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Surveys · head to head

SurveyCTO vs SurveyLegend

SurveyCTO logo

SurveyCTO

Surveys

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

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: 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; 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: SurveyCTO covers Offline 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 SurveyCTO and SurveyLegend actually diverge.

Attributes where SurveyCTO and SurveyLegend differ
AttributeSurveyCTOSurveyLegend
Pricing modelPer month by submission volumePer month by responses per survey
PlatformsWeb, Android, iOSWeb, 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 SurveyCTO

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

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.

SurveyCTO

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

SurveyLegend

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

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

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

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 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

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 SurveyCTO or SurveyLegend better?
Neither clearly leads. SurveyCTO 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, SurveyCTO or SurveyLegend?
SurveyCTO starts at Free and SurveyLegend at Free.
Does SurveyCTO or SurveyLegend run on more platforms?
SurveyCTO runs on Web, Android, iOS. SurveyLegend runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use SurveyCTO for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is SurveyCTO best used for?
SurveyCTO is most often used for a household survey with 200 enumerators across a country where paying per seat would cost more than the fieldwork, an impact evaluation that needs audio auditing and timing metadata to prove interviews were conducted as reported, a panel study revisiting the same households annually and needing offline case assignment to find them again, a statistics unit that must keep data inside a specific region and produce a soc 2 report for its funder. Of those, a household survey with 200 enumerators across a country where paying per seat would cost more than the fieldwork and an impact evaluation that needs audio auditing and timing metadata to prove interviews were conducted as reported are not what SurveyLegend is typically brought in for.
What can SurveyCTO do that SurveyLegend cannot?
SurveyCTO covers Offline collection, XLSForm authoring, Automated quality checks, Audio auditing. SurveyLegend covers Per survey response limits, Frankfurt hosting on every plan, Image-led question types, Live analytics.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SurveyCTO: Do I pay per enumerator?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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