11 Top Free Survey Builders

When you’re building online surveys, you want to be sure the tool you use offers everything you need that lets you create something that will efficiently collect qualitative data. If you opt for a survey builder that isn’t intuitive or doesn’t have the right features, you might end up wasting not only your time but also your money. But we’re here to help and fill you in on the top free survey builders.

Get to Know the Top Free Survey Builders

Today, we’re breaking down the top 11 free survey builders to help you find the right fit. We’ll tell you about these free online survey tools’ pros, cons, and features to ensure you have all the information you need.

The Importance of Qualitative Data

Before we get into the top free survey tools and paid survey creators, let’s first discuss why collecting qualitative data with free online survey tools is so beneficial in the first place.

Collect data quickly and efficiently

For starters, surveys enable you to acquire vast data quickly and efficiently. When you use survey tools, you can reach many respondents and gather their opinions, feedback, and insights in a structured manner. This allows you to collect qualitative data on various topics.

For example:

Customer satisfaction
Market research
Employee feedback
Customer feedback

Understand customer needs and preferences

Surveys help you understand your customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors. By asking targeted questions, you can gain insights into what drives their purchasing decisions, their satisfaction levels with your products or services, and their suggestions for improvement. This information can guide your business strategies and help you deliver better customer experiences.

Identify trends and patterns

Qualitative data collected through surveys can help you identify trends and patterns. When you analyze and categorize responses, you can identify common themes, preferences, or pain points among your target audience. You can use this information to benefit your decision-making process, allowing you to make data-driven decisions and prioritize areas for improvement or innovation.

Generate new ideas and innovation

Trust surveys to help you to generate new ideas and foster innovation. With the help of open-ended questions or allowing respondents to share their thoughts and suggestions, you can tap into the collective intelligence of your audience. This can lead to valuable insights, innovative solutions, and new product or service ideas that align with customer needs.

Measure and track progress over time

Using survey tools to collect qualitative data also allows you to measure and track progress over time. If you conduct surveys at regular intervals, you can assess changes in customer satisfaction, employee engagement, or market trends.

This longitudinal data helps you:

Evaluate your strategies’ effectiveness
Identify improvement areas
Monitor the impact of your actions

Collecting qualitative data through surveys is essential for making informed decisions, understanding your audience, and driving business growth. Choosing the right survey builder with the necessary features and usability allows you to streamline the data collection process and maximize the value of the insights you gather.

Now, let’s return to those top 11 survey tools for your qualitative research.

11 Top Free Survey Builders

Here are the leading free options for survey tools.

1. LiGRE

We’ll start by telling you what makes LiGRE one of the best online survey tools you’ll find. It’s a comprehensive survey platform offering QDA and survey builder features, making it perfect for collecting qualitative data.

With LiGRE, researchers can do so much—including creating and managing their research projects and inviting participants to collaborate in various research activities. The online survey platform offers a user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation and efficient project management, ensuring researchers can focus on the research process.

LiGRE’s free online survey builder

In terms of the LiGRE survey builder, it offers various question types and the ability to customize the survey layout easily; you can even generate web surveys from Word documents.

The online survey tool allows for personalizing your respondents’ experience by customizing colors, images, and fonts. It also enables the configuration of different paths for respondents based on their answers or scores.

For in-depth analysis, LiGRE provides a qualitative content coding feature. Users can transfer survey results to LiGRE’s QDA tool for coding text responses. Users can analyze their results by comparing them, cross-referencing variables, and generating reports, graphs, and tables. You can export results in SPSS or Excel-compatible formats for further analysis, too.

We also provide a video tutorial on using the “Response Matrix” option in the QDA tool to import and code survey results.

Key features of LiGRE include:

Multiple question types
Customizable answer scoring
Distribution campaigns via email or social media
Multilingual support
Collaboration with colleagues in real-time survey design
The ability to conduct qualitative online surveys using justification fields for close-ended questions

You’ll also find a FAQ section here where we assist with various topics relating to online survey software, and you can also contact the support team for further help.

LiGRE is 100% responsive and compatible with all platforms and screen sizes, so respondents can answer surveys on any device. We’re pleased to offer a “free forever” plan for our powerful qualitative data analysis software.

If you need even more powerful features, you can choose from Student, Researcher, Big Data, and Pro plans depending on your research needs.

2. Google Forms

You’re bound to find Google Forms in your search for the top free survey builders.

Google Forms is a popular choice for many due to its accessibility and simplicity. It offers a free platform with a user-friendly interface, making creating and distributing surveys easy. This online survey tool provides customizable survey design options, which lets users personalize their surveys with themes and branding.

Google Forms also integrates seamlessly with Google Sheets, enabling easy data analysis and storage. Keep in mind, it does have limited advanced features. This makes it more suitable for basic survey needs, as the design options are relatively basic compared to other tools.

So, a more robust survey platform is a good idea if you’re doing more advanced research or require more powerful features.

3. SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey offers a free plan that provides a range of useful features. The online survey platform boasts an intuitive interface, making it easy to create surveys using various question types and customizable themes. It also provides data analysis tools to gain insights from collected responses.

This free plan has limitations on features, and some advanced functionalities require a paid subscription.

Still, SurveyMonkey remains popular due to its user-friendly nature and ability to cater to various survey needs. If the free online survey software option isn’t robust enough for your research, they also offer premium plans that are more powerful.

4. Typeform

Users appreciate TypeForm’s visually appealing and interactive surveys. It offers a free plan that allows users to create engaging surveys using conversational and interactive interfaces. Integration options with third-party tools further enhance its capabilities.

The free plan has limited features and response and data export limitations, which may be a constraint for users with more advanced survey requirements.

