Google Forms is our starting pick for a straightforward survey; Tally for a flexible free questionnaire. Shortlist SurveyMonkey for dedicated reporting, Qualtrics when a research licence fits the project, and Survicate for customer surveys delivered at a specific touchpoint. whatayarn suits ratings and written answers with an optional spoken explanation. Choose around the questions, audience and analysis you actually need.
A signup form and a research questionnaire can look similar but require different things. Collecting contact details may be enough for one; the other may need routing, consistent scales, controlled distribution and a report someone can reproduce. If your main job is registration, payments or intake, start with our form builder comparison.
Choose the job before the survey tool
Write down the decision the answers will support. “Improve onboarding” is broad; “find where new customers get stuck before their first successful order” gives you a question, an audience and a way to use the answer.
| Need | What to check |
|---|---|
| A quick poll or event survey | Shareable link, mobile answering, enough responses and an export |
| Repeated satisfaction checks | Consistent questions, comparable scores and access to older results |
| Different questions for different people | The exact branching rules and whether your plan can publish them |
| Customer feedback inside a product | Installation, targeting and how often each person sees the survey |
| More involved research | Question formats, distribution controls, reporting and the licence available to you |
| Explanations in people’s own words | Open answers, review tools and an optional voice question |
These are selection criteria, not features every tool below promises. A large response allowance does not settle whether you can export the results or run the branch you designed.
The survey tools at a glance
| Survey tool | Best forThe questionnaire job | Plan and limitationCheck before collecting answers |
|---|---|---|
| Google FormsQuick surveys and a spreadsheet | A short survey for an audience you already haveUse a shareable form and review answers in Sheets.Simple collection | Free with per-form limits500,000 responses and 1 GB of form/response data; uploads use Drive separately.Generous capacity |
| TallyFlexible free questionnaires | Branching and connected workflowsLogic, calculations and integrations on Free.Free feature set | Unlimited forms and submissionsFair use applies; branding remains. Advanced team/branding controls are paid.No monthly response cap |
| SurveyMonkeyDedicated survey reporting | Questionnaires with analysis and sharing requirementsShortlist a paid plan around the report you need.Survey workflow | Basic is free, with restricted analysis10 questions per survey; the viewable response limit is shown in your account.Check access and exports |
| Zoho SurveySmall structured questionnaires | A dedicated survey tool for a small projectDifferent product from Zoho Forms.Survey-specific option | Free: 10 questions, 100 responses per surveyLarger questionnaires and more analysis depend on the paid tier.Per-survey allowance |
| TypeformConversational presentation | A questionnaire with a conversational layoutCheck the paid allowance for public campaigns.Presentation-led fit | Free: 10 responses a monthAcross all forms. Logic and embedding are included; many features require payment.Account-wide limit |
| QualtricsResearch with an organisation's licence | A research project needing a more capable licenceConfirm what your organisation already provides.Research platform | Free is an evaluation-sized accountSupport lists 3 active surveys, 30 questions each and 500 responses per user.Marketing/support conflict |
| SurvicateSurveys at a customer touchpoint | Ask through email, a website or an appCheck delivery and targeting in the actual plan.Contextual delivery | Free account: 25 responses a monthAfter the 10-day trial; no data exports on Free. Partial answers count.Small pilot allowance |
| whatayarnSpoken explanations and written feedback | Ask for a rating and the story behind itVoice questions and standard AI columns for written answers.Voice included | Unlimited forms and responses on FreeFair use, 100 MB storage and one-minute recordings. No conditional logic or integrations yet.Collection and review |
Google Forms: start here for a simple survey
Google Forms is a practical choice for a few ratings, choices and open questions sent to an audience you already know. Its response guide (opens in a new tab) covers spreadsheet review and current capacity: up to 500,000 responses and 1 GB of form and response data per form, with lower thresholds for some reporting features.
Section branching (opens in a new tab) works from multiple-choice and dropdown answers. Check that this expresses your intended path before choosing it for a complicated questionnaire.
Its question types (opens in a new tab) include ratings and scales, but no native voice recorder. File uploads require Google sign-in. Choose it when the simple workflow is enough, and see our Google Forms audio guide if a spoken explanation is important.
Tally: our flexible free questionnaire pick
Tally’s free feature set (opens in a new tab) includes conditional logic, calculations and integrations alongside unlimited forms and submissions, subject to fair use (opens in a new tab).
That combination makes it a useful shortlist entry when different answers lead to different questions or your responses must reach another tool. A questionnaire asking about a purchased service can show the relevant follow-up instead of asking everyone about every service.
Paid features include removing branding and collaboration. Tally’s generous collection allowance is one criterion; confirm that your intended team and reporting workflow are covered before treating the whole project as free.
SurveyMonkey: shortlist it around the report you need
SurveyMonkey is worth considering when creating, distributing and reporting on questionnaires is an ongoing job. The pricing page (opens in a new tab) separates individual and team plans; team subscriptions have a minimum of three users.
