I recently had to deal with the topic of creating an online survey. The most popular free service that allows to create and analyze online surveys is SurveyMonkey which my short poll at Twitter confirmed:
However I decided to try a few more tools and see what other features they offer. Here is what I came up with:
| Registration process | Survey creation process | Minor disadvantages I didn’t like | Reports | |
| SurveyMonkey | Fast and smooth | Fast and smooth | N/A | Raw number + percentage for each question; no export for free accounts |
| 4Q | Too many details to register (+ email confirmation) | Fast (only limited question/ answer editing allowed) | N/A | N/A |
| QuestionPro | Fast | User-friendly | Add width/ length properties for each question; | Overall stats for all questions, stats on completion, dropout rates, cross-tabulation available, export to Excel, |
| ESurveysPro | Fast | A lot of options to customize but the overall process is a bit complicated | N/A | Graphic representaion, no export to PDF or Excel for free accounts |
| FreeOnline Surveys | Fast | Fast and smooth | Two steps for each question, no direct text pasting available | Raw number + percentage for each question; chart wizard, no export for free accounts |
Note: I haven’t seen my survey in action long enough to judge about the reporting option. So the corresponding column in the above table only reflects my first-hand impression.
SurveyMonkey free account won’t let you customize the template but it offers really user-friendly interface and smooth process: really simple and fast.
4Q is designed to improve the website usability – it offers visitors to answer four questions regarding their user experience on leaving the site. The poll window can be customized with your company logo.
FreeOnlineSurveys has limited options for free account (only 50 responses, 10 days and no more than 20 questions per survey). You can also customize the survey page with your company logo.
SurveyPopups is a great solution if you need a quick one-question survey.
FormSpring.com free account lets you create only 3 forms with no more than 15 fields and 50 saved submissions per each one. The service offers ‘smart routing‘ that allows to customize the user experience: for example, you can control which person or department receives each submission or you can set an URL to redirect the person to after the form is completed. FormSpring.com is primarily designed for creating and monitoring online forms but can also be used for surveys.
Furthermore, here are some guidelines on how to write an effective survey questionnaire:
Nice list Ann. I remember when you asked that question on Twitter and I could only come up with SurveyMonkey. It’s nice to have other services to compare to and to possibly use as an alternative. Consider this one bookmarked.
Oh, and the unexpected picture of myself was nice too :P
How come you missed out PollDaddy and WuFoo from your list? I find PollDaddy’s interface really well designed and slick, but not as many features as surveymonkey so for me it depends on the complexity. Haven’t used WuFoo personally but heard good things about it and would be good to see those two in your comparison table.
Ann, are these all hosted services? Are there any that allow you to create a survey which can be hosted and managed on your own server?
You can create simple polls for free on Bighow Poll (http://bighow.com/poll) and then you can also publish the poll on your site through our widget.
@Russell, http://wufoo.com/ seems the best one for that.
You should also look at Zoomerang. I’ve tried the free service a few times, it was pretty simple to use.
Questionpro looks like the best choice besides surveymokey. Is it free also?
@cohnsey, they both offer free and paid accounts.
I have been looking for a good survey tool. I’m going to try the first one survey monkey. Thanks Ann.
Brian – I’m glad Zoomerang worked for you. You can find some helpful online survey tips and suggestions at the Zoomerang blog for your future surveys.
my favorite is http://www.SurveyGizmo.com
If you will be using an online survey then you will be able to have quick feedback and therefore have information to share with your employees also. This is a great way to include them in on what your goals are for the company and a great way to bring them into taking ownership of the company as well.
I agree that Survey Monkey is a great service. It’s simple and inexpensive. But there is another good service that I’ve used for more complex surveys… Survey Gizmo.
It has a bit steeper learning curve, but is much more flexible. I’ve been able to handle quite complex questions (piping, hidden questions that appear only in response to earlier selections, etc.) very successfully.
@Sw and @Andy Thanks for using SurveyGizmo.
@Ann I know you’ve already done some research, but if you ever want to check out SurveyGizmo, let me know and we would be more than happy to show you around. Give us a call at 800.609.6480 ext 1 or shoot us an email at support (at) sgizmo (dot) com.
Check out activeinterview.com. They are definitely taking an innovative approach, by enabling you to capture video responses to your survey or interview questions.