NGO running the same longitudinal household survey in four languages across three countriesnot Device Magic
  • A research group that needs a free instrument for a modest sample and an SPSS export at the endnot Device Magic

Where each one falls short

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

Device Magic

  • Neither plan publishes a price and both carry a three user minimum billed annually, so a two-person business cannot buy it at all and a small firm cannot benchmark the quote against published competitors
  • Device Magic is now part of GoCanvas, which sells an overlapping mobile forms product, so buyers should ask directly about long-term investment in Device Magic before signing a multi-year term
  • Per user per month pricing means seasonal and occasional field staff consume full seats, and businesses with a large casual crew pay for licences that are used a few weeks a year
  • It captures and delivers data but does not manage the work itself, so there is no job costing, no scheduling depth and no invoicing, and it usually sits alongside a field service management system rather than replacing one
  • PDF layout control is the main reason to buy it and is also the most fiddly part of the product; complex certificate layouts take real configuration effort and are not something a field supervisor will maintain

KoboToolbox

  • The free Community plan caps at 5,000 submissions a month and 1 GB of file storage, and any form collecting photographs exhausts storage long before it exhausts the submission count.
  • The Starter paid plan allows only 1,000 submissions a month for $21, which is fewer than the free nonprofit tier, so a small commercial user pays more for less than a charity gets free.
  • Eligibility for the free plan depends on Kobo's assessment of your organisation and purpose, which introduces an approval step that a consultancy working on behalf of an NGO may not clear.
  • Self-hosting is genuinely possible but the stack is substantial to deploy and maintain, so a ministry choosing it for data residency reasons takes on real infrastructure staffing cost.
  • Analysis and reporting inside the platform are basic compared with dedicated tools, so most serious use exports to Excel, Power BI or statistical software, and that export step is where data governance often gets loose.

Pricing, plan by plan

Device Magic

On request
  • Max$undefined/month
    • Per user per month, billed annually
    • Three user minimum
    • Unlimited forms and submissions
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Per user per month, billed annually
    • Three user minimum
    • Everything in Max

KoboToolbox

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Free for qualifying nonprofit and public good organisations
    • 5,000 submissions per month
    • 1 GB file storage
  • Starter$21/month
    • 1,000 submissions per month
    • 0.5 GB file storage
    • For private and for-profit use
  • Professional$129/month
    • 25,000 submissions per month or 300,000 per year
    • Unlimited file storage
    • Priority support
  • Teams$undefined/month
    • 50,000 submissions per month or 600,000 per year
    • Shared team administration
    • Pricing published by plan tier

Which should you pick?

Choose Device Magic if

  • You need fully offline capture.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want formatted pdf output.
Device Magic review

Choose KoboToolbox if

  • You need offline data collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Android, Self-hosted.
  • You also want xlsform and browser form builder.
KoboToolbox review

Questions people ask

Is Device Magic or KoboToolbox better?
Neither clearly leads. Device Magic starts at On request and KoboToolbox at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Device Magic or KoboToolbox?
KoboToolbox has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Device Magic and Free for KoboToolbox.
Does Device Magic or KoboToolbox run on more platforms?
Device Magic runs on iOS, Android, Web. KoboToolbox runs on Web, Android, Self-hosted.
Can I use KoboToolbox for free?
Yes. KoboToolbox has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Device Magic starts at On request.
What is Device Magic best used for?
Device Magic is most often used for a mechanical contractor whose service certificates must reach the customer as a specific pdf layout immediately after the visit, an inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working day, a utility that needs the day's jobs dispatched to named engineers with the right form attached to each one, a business replacing carbon-copy job sheets where the office currently re-keys every sheet into an accounting system. Of those, a mechanical contractor whose service certificates must reach the customer as a specific pdf layout immediately after the visit and an inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working day are not what KoboToolbox is typically brought in for.
What can Device Magic do that KoboToolbox cannot?
Device Magic covers Fully offline capture, Formatted PDF output, Destinations, Dispatch and scheduling. KoboToolbox covers Offline data collection, XLSForm and browser form builder, Skip logic and validation, Multilingual forms.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Device Magic: What does Device Magic cost?

It does not publish prices. Both the Max and Enterprise plans are per user per month billed annually with a three user minimum, and you get a figure from sales.

KoboToolbox: Is KoboToolbox free?

Free for qualifying nonprofit and public good organisations under the Community plan, currently 5,000 submissions a month and 1 GB of storage. Commercial use requires a paid plan from $21 a month.

Device Magic: Who owns Device Magic?

It is part of GoCanvas, which also sells a competing mobile forms product.

KoboToolbox: Who funds it?

Kobo Inc is a US nonprofit funded roughly 38 per cent by grants and contributions and 62 per cent by service contracts, subscriptions and training, based on its 2024 figures.

Device Magic: Does it work with no signal?

Yes, that is the main use case. Forms and reference data are held on the device and submissions sync when connectivity returns.

KoboToolbox: Can I host it myself?

Yes. The server stack is open source and is regularly deployed in country for data residency reasons.

Device Magic: Is there a submission limit?

No. Both plans list unlimited forms, unlimited submissions and unlimited lifetime data storage, so the cost variable is seats.

KoboToolbox: Are forms portable?

Yes. It uses XLSForm and ODK standards, so instruments move between Kobo and other ODK-compatible servers.

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