Its Basic plan is restricted. Support guidance (opens in a new tab) describes ten questions per survey and limited creation and analysis. Data exports (opens in a new tab) are a paid feature, so confirm the destination format before sending the questionnaire.
Response limits (opens in a new tab) govern what you can view, with different per-survey and billing-cycle rules. Paying for a survey plan does not include buying respondents through SurveyMonkey Audience. Choose a tier around the results you need to access, share and keep.
Zoho Survey: a dedicated option for a small questionnaire
Zoho Survey is separate from Zoho Forms. Its Free account guidance (opens in a new tab) allows unlimited surveys, each with ten questions and 100 responses.
This can fit a bounded class evaluation or a small customer check-in. A longer instrument or a larger campaign needs a paid plan. Use the plan comparison (opens in a new tab) to check logic, reporting, exports and the integration you intend to use; being inside the Zoho ecosystem does not make every connection part of Free.
If your project is operational intake with attachments and follow-up, compare Zoho Forms in the form builder guide instead.
Typeform: consider it for conversational presentation
Typeform is a reasonable shortlist entry when the presentation of your questionnaire matters and you can budget for the required response allowance. Its Free plan (opens in a new tab) includes logic, embedding and result export, but only ten responses a month across all forms.
That supports a tiny pilot rather than an unrestricted public campaign. Its pricing page (opens in a new tab) and Free documentation also warn that offers can differ between accounts.
Try the actual questions on a phone before committing. A conversational layout may suit your project, but we have not measured whether it produces more completed responses than a conventional form.
Qualtrics: check your organisation’s licence first
Qualtrics is worth shortlisting for research when an organisation already provides a suitable licence or you need to assess a more substantial package. Its Free account support page (opens in a new tab) makes clear that many capabilities belong to paid research and experience suites.
Free is smaller than the full platform. Support lists three active surveys, 30 questions each and 500 responses per user, including retaken and deleted responses.
There is a source conflict: the marketing FAQ (opens in a new tab) describes 500 responses per survey. We use the more specific support guidance here. Confirm the allowance in your actual account before planning multiple 500-response studies. Do not assume a personal Free account inherits a university or enterprise licence’s features.
Survicate: customer surveys where the experience happens
Survicate is useful to investigate when you need delivery through a website, an app, email or a shareable link rather than only a questionnaire URL.
Its Free account documentation (opens in a new tab) distinguishes a ten-day trial from an ongoing free account: 25 responses a month, three collaborating users and no data export. A respondent who answers only part of a survey still counts.
Check the paid plan (opens in a new tab) against delivery, targeting, integrations and response volume. Website and app collection bring setup work as well as useful context. For a fuller comparison with feedback widgets and product-request tools, see customer feedback tools.
whatayarn: a rating plus a spoken explanation
whatayarn suits a feedback questionnaire where you want the score and an explanation in someone’s own words. It combines written answers, choices, ratings, scales and voice questions. Voice settings can offer recording, upload and typing alternatives.
Free includes unlimited forms and responses under fair use, with 100 MB total storage and one-minute recordings. Standard AI columns help review written feedback for Spam, Sentiment, Urgency and Needs reply. They do not transcribe or analyse recordings.
Choose another tool when conditional branching, integrations or specialist research analysis is essential: those capabilities are not currently available in whatayarn. Custom AI columns are a Creator feature. A CSAT survey or employee survey is a useful starting point for a simple check-in.
A worked example: choose around the follow-up
Suppose you want 200 customers to answer a six-question onboarding survey. You need a rating, a written explanation and a CSV, with different questions for customers who have and have not completed setup. This is a constructed example, not a product benchmark.
- The branch and export are requirements. Tally is a sensible free shortlist entry. Google Forms may fit if its section branching expresses the path.
- The allowance has to fit. Typeform Free’s monthly cap and Zoho Survey Free’s 100-response per-survey allowance do not cover 200 submissions. Check viewable responses and export access before choosing SurveyMonkey Basic.
- Voice changes the choice. If you replace branching with one optional voice follow-up, whatayarn becomes a relevant option. Budget storage and listening time.
- Targeting changes the choice again. If you need the question to appear after an event in your product, assess an installed survey tool such as Survicate, including its paid targeting requirements.
Build this representative questionnaire in your two finalists and submit every path before sharing. Open the exported file and confirm that it preserves the values you need; an attractive preview is only part of the job.
Plan who will answer and who will act
A questionnaire tool collects responses; it does not make a self-selected audience representative. Customers who choose to reply may differ from those who do not. Describe who received the survey and how replies were collected before generalising the results.
Keep recurring score questions consistent, read explanations alongside totals and name someone responsible for the next action. For practical collection and follow-up options, continue with our customer feedback comparison. If you mainly need business enquiries or intake, our small-business form guide has the more relevant criteria.