Surveys · head to head
LimeSurvey vs Medallia
LimeSurvey
Surveys
Open source survey software you can self-host, with German-hosted cloud as the alternative
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Medallia
Surveys
Enterprise experience management platform for customer, employee and contact centre feedback
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only LimeSurvey has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: LimeSurvey self-hosting shifts patching, backups and PHP upgrades onto your own team, and neglected installations become a security liability holding participant data.; Medallia there is no published pricing and no self-serve tier, so evaluating cost requires a sales process before any real budgeting can happen.
- They diverge on capability: LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, Medallia covers Multi-channel feedback capture.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which LimeSurvey and Medallia actually diverge.
| Attribute | LimeSurvey | Medallia |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | Open source, with paid cloud hosting | quote |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, Self-hosted | Web, iOS, Android |
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 LimeSurvey
- Self-hosted deployment
- Question type depth
- Expression manager
- Quotas and screening
- Multilingual surveys
- Participant management
Only in Medallia
- Multi-channel feedback capture
- AI text and sentiment analysis
- Role-based reporting
- Contact centre analytics
- Experience orchestration
- Market research tools
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
LimeSurvey
- A university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional serversnot Medallia
- A public body procuring survey software under European data protection rulesnot Medallia
- A market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logicnot Medallia
- A team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not supportnot Medallia
Medallia
- A retail or hospitality chain that wants customer feedback, digital behaviour and call transcripts unified in one platformnot LimeSurvey
- An enterprise with a dedicated CX team needing role-based dashboards from frontline staff to the executive teamnot LimeSurvey
- A contact centre wanting agent coaching and quality management driven by the same data as customer satisfaction scoresnot LimeSurvey
- A company running employee and customer experience programmes and wanting one vendor across bothnot LimeSurvey
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
Medallia
- There is no published pricing and no self-serve tier, so evaluating cost requires a sales process before any real budgeting can happen.
- Implementation is a project, not a signup, and typically involves data integration and consulting work before the platform produces usable dashboards.
- The breadth of modules means a buyer who only needs a simple survey tool is paying for enterprise infrastructure they will not use.
- Switching away later means re-architecting how feedback is collected across the organisation, which creates real vendor lock-in once rolled out.
- Smaller teams and mid-market companies are effectively priced out, since the platform and its go-to-market are built for large enterprise accounts.
Pricing, plan by plan
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$undefined/year
- Hosted on servers in Germany
- Tiered on responses and storage per period rather than per user
- Higher tiers add branding removal, more storage and support
Medallia
On request- Medallia Experience Cloud$undefined/year
- No published pricing, sold as a multi-year enterprise contract
- Pricing depends on modules (CX, EX, contact centre, market research)
- Implementation and integration typically charged separately
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Medallia if
- You need multi-channel feedback capture.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want ai text and sentiment analysis.
Questions people ask
- Is LimeSurvey or Medallia better?
- Neither clearly leads. LimeSurvey starts at Free and Medallia at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, LimeSurvey or Medallia?
- LimeSurvey has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for LimeSurvey and On request for Medallia.
- Does LimeSurvey or Medallia run on more platforms?
- LimeSurvey runs on Web, Self-hosted. Medallia runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use LimeSurvey for free?
- Yes. LimeSurvey has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Medallia starts at On request.
- What is LimeSurvey best used for?
- LimeSurvey is most often used for a university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional servers, a public body procuring survey software under european data protection rules, a market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logic, a team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not support. Of those, a university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional servers and a public body procuring survey software under european data protection rules are not what Medallia is typically brought in for.
- What can LimeSurvey do that Medallia cannot?
- LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, Question type depth, Expression manager, Quotas and screening. Medallia covers Multi-channel feedback capture, AI text and sentiment analysis, Role-based reporting, Contact centre analytics.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
Medallia: Is there a self-serve or free version?
No. Medallia sells only through direct sales with quoted enterprise contracts; there is no published price list.
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.
Medallia: Can a mid-sized company buy Medallia?
Technically yes, but the sales motion, implementation cost and contract structure are built for large enterprise deployments, not smaller teams.
LimeSurvey: Can it handle complex research designs?
Yes. Quotas, randomisation, piping and matrix question types are core features rather than enterprise add-ons.
Medallia: Does it replace a standalone survey tool?
It can collect surveys, but its value is in unifying multiple feedback channels; a company only needing surveys is better served by a cheaper dedicated tool.
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