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Surveys · head to head

KoboToolbox vs SurveyLegend

KoboToolbox logo

KoboToolbox

Surveys

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SurveyLegend logo

SurveyLegend

Surveys

Swedish survey tool hosted only in Frankfurt, where response limits are counted per survey and export is capped below what you can collect

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; SurveyLegend every paid tier can collect more responses than it can export, with Pro gathering 5,000 per survey but exporting only 1,000 and Business gathering 20,000 but exporting 10,000, so data you have paid to collect can be stranded inside the product.
  • They diverge on capability: KoboToolbox covers Offline data collection, SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which KoboToolbox and SurveyLegend actually diverge.

Attributes where KoboToolbox and SurveyLegend differ
AttributeKoboToolboxSurveyLegend
Pricing modelPer month by submission countPer month by responses per survey
PlatformsWeb, Android, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android

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 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 SurveyLegend

  • Per survey response limits
  • Frankfurt hosting on every plan
  • Image-led question types
  • Live analytics
  • Conditional logic flows
  • REST API and webhooks

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 SurveyLegend
  • A ministry of health running a national survey that must be self-hosted in country for data protection reasonsnot SurveyLegend
  • An NGO running the same longitudinal household survey in four languages across three countriesnot SurveyLegend
  • A research group that needs a free instrument for a modest sample and an SPSS export at the endnot SurveyLegend

SurveyLegend

  • A European organisation that needs survey responses to stay in the EU without paying for an enterprise tier to get itnot KoboToolbox
  • Occasional research where a few surveys each collect a large number of responses, which suits a per-survey quota better than a monthly onenot KoboToolbox
  • Consumer-facing surveys where picture choice and visual scales lift completion rates on phonesnot KoboToolbox
  • Small teams that want a fixed low monthly cost rather than usage-based billingnot 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.

SurveyLegend

  • Every paid tier can collect more responses than it can export, with Pro gathering 5,000 per survey but exporting only 1,000 and Business gathering 20,000 but exporting 10,000, so data you have paid to collect can be stranded inside the product.
  • The free Starter plan cannot export data at all, only preview it in the live analytics, which makes it a demonstration rather than a usable plan and means any real project starts as a paid one.
  • The vendor claims neither SOC 2 nor ISO 27001 nor any third-party audit, and its GDPR page does not disclose hosting location, subprocessors or transfer mechanisms, so an enterprise security review will stall regardless of how good the residency story is.
  • The integration list runs to roughly four connectors with no native Zapier, Make, Slack, Teams, HubSpot or Airtable support, so anything beyond Google Sheets or Mailchimp has to be built against the API, which itself is unavailable below the Business tier.
  • No seat, collaborator or team permission model is documented anywhere in the pricing, features or user guide, so an organisation that needs several people to share and administer surveys has no described way to do it.

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

SurveyLegend

Free
  • StarterFree
    • Free forever
    • 3 surveys, 1,000 responses per survey
    • No data export at all
  • Pro$15/month
    • 170 USD per year billed annually, 19 USD if billed monthly
    • 20 surveys, 5,000 responses per survey
    • Export capped at 1,000 responses per survey
  • Business$25/month
    • 300 USD per year billed annually, 39 USD if billed monthly
    • Unlimited surveys, 20,000 responses per survey
    • Export capped at 10,000 responses per survey
  • Legendary$65/month
    • 780 USD per year billed annually, 89 USD if billed monthly
    • Unlimited surveys, 100,000 responses per survey
    • Unlimited data export

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 SurveyLegend if

  • You need per survey response limits.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want frankfurt hosting on every plan.
SurveyLegend review

Questions people ask

Is KoboToolbox or SurveyLegend better?
Neither clearly leads. KoboToolbox starts at Free and SurveyLegend at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, KoboToolbox or SurveyLegend?
KoboToolbox starts at Free and SurveyLegend at Free.
Does KoboToolbox or SurveyLegend run on more platforms?
KoboToolbox runs on Web, Android, Self-hosted. SurveyLegend runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use KoboToolbox for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 SurveyLegend is typically brought in for.
What can KoboToolbox do that SurveyLegend cannot?
KoboToolbox covers Offline data collection, XLSForm and browser form builder, Skip logic and validation, Multilingual forms. SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits, Frankfurt hosting on every plan, Image-led question types, Live analytics.

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.

SurveyLegend: Where is my data stored?

In Frankfurt, Germany, on DigitalOcean, on every plan including the free one, with backups also held in Frankfurt. There is no United States transfer and no residency upgrade to buy.

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.

SurveyLegend: What is the catch with the free plan?

You cannot export your data. You can build three surveys, collect a thousand responses each and view the analytics, but getting the raw responses out requires a paid plan.

KoboToolbox: Can I host it myself?

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

SurveyLegend: Why does Pro cost 170 USD a year when the page shows 15 USD a month?

The published annual total is 170 USD, which is ten dollars below twelve times the stated monthly-equivalent rate. Both figures are printed on the vendor pricing page.

KoboToolbox: Are forms portable?

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

SurveyLegend: Is it suitable for an enterprise rollout?

Probably not. There is no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification, no documented team or permission model, and support is by email with phone access only on the top tier.

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