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Marketing · head to head

Umami vs Zoho Survey

Umami logo

Umami

Marketing

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Survey logo

Zoho Survey

Surveys

Survey tool with a choice of data centre region, bundled into the wider Zoho suite

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Zoho Survey the data centre region is set when the Zoho account is created and changing it later requires a vendor-assisted migration, so a hasty signup can lock an organisation into the wrong jurisdiction.
  • They diverge on capability: Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Zoho Survey covers Regional data centres.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Umami and Zoho Survey actually diverge.

Attributes where Umami and Zoho Survey differ
AttributeUmamiZoho Survey
Pricing modelPer month by event countFree tier, then per user per month
PlatformsWeb, LinuxWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryMarketingSurveys

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Umami

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

Only in Zoho Survey

  • Regional data centres
  • Zoho CRM integration
  • Logic and piping
  • Offline collection
  • Multilingual surveys
  • Report sharing

What people use each for

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

Umami

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

Zoho Survey

  • An organisation already running Zoho CRM that wants survey responses on the customer record without integration worknot Umami
  • A buyer whose procurement requires European, Indian, Australian or Canadian data residencynot Umami
  • A support team measuring satisfaction after tickets close in Zoho Desknot Umami
  • A field team collecting responses offline and syncing when connectivity returnsnot Umami

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Zoho Survey

  • The data centre region is set when the Zoho account is created and changing it later requires a vendor-assisted migration, so a hasty signup can lock an organisation into the wrong jurisdiction.
  • The free tier caps both questions and responses per survey tightly, so it functions as an evaluation rather than a plan any team can run on.
  • Reporting and statistical analysis are thin compared with research-grade tools, and advanced methods such as conjoint or maximum difference scaling are absent.
  • Integrations outside the Zoho suite are shallow, so organisations on Salesforce, HubSpot or Microsoft stacks lose most of the value that makes the product attractive.
  • Interface conventions and quality vary across Zoho applications, so users moving between Survey, CRM and Analytics face inconsistent behaviour and separate learning curves.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Zoho Survey

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited surveys with a cap on questions and responses per survey
    • Basic reporting and link or email distribution
    • Zoho branding on surveys
  • Paid tiers$undefined/year
    • Priced per user with higher response allowances at each tier
    • Skip logic, piping, white labelling and offline collection unlocked by tier
    • Included for organisations licensing the Zoho One suite

Which should you pick?

Choose Umami if

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

Choose Zoho Survey if

  • You need regional data centres.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want zoho crm integration.
Zoho Survey review

Questions people ask

Is Umami or Zoho Survey better?
Neither clearly leads. Umami starts at Free and Zoho Survey at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Umami or Zoho Survey?
Umami starts at Free and Zoho Survey at Free.
Does Umami or Zoho Survey run on more platforms?
Umami runs on Web, Linux. Zoho Survey runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Umami for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Umami best used for?
Umami is most often used for a developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent banner, an organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a us advertising company, a high-traffic site where hosted analytics priced by pageview band has become expensive and self-hosting removes the ceiling entirely, a team that wants analytics data in a database they already control so they can query and join it themselves. Of those, a developer who wants traffic numbers on a personal or client site without adding a consent banner and an organisation whose legal or procurement team has ruled out sending visitor data to a us advertising company are not what Zoho Survey is typically brought in for.
What can Umami do that Zoho Survey cannot?
Umami covers Cookie-free tracking, Self-hosting, Small tracking script, Custom events. Zoho Survey covers Regional data centres, Zoho CRM integration, Logic and piping, Offline collection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Zoho Survey: Can I choose where my survey data is stored?

Yes, at account creation across several regions including Europe, India, Australia and Canada. Changing it afterwards requires a migration request to Zoho.

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.

Zoho Survey: Is it included in Zoho One?

Yes. If your organisation licences Zoho One, Survey is part of the suite, which usually removes the case for a separate survey subscription.

Umami: Can it replace Google Analytics?

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

Zoho Survey: Is it good enough for market research?

For basic questionnaires yes. For quota-managed or statistically demanding studies, a research-grade platform is a better fit.

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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