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Employee Engagement · head to head

Qualtrics EmployeeXM vs Umami

Qualtrics EmployeeXM logo

Qualtrics EmployeeXM

Employee Engagement

Turn employee feedback into action

From
On request
Rated
-
Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

Open source, cookie-free web analytics you can self-host for the cost of a database

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Umami has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Qualtrics EmployeeXM pricing is not published for either the People Engage or People Lifecycle products; both require submitting a Request Pricing form to Qualtrics; Umami there is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • They diverge on capability: Qualtrics EmployeeXM covers Engagement surveys, Umami covers Cookie-free tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Qualtrics EmployeeXM and Umami actually diverge.

Attributes where Qualtrics EmployeeXM and Umami differ
AttributeQualtrics EmployeeXMUmami
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotePer month by event count
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiWeb, Linux
CategoryEmployee EngagementMarketing
Founded2002Unknown

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 Qualtrics EmployeeXM

  • Engagement surveys
  • Pulse surveys
  • Lifecycle surveys
  • AI-powered insights
  • Predictive analytics
  • Action planning
  • Manager enablement
  • 360-degree feedback

Only in Umami

  • Cookie-free tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Small tracking script
  • Custom events
  • Funnels and goals
  • Multi-site and teams
  • Public dashboards
  • API access

What people use each for

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

Qualtrics EmployeeXM

  • Organizations wanting employee experience tools priced against their own headcount rather than a flat seat feenot Umami

Umami

  • A developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent bannernot Qualtrics EmployeeXM
  • An organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a US advertising companynot Qualtrics EmployeeXM
  • A high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirelynot Qualtrics EmployeeXM
  • A team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselvesnot Qualtrics EmployeeXM

Where each one falls short

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

Qualtrics EmployeeXM

  • Pricing is not published for either the People Engage or People Lifecycle products; both require submitting a Request Pricing form to Qualtrics
  • Pricing is based on employee count rather than a flat platform fee, so cost scales with organization size

Umami

  • There is no cohort analysis, retention curve, session replay or multi-touch attribution, so a marketing team that needs to justify channel spend will still buy a second tool and Umami becomes a supplementary dashboard.
  • Self-hosting is only free in licence terms; you own the database, the upgrades, the backups and the query performance at scale, and a busy site's events table grows quickly enough to need real attention.
  • Because it stores no persistent identifier, it cannot follow a user across devices or sessions in any meaningful way, which makes returning-visitor and lifetime-value questions unanswerable by design rather than by omission.
  • Cloud overage is billed per event beyond the plan allowance, so a traffic spike or a badly instrumented custom event can produce a bill materially above the $20 or $200 headline before anyone notices.
  • It is maintained by a small team, so the pace of new capability is modest and enterprise expectations such as SSO, granular role permissions and formal support agreements are limited compared with commercial analytics vendors.

Pricing, plan by plan

Qualtrics EmployeeXM

On request
  • Essentials$undefined/month
    • Engagement surveys
    • Pulse surveys
    • Basic analytics
  • Business$undefined/month
    • Everything in Essentials
    • AI insights
    • Predictive analytics
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Everything in Business
    • Custom integrations
    • Advanced security

Umami

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • MIT licensed, no licence fee
    • No event limit imposed by the software
    • Unlimited websites and users
  • Cloud HobbyFree
    • Up to 100,000 events per month
    • 3 websites
    • 6 months data retention
  • Cloud Pro$20/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 events per month
    • Unlimited websites
    • Unlimited team members
  • Cloud Business$200/month
    • Up to 10,000,000 events per month
    • All Pro features
    • Higher volume overage rate

Which should you pick?

Choose Qualtrics EmployeeXM if

  • You need engagement surveys.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want pulse surveys.

Choose Umami if

  • You need cookie-free tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want self-hosting.

Questions people ask

Is Qualtrics EmployeeXM or Umami better?
Neither clearly leads. Qualtrics EmployeeXM starts at On request and Umami at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Qualtrics EmployeeXM or Umami?
Umami has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Qualtrics EmployeeXM and Free for Umami.
Does Qualtrics EmployeeXM or Umami run on more platforms?
Qualtrics EmployeeXM runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Umami runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Umami for free?
Yes. Umami has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qualtrics EmployeeXM starts at On request.
What is Qualtrics EmployeeXM best used for?
Qualtrics EmployeeXM is most often used for organizations wanting employee experience tools priced against their own headcount rather than a flat seat fee. Of those, organizations wanting employee experience tools priced against their own headcount rather than a flat seat fee is not what Umami is typically brought in for.
What can Qualtrics EmployeeXM do that Umami cannot?
Qualtrics EmployeeXM covers Engagement surveys, Pulse surveys, Lifecycle surveys, AI-powered insights. Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Qualtrics EmployeeXM: Does Qualtrics offer a free demo or trial?

Yes, Qualtrics offers a free product tour and demo request option. Prospects can see the platform directly through an on-demand demo or schedule a consultation with the sales team to understand how it works.

Source
Umami: Is Umami really free?

Self-hosted, yes; it is MIT licensed with no event cap. You pay for the server and database. Umami Cloud has a free tier at 100,000 events a month and paid tiers from $20.

Qualtrics EmployeeXM: What does Qualtrics' Employee Experience platform measure?

Qualtrics measures employee experience across the entire lifecycle including candidate experience, onboarding, development, pulse listening, and exit. The platform provides real-time dashboards and analytics to track engagement, predict attrition, and measure the impact of initiatives on business outcomes.

Source
Umami: Do I need a cookie consent banner?

For Umami analytics specifically, generally no, because it sets no cookies and stores no personal data. Other tags on your site may still require one.

Qualtrics EmployeeXM: How does Qualtrics differ from annual engagement surveys?

Qualtrics enables continuous listening with real-time pulse surveys and lifecycle feedback, rather than relying on annual surveys. It automatically analyzes thousands of open-text comments using AI to surface trending themes. Organizations with increased employee listening see up to 25 points higher engagement.

Source
Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

For traffic, referrers and event counts, yes. For attribution modelling, audiences and advertising integration, no.

Umami: What does it need to run?

A container and a PostgreSQL or MySQL database. Most people deploy it on infrastructure they already pay for.

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