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Survey Monkey has earned quite a name for itself in the digital marketing space for a lot of good reasons. For one, it's easy to use, even for people with minimal tech experience. Plus, it's incredibly flexible, thanks to its customization options.
However, despite its reputation as one of the best platforms for online surveys, SurveyMonkey may not be the best tool for every business. So, what other options are there?
In this guide, we'll go over the best features of SurveyMonkey, its limitations, and the best alternatives that might fit your needs a little bit better.
Survey Monkey is a cloud-based survey platform that makes it easy to create, distribute, and analyze surveys. It’s very straightforward, so whether you're a pro at this or just starting out, you’ll get the hang of it quickly.
You can choose from many question types, such as multiple-choice, drop-down, or even open-ended questions, to ensure you’re asking exactly what you need to.
The platform comes packed with pre-made templates for all kinds of functions—whether you're looking to figure out if your customers are happy, what your employees are thinking, or how a new product might do in the market. This makes setting up a survey pretty quick and painless.
Aside from data collection, this platform also has several comprehensive tools to help you make sense of the answers you get back. You can watch the results roll in as they happen, analyze the data with different reports, and see everything laid out in easy-to-understand charts.
Plus, if you need to work with the data in another program, you can export it without a fuss.
We've already laid out the central features of Survey Monkey, but what exactly makes it one of the best choices for data collection and market research? Here are several reasons why you might pick Survey Monkey:
It’s straightforward to set up and run surveys on Survey Monkey, which means you don’t have to be a tech expert to get things going. The platform is designed to be user-friendly, so you can start collecting data immediately.
You get a lot of room to play around with different types of questions and formats. Whether you need simple yes/no questions or something more complex, Survey Monkey lets you customize your surveys to fit exactly what you’re studying.
If you’re not sure where to start, Survey Monkey has a bunch of pre-built templates tailored for different scenarios, like checking in on customer satisfaction or getting feedback from your team.
As responses roll in, Survey Monkey provides some neat tools to help you sift through the data. You can pull up reports, dig into graphs, and make sense of the feedback with ease, which is great for spotting trends and making decisions.
It’s a breeze to integrate Survey Monkey with other software you might be using, which helps simplify your workflow and keeps everything running smoothly.
No matter the size of your survey or the audience, Survey Monkey can handle it. This scalability is perfect whether you’re doing a quick poll or a detailed survey across thousands of participants.
The surveys you create will look and work great on any device, which is important since a lot of people will fill them out on their phones. This helps in getting more responses and more accurate data.
There's no denying that Survey Monkey is a great platform for collecting and analyzing survey data. However, there are several reasons why you might go with an alternative to SurveyMonkey:
While there's a free version, it's pretty basic. The more advanced features are locked behind a paywall, and these subscriptions can add up, especially for small businesses or individuals on a tight budget. The standard monthly plan is $99 per month.
While you can tweak your surveys quite a bit, there's a ceiling to how much you can customize. If you have very specific branding or complex survey design needs, you might find the options a bit restrictive.
Despite its user-friendly reputation, Survey Monkey can be overwhelming if you dive deep. The sheer number of features and settings might take some time to learn, particularly if you want to use more advanced functionalities.
While Survey Monkey offers solid data analysis capabilities, the depth and breadth of these tools might not satisfy advanced users or those with specialized needs. Particularly, it might lack the more sophisticated statistical tools that some researchers require.
Once your survey is out there, there’s not much you can do to increase response rates directly through the platform. You’re pretty much on your own to find ways to encourage more responses, which can be a challenge.
While there are some integration capabilities, they might not cover all the tools you use. Depending on your tech stack, you could find yourself needing more seamless integration options than what’s available.
So, what are your other options for survey software? Here are some standout SurveyMonkey alternatives you might find more appealing for your business:
First up is FullSession, a comprehensive web analytics tool that aims to help you understand customer feedback, behaviors, journeys, and more. In terms of surveys, FullSession is a top pick because it does more than just gather survey responses.
This platform gives you a deeper look into how people interact with your site or product in real-time. This means you’re not just collecting feedback; you’re also seeing how users behave, which can help you tweak things to make their experience better.
QuestionPro is the top pick for creating and running multilingual surveys. It supports over 30 languages, which is great if you're aiming to connect with folks across the globe in their own language. This helps cut down on misunderstandings and increases the chances of getting more responses.
Aside from its knack for languages, QuestionPro is also packed with solid features for gathering customer feedback and other types of data. It offers many different question categories, detailed analytics, and customizable templates, which make it a handy tool for just about any survey project you've got in mind.
Qualtrics XM is a standout choice for researching user experience because it's specifically designed with powerful tools to dig deep into how users interact with products and services.
It doesn't stop at collecting responses; Qualtrics goes further by allowing users to analyze and interpret this data to improve user satisfaction comprehensively.
