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Marketing · head to head

Plausible vs SurveyCTO

Plausible logo

Plausible

Marketing

Simple, privacy-friendly analytics

From
$9/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
SurveyCTO logo

SurveyCTO

Surveys

Offline field survey platform priced by submissions rather than seats, built for research data quality

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SurveyCTO has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Plausible there is no free tier, only a 30 day trial; SurveyCTO pricing is by submission volume, forms and storage rather than by users, so a small team running continuous high-volume collection can pay more than a 200-person survey team that runs for six weeks
  • They diverge on capability: Plausible covers Page view tracking, SurveyCTO covers Offline collection.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Plausible and SurveyCTO actually diverge.

Attributes where Plausible and SurveyCTO differ
AttributePlausibleSurveyCTO
Starting price$9/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by submission volume
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Android, iOS
CategoryMarketingSurveys
Founded2018Unknown

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 Plausible

  • Page view tracking
  • Goal tracking
  • Real-time analytics
  • Outbound link click tracking
  • Privacy-focused
  • No cookies
  • Cloud deployment
  • Web support

Only in SurveyCTO

  • Offline collection
  • XLSForm authoring
  • Automated quality checks
  • Audio auditing
  • Case management
  • Random assignment
  • Server region selection

What people use each for

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

Plausible

  • Privacy-focused web analytics without cookies or personal datanot SurveyCTO
  • A Google Analytics replacement that needs no consent bannernot SurveyCTO
  • Self-hosted analytics on your own infrastructurenot SurveyCTO
  • EU-hosted measurement for data residency requirementsnot SurveyCTO

SurveyCTO

  • A household survey with 200 enumerators across a country where paying per seat would cost more than the fieldworknot Plausible
  • An impact evaluation that needs audio auditing and timing metadata to prove interviews were conducted as reportednot Plausible
  • A panel study revisiting the same households annually and needing offline case assignment to find them againnot Plausible
  • A statistics unit that must keep data inside a specific region and produce a SOC 2 report for its fundernot Plausible

Where each one falls short

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

Plausible

  • There is no free tier, only a 30 day trial
  • Paid plans are metered on monthly pageviews, so a traffic spike moves you up a plan
  • Self-hosting is possible but means running and updating the service yourself
  • Deliberately simple, so there are no user-level profiles or funnel-by-individual reports the way a cookie-based analytics tool provides

SurveyCTO

  • Pricing is by submission volume, forms and storage rather than by users, so a small team running continuous high-volume collection can pay more than a 200-person survey team that runs for six weeks
  • Forms are authored in XLSForm spreadsheet syntax, which is precise and versionable but has a real learning curve, and organisations without someone comfortable in it stall at form design
  • Overage is charged at 100 US dollars per 1,000 extra submissions, which is easy to trigger on the Basic tier at 5,000 a month and produces surprise invoices during an active field round
  • Server region selection only appears on the Pro tier and a custom GDPR data processing agreement only on Advanced, so European data protection requirements push the price to at least 315 and often 630 dollars a month regardless of volume
  • It is built for structured research fieldwork, not for business process forms, so it has no dispatch, no invoicing and no formatted document output, and a field service business would be buying the wrong tool

Pricing, plan by plan

Plausible

$9/month
  • Starter$9/month
    • Up to 10k monthly pageviews
    • 1 site
    • 3 years data retention
  • Growth$14/month
    • Up to 3 sites
    • Up to 3 team members
  • Business$19/month
    • Up to 10 sites
    • Up to 10 team members
    • 5 years data retention
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • 10+ sites
    • Custom pricing

SurveyCTO

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Permanent free subscription for testing and training
    • 10 forms
    • 200 monthly submissions
  • Basic$225/month
    • Billed annually, 250 USD month to month
    • 100 forms
    • 10 GB storage
  • Pro$315/month
    • Billed annually, 350 USD month to month
    • 500 forms
    • 25 GB storage
  • Advanced$630/month
    • Billed annually, 700 USD month to month
    • Unlimited forms, storage and submissions
    • Advanced offline case management

Which should you pick?

Choose Plausible if

  • You need page view tracking.
  • You also want goal tracking.
Plausible review

Choose SurveyCTO if

  • You need offline collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Android, iOS.
  • You also want xlsform authoring.
SurveyCTO review

Questions people ask

Is Plausible or SurveyCTO better?
Neither clearly leads. Plausible starts at $9/month and SurveyCTO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Plausible or SurveyCTO?
SurveyCTO has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $9/month for Plausible and Free for SurveyCTO.
Does Plausible or SurveyCTO run on more platforms?
Plausible runs on Web. SurveyCTO runs on Web, Android, iOS.
Can I use SurveyCTO for free?
Yes. SurveyCTO has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Plausible starts at $9/month.
What is Plausible best used for?
Plausible is most often used for privacy-focused web analytics without cookies or personal data, a google analytics replacement that needs no consent banner, self-hosted analytics on your own infrastructure, eu-hosted measurement for data residency requirements. Of those, privacy-focused web analytics without cookies or personal data and a google analytics replacement that needs no consent banner are not what SurveyCTO is typically brought in for.
What can Plausible do that SurveyCTO cannot?
Plausible covers Page view tracking, Goal tracking, Real-time analytics, Outbound link click tracking. SurveyCTO covers Offline collection, XLSForm authoring, Automated quality checks, Audio auditing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Plausible: How much does Plausible Analytics cost?

Plausible offers plans starting at $9/month for the Starter tier, $14/month for Growth, and $19/month for Business. Enterprise pricing is custom. All plans include a 30-day free trial without requiring a credit card.

Source
SurveyCTO: Do I pay per enumerator?

No. Users and devices are unlimited on every paid tier. You pay for monthly submissions, forms and storage.

Plausible: Is there a free version of Plausible?

Plausible does not offer a free plan; however, all paid plans include a 30-day free trial with full access to features.

Source
SurveyCTO: Is there a free version?

Yes, a permanent community subscription with 10 forms, 200 monthly submissions and 200 MB of storage, intended for testing and training rather than production.

Plausible: What is the difference between Plausible's pricing tiers?

The Starter plan covers up to 10k monthly pageviews for 1 site. Growth adds up to 3 sites and 3 team members. Business expands to 10 sites, 10 team members, and includes advanced features like API access and 5 years data retention.

Source
SurveyCTO: What happens if I exceed my submissions?

Extra credits are 100 US dollars per 1,000, with discounts of 20 per cent or more at volume. Plan the tier around your peak field month, not your average.

SurveyCTO: Can I choose where the data is stored?

Only on Pro and above. If data residency matters, budget for at least the Pro tier.

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