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Surveys · head to head

LimeSurvey vs SurveyLegend

LimeSurvey logo

LimeSurvey

Surveys

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

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: LimeSurvey self-hosting shifts patching, backups and PHP upgrades onto your own team, and neglected installations become a security liability holding participant data.; 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: LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LimeSurvey and SurveyLegend actually diverge.

Attributes where LimeSurvey and SurveyLegend differ
AttributeLimeSurveySurveyLegend
Pricing modelOpen source, with paid cloud hostingPer month by responses per survey
PlatformsWeb, 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 LimeSurvey

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

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.

LimeSurvey

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

SurveyLegend

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

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

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

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 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

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 LimeSurvey or SurveyLegend better?
Neither clearly leads. LimeSurvey 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, LimeSurvey or SurveyLegend?
LimeSurvey starts at Free and SurveyLegend at Free.
Does LimeSurvey or SurveyLegend run on more platforms?
LimeSurvey runs on Web, Self-hosted. SurveyLegend runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use LimeSurvey for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 SurveyLegend is typically brought in for.
What can LimeSurvey do that SurveyLegend cannot?
LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, Question type depth, Expression manager, Quotas and screening. SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits, Frankfurt hosting on every plan, Image-led question types, Live 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.

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.

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.

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.

LimeSurvey: Can it handle complex research designs?

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

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.

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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