These features make Qualtrics ideal for businesses focused on refining their user experience, from websites to mobile apps and beyond.
Typeform can help businesses upgrade their user engagement through surveys due to its visually appealing and interactive design. The platform is known for its sleek, minimalist interface that makes surveys feel less like a chore and more like a conversation.
Its unique approach helps to keep respondents interested and engaged, which can lead to higher completion rates and more reliable data.
ProProfs Survey Maker is an excellent tool for collecting customer feedback, thanks to its clear and direct approach. It's built to help businesses roll out surveys quickly and easily, which makes sure they're user-friendly while still effectively snagging all those crucial customer insights and opinions.
Plus, the tool's scalable pricing can be a benefit for small businesses that don't need a huge amount of responses yet.
LimeSurvey is great for when you need a survey tool that goes the extra mile in customization. It’s perfect for any project that demands more than just the usual questions, like in-depth research or specialized feedback gathering.
With LimeSurvey, you’re in control of pretty much everything when you create surveys, from the way they look to the questions you include and how they're organized.
This level of customization means your surveys can really reflect your brand and gather data exactly how you need it.
Google Forms will be your choice if you're looking for a straightforward tool to create surveys without all the fuss. It's particularly good for anyone who needs to whip up quick polls or surveys with a clean, user-friendly interface.
Since it's part of the Google ecosystem, it also integrates seamlessly with other Google apps. Such a feature makes it easy to manage and analyze your data.
Survicate can help you set up surveys and feedback mechanisms that target specific groups within your audience.
This kind of focus is a must for businesses that want to sharpen their marketing strategies, fine-tune their product lines, and improve overall customer experiences based on solid, continuous customer insights.
For example, you can send out targeted questions to different segments, which means you're gathering exactly the kind of feedback you need from the right people. Effective segmentation helps you avoid the pitfalls of one-size-fits-all surveys and leads to more relevant and actionable data.
Crowdsignal, formerly Polldaddy, is a WordPress plugin that lets you add polls, surveys, quizzes, and ratings right from your dashboard.
That said, it’s perfect for bloggers, website owners, and businesses who use WordPress and want a simple way to engage with their visitors without needing to juggle separate tools or complicated setups.
For example, users can create customer satisfaction surveys to gauge reactions to new content, blog features, affiliate products, and more.
Choosing the right survey tool is a non-negotiable if you want to get the most out of your efforts. Here's a deeper look at why it's so important:
A great survey tool helps you ask the right questions the right way.
This means your questions are clear, straightforward, and designed to avoid confusion, which, in turn, helps you get more accurate and meaningful answers from your audience.
Look for a survey tool that’s easy to use and does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
Features like drag-and-drop editors, ready-made templates, and automated analytics can save you a ton of time and hassle and let you focus on what the data is telling you instead of how to use the tool.
The best survey tools make it easy to send your survey to the right people, whether that's via email, social media, or directly on your website.
The easier it is to distribute your survey, the broader and more diverse responses you can collect, which can give you a better overall view of what your audience thinks.
You want a tool that makes pulling insights from survey data collected as easy as pie. Good survey software will offer powerful analytics that let you slice and dice the data without needing to be a data scientist.
This means you can quickly see patterns, trends, and get the insights you need to make informed decisions.
Let’s face it: nobody loves filling out a boring survey. A good survey tool will help you create surveys that are not only visually appealing but also engaging and interactive.
A good-looking survey can help keep your audience interested and willing to complete it, which increases your response rates and the quality of the data you collect.
Want to get the most out of your online surveys? Follow these best practices:
Out of all the alternatives to SurveyMonkey, why choose FullSession?
Well, FullSession offers real-time interaction tracking, which sets it apart from other tools. This feature allows you to see what users are saying in their survey responses and how they interact with your website in real-time.
Aside from that, FullSession comes with powerful tools that can help you better understand how your customers behave and what they think about your brand:
The FullSession platform offers a 14-day free trial. It provides two paid plans—Basic and Business. Here are more details on each plan.
It takes less than 5 minutes to set up your first website or app survey form with FullSession, and it's completely free!
Yes! Many of these tools have a free trial period or even a forever-free version with basic features. Google Forms, for instance, is totally free but has some limitations.
Yes, modern survey software is quite versatile and can be used for various types of surveys, such as customer satisfaction, employee feedback, academic research, and market analysis. Some tools may specialize in particular areas, so check their features first.
Prices vary widely. Some tools are free but offer limited features, while premium options can be quite costly but provide extensive functionalities and support. Determine your budget and find a tool that offers the best value for your needs.
Consider what you need from the software: Do you need advanced analytics? Is multilingual support important? Also, think about ease of use, integration with other tools, and your budget. It’s often helpful to list your requirements and compare several options.