Nevertheless, Typeform’s focus on creating engaging surveys is a compelling option for creating unique and interactive survey experiences. On top of their free plan, TypeForm offers four paid plans, and you can learn more about them here.

5. Microsoft Forms

If you’re already utilizing the Microsoft 365 suite, it’s worth considering Microsoft Forms for your free survey builder. It offers a free option for Microsoft 365 users, providing an easy-to-use interface and collaboration features. Integration with other Microsoft applications (including Excel and SharePoint) streamlines data management and analysis.

Microsoft Forms has limited customization options compared to some other survey builders, and advanced features may require a Microsoft 365 subscription.

6. Qualtrics CoreXM

This online survey-building platform utilizes AI technology and machine learning to mine structured and unstructured data. Qualtrics CoreXM is a flexible tool that allows users to adapt their research to the needs of their project, budget, or organization.

With pre-built survey templates, easy-to-use online survey tools, and advanced analytics capabilities, Qualtrics CoreXM is ideal for businesses looking to maximize their research productivity. Their free plan lets users access eight question types, four survey themes, and 500 responses.

Its pricing plans are relatively expensive compared to other survey-building solutions. However, it provides impressive value for those looking to rapidly collect, analyze, and act on business insights at scale. Its built-in survey intelligence also helps ensure data quality and accurately vet methodologies.

7. SurveyLegend

Next, we come to SurveyLegend. This survey builder has a user-friendly interface that makes it ideal for beginners. However, it does also offer advanced features like offline data collection and advanced reporting tools taking it to the next level if necessary.

SurveyLegend is mobile-friendly and allows users to create engaging surveys optimized for desktop and mobile devices. The platform integrates with popular third-party applications, allowing users to connect survey data with other tools and systems for enhanced data analysis and automation.

Users can create three free surveys, six pictures, and one conditional logic with the free plan. Note, it does not include data export, and the surveys have ads and watermarking.

While the free plan has certain limitations, SurveyLegend offers a user-friendly experience, mobile-friendly surveys, and advanced reporting features that make it a suitable option for users looking to create engaging online surveys and collect valuable feedback. If this won’t work, paid annual plans range from $15 to $65 per month.

8. Zoho Survey

Zoho Survey is an online survey tool offered by Zoho, a well-known software company. It allows users to create and distribute surveys to gather feedback and insights from respondents.

This online survey maker provides a wide range of question types, including multiple-choice, rating scales, open-ended questions, and more. Then, users can create diverse and engaging surveys tailored to their specific needs.

It boasts impressive visual features, including data analysis tools to help users interpret and visualize survey results. Users can generate reports, charts, and graphs to gain valuable insights from the collected data.

The free plan includes the following:

Unlimited surveys
Ten questions per survey
100 responses per survey
In-mail and pop-up surveys
Over 250 survey templates
Embed survey in website
Scoring
Works with 26 languages
HTTPS encryption
Social sharing
Password protection
Unlimited collectors/survey
Real-time responses
Export as PDF

Paid plans range from $31 to $98 per month (billed annually) if you need more advanced capabilities.

9. LimeSurvey

LimeSurvey is an open-source survey tool that allows users to create customizable surveys with various question types. It offers advanced features such as branching logic, quota management, and survey templates. This option suits those who are looking for flexibility and customization options.

Being an open-source tool, LimeSurvey offers the advantage of being highly customizable and extensible. Its open-source nature means you can access the source code, allowing for further customization and integration with other systems if needed.

Another feature that might be useful is the ability to create anonymous surveys, so you can collect and analyze data without personal information.

The free version includes unlimited survey questions and responses in 80+ languages.

10. Crowdsignal

Formerly known as PollDaddy, Crowdsignal is a free survey maker and polling platform offered by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. It provides users with an intuitive and feature-rich solution for creating and conducting surveys, polls, quizzes, and ratings.

Crowdsignal offers a range of customization options, advanced reporting features, and seamless integration with WordPress sites.

Users get unlimited questions, surveys, polls, and ratings with its free plan. They can collect up to 2,500 signals and can embed polls and media. However, this top free survey builder also comes with Crowdsignal branding, limited data export, and a max file size of 1MB for uploads.

11. Qualaroo

Qualaroo is a user feedback and survey tool that helps businesses understand their customers better and gather real-time insights. With its free plan, users can create simple surveys and collect valuable feedback from their audience.

The platform offers a range of targeting options, allowing users to display online surveys to specific segments of their website visitors or customers based on criteria such as behavior, demographics, or location.

One thing that sets it apart is its focus on real-time feedback. The online survey tool enables businesses to gather customer feedback from people actively engaged with their website or product. This immediate feedback allows businesses to quickly address customer concerns, identify usability issues, or make timely improvements to their offerings.

We’ve included Qualaroo in the list of free online survey tools because it offers a 15-day free version. However, there isn’t an outright free plan. When your free trial runs out, their plans range from $69 per month to $299+ per month, depending on the features and capabilities necessary for you.

FAQs: Best Free Online Survey Tools

Now, let’s turn to some of the most common questions researchers have about free survey builders.

Are there any completely free online survey tools?

Yes, several completely free online survey tools are available today. Examples include LiGRE, which offers a “free forever” plan to collect and analyze survey data. Others, like Qualaroo, also have free versions for only 15 days during a trial period.

Is there a free survey maker with no limit?

Many of the 11 leading online survey tools offer unlimited questions and unlimited surveys. Be sure to consider what a free plan offers before you choose one platform over the other. If you are creating enough surveys that unlimited surveys are necessary, it’s likely beneficial to consider a paid plan that offