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Surveys · head to head

KoboToolbox vs Roxhill

KoboToolbox logo

KoboToolbox

Surveys

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Roxhill logo

Roxhill

Marketing

UK-focused journalist database and media monitoring, founder-owned and annual only

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only KoboToolbox has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Roxhill the database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • They diverge on capability: KoboToolbox covers Offline data collection, Roxhill covers Journalist database.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which KoboToolbox and Roxhill actually diverge.

Attributes where KoboToolbox and Roxhill differ
AttributeKoboToolboxRoxhill
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer month by submission countquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Android, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android
CategorySurveysMarketing

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 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

Only in Roxhill

  • Journalist database
  • Journalist profiles
  • Media lists and distribution
  • Media requests and alerts
  • Media monitoring
  • Bespoke newsletters
  • Historical search
  • Journalist Assistant

What people use each for

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

KoboToolbox

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

Roxhill

  • A UK in-house press office that needs journalist contacts with current pitching preferences rather than a scraped byline list.not KoboToolbox
  • An agency tracking forward features across UK trade and consumer titles to place clients into planned coverage months ahead.not KoboToolbox
  • A communications team monitoring named spokespeople and measuring their share of voice against competitors in UK media.not KoboToolbox
  • A UK public sector body procuring through G-Cloud that needs EEA-hosted media monitoring with a published framework price band.not KoboToolbox

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Roxhill

  • The database is UK-centric by reviewers’ own account, with weak US, Australian and broader Asian journalist coverage, so any multi-market programme needs a second vendor and the single-vendor cost case disappears.
  • Contact records go stale: reviewers report old email addresses and phone numbers, distribution bounces, and there is no self-serve verification step before you send.
  • At roughly 200,000 to 300,000 journalists it is far smaller than the million-plus figures Cision and Prowly claim, with repeated complaints about thin trade, academic and journal coverage.
  • Selling is annual only with no monthly plan and a trial functionally restricted to around two weeks, so you cannot genuinely pilot before a twelve-month commitment, which is a poor fit for project or retainer agency work.
  • Licence bands are 1, 3 and 5 seats, and extra logins, workspaces, smart folders, historical search, share of voice and the spokespeople platform are all chargeable add-ons, so a team of eight to fifteen pays well above any headline band.
  • Search behaviour is described as counter-intuitive and sometimes returns implausibly few results, which means a null result cannot be trusted and lists need manual cross-checking.
  • Monitoring accuracy takes time to settle after switching, so coverage is missed in the first weeks after a cutover, which is a real gap risk if you time the migration badly.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Roxhill

On request
  • Core$undefined/year
    • 1 licence
    • Standard database access
    • Journalist Assistant
  • Boutique$undefined/year
    • 3 licences
    • Adds press release distribution
    • 3 workspaces, 6 smart folders, 10 spokespeople, 3 newsletters
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • 5 licences
    • 5 workspaces, 10 smart folders, 5 newsletters
    • Spokespeople platform
  • Premium$undefined/year
    • Everything in Enterprise
    • Insights analysis and bespoke reporting
    • Competitor share of voice

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Roxhill if

  • You need journalist database.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want journalist profiles.
Roxhill review

Questions people ask

Is KoboToolbox or Roxhill better?
Neither clearly leads. KoboToolbox starts at Free and Roxhill at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, KoboToolbox or Roxhill?
KoboToolbox has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for KoboToolbox and On request for Roxhill.
Does KoboToolbox or Roxhill run on more platforms?
KoboToolbox runs on Web, Android, Self-hosted. Roxhill runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use KoboToolbox for free?
Yes. KoboToolbox has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Roxhill starts at On request.
What is KoboToolbox best used for?
KoboToolbox is most often used for a rapid needs assessment after a disaster where enumerators work for days without mobile coverage, a ministry of health running a national survey that must be self-hosted in country for data protection reasons, an ngo running the same longitudinal household survey in four languages across three countries, a research group that needs a free instrument for a modest sample and an spss export at the end. Of those, a rapid needs assessment after a disaster where enumerators work for days without mobile coverage and a ministry of health running a national survey that must be self-hosted in country for data protection reasons are not what Roxhill is typically brought in for.
What can KoboToolbox do that Roxhill cannot?
KoboToolbox covers Offline data collection, XLSForm and browser form builder, Skip logic and validation, Multilingual forms. Roxhill covers Journalist database, Journalist profiles, Media lists and distribution, Media requests and alerts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Roxhill: How much does Roxhill cost?

Not published on the vendor site, but the UK G-Cloud 14 listing discloses £6,450 to £25,000 per instance per year. Use that as your anchor.

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.

Roxhill: Is Roxhill owned by Cision or Access Intelligence?

No. Companies House shows a single individual holding over 75% of shares and no corporate PSC. It is founder-controlled and unfunded. Note the founder previously sold Gorkana to Cision, so ask for a change-of-control clause.

KoboToolbox: Can I host it myself?

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

Roxhill: Is it usable for US or APAC media relations?

Not well. Reviewers describe US, Australian and Asian coverage as materially weaker than UK. Budget for a second database.

KoboToolbox: Are forms portable?

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

Roxhill: Can I buy monthly?

No. Contracts are annual, sales-gated, with a trial of around two weeks.

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