Softwr

Surveys · head to head

Fillout vs LimeSurvey

Fillout logo

Fillout

Surveys

Form builder that reads and writes records in Airtable, Notion, HubSpot and Salesforce, with unlimited seats on every plan including the free one

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LimeSurvey logo

LimeSurvey

Surveys

Open source survey software you can self-host, with German-hosted cloud as the alternative

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Fillout the Business plan is marketed with unlimited responses but the fair use policy names thresholds of 30,000 submissions a month, 250,000 in total, 500 forms per account and 50 GB of uploads a month, above which the vendor may limit or suspend features, so unlimited means unmetered rather than uncapped.; LimeSurvey self-hosting shifts patching, backups and PHP upgrades onto your own team, and neglected installations become a security liability holding participant data.
  • They diverge on capability: Fillout covers Unlimited seats and forms, LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fillout and LimeSurvey actually diverge.

Attributes where Fillout and LimeSurvey differ
AttributeFilloutLimeSurvey
Pricing modelPer month by response countOpen source, with paid cloud hosting
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Self-hosted

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Fillout

  • Unlimited seats and forms
  • Database read and write
  • Soft response limits
  • Conditional logic and calculations
  • EU hosting
  • REST API and webhooks

Only in LimeSurvey

  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Question type depth
  • Expression manager
  • Quotas and screening
  • Multilingual surveys
  • Participant management

What people use each for

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

Fillout

  • A team already running on Airtable or Notion that wants forms which update existing records rather than appending new rowsnot LimeSurvey
  • An organisation with many occasional form builders, where per-seat pricing elsewhere would cost more than the forms are worthnot LimeSurvey
  • Replacing a survey tool, a scheduling tool and a payment link with one form that does all threenot LimeSurvey
  • Public forms that must keep collecting through an unexpected traffic spike rather than shutting off at a quotanot LimeSurvey

LimeSurvey

  • A university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional serversnot Fillout
  • A public body procuring survey software under European data protection rulesnot Fillout
  • A market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logicnot Fillout
  • A team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not supportnot Fillout

Where each one falls short

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

Fillout

  • The Business plan is marketed with unlimited responses but the fair use policy names thresholds of 30,000 submissions a month, 250,000 in total, 500 forms per account and 50 GB of uploads a month, above which the vendor may limit or suspend features, so unlimited means unmetered rather than uncapped.
  • EU data residency begins on the Team plan at 250 USD per month, more than three times the Business price, and is not applied automatically; you must upgrade and then raise a support request to be moved.
  • The Team plan is hidden behind a secondary tab that does not render without interaction, so buyers reading the pricing page see Business at 75 USD as the top self-serve tier and only discover the 250 USD step when they ask for single sign-on or EU hosting.
  • The enterprise marketing page lists hosting in the United States, EU, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, but the security documentation and subprocessor list name only the United States and the EU, so three of those five regions should be confirmed in writing before they are relied on.
  • The vendor is SOC 2 Type 2 but claims neither ISO 27001 nor HIPAA anywhere in its documentation, and it is angel-funded with no disclosed institutional round while the parent company now trades as Zite and ships a separate AI application builder.

LimeSurvey

  • Self-hosting shifts patching, backups and PHP upgrades onto your own team, and neglected installations become a security liability holding participant data.
  • The default interface and themes look dated beside Typeform or Jotform, which measurably lowers completion rates on consumer-facing surveys.
  • Cloud plans are capped on responses per period, so an unexpectedly successful field wave can force an upgrade in the middle of data collection.
  • Serious theming and layout changes require template and CSS work rather than a visual designer, so agencies often budget developer time per project.
  • Support on the free edition is community forums only, and paid support is a separate purchase, which is a poor fit for teams with no technical staff.

Pricing, plan by plan

Fillout

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1,000 responses per month
    • Unlimited forms and unlimited seats
    • 20 MB per file upload
  • Starter$15/month
    • 180 USD per year billed annually, a stated 20 percent saving on monthly billing
    • 2,000 responses per month
    • Unlimited forms and seats
  • Pro$40/month
    • 480 USD per year billed annually
    • 5,000 responses per month
    • Branding fully removed at this tier
  • Business$75/month
    • 900 USD per year billed annually
    • Marketed as unlimited responses, subject to a fair use threshold near 30,000 per month
    • 1 GB per file upload

LimeSurvey

Free
  • Community Edition (self-hosted)Free
    • Free under the GNU General Public Licence
    • No response limits imposed by the vendor
    • Hosting, patching, backups and upgrades are your responsibility
  • LimeSurvey Cloud$undefined/year
    • Hosted on servers in Germany
    • Tiered on responses and storage per period rather than per user
    • Higher tiers add branding removal, more storage and support

Which should you pick?

Choose Fillout if

  • You need unlimited seats and forms.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want database read and write.
Fillout review

Choose LimeSurvey if

  • You need self-hosted deployment.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want question type depth.
LimeSurvey review

Questions people ask

Is Fillout or LimeSurvey better?
Neither clearly leads. Fillout starts at Free and LimeSurvey at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fillout or LimeSurvey?
Fillout starts at Free and LimeSurvey at Free.
Does Fillout or LimeSurvey run on more platforms?
Fillout runs on Web, API. LimeSurvey runs on Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use Fillout for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Fillout best used for?
Fillout is most often used for a team already running on airtable or notion that wants forms which update existing records rather than appending new rows, an organisation with many occasional form builders, where per-seat pricing elsewhere would cost more than the forms are worth, replacing a survey tool, a scheduling tool and a payment link with one form that does all three, public forms that must keep collecting through an unexpected traffic spike rather than shutting off at a quota. Of those, a team already running on airtable or notion that wants forms which update existing records rather than appending new rows and an organisation with many occasional form builders, where per-seat pricing elsewhere would cost more than the forms are worth are not what LimeSurvey is typically brought in for.
What can Fillout do that LimeSurvey cannot?
Fillout covers Unlimited seats and forms, Database read and write, Soft response limits, Conditional logic and calculations. LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, Question type depth, Expression manager, Quotas and screening.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fillout: Are seats really unlimited?

Yes. The vendor states there are no per-seat charges on any plan, including Free, and forms are unlimited too. Responses per month is the only meter below the Business tier.

LimeSurvey: Is LimeSurvey really free?

The self-hosted Community Edition is free under the GPL with no vendor response limits. The hosted cloud is paid and tiered by response volume.

Fillout: What happens when I exceed my response quota?

Nothing breaks. Forms keep collecting, and you can upgrade, buy bulk submissions or wait for the monthly reset.

LimeSurvey: Where is cloud data stored?

On servers in Germany, which is why public sector and academic buyers choose it over United States hosted competitors.

Fillout: Can I host respondent data in the EU?

Only from the Team plan at 250 USD per month, and only after contacting support to switch. Note that email and payment subprocessors remain in the United States regardless.

LimeSurvey: Can it handle complex research designs?

Yes. Quotas, randomisation, piping and matrix question types are core features rather than enterprise add-ons.

Fillout: Is the Business plan really unlimited responses?

It is unmetered, not uncapped. The fair use policy names roughly 30,000 submissions a month as the point at which the vendor may intervene, so treat that as the practical ceiling.

Share

Related pages

More on Fillout

More on LimeSurvey

Keep looking

Other head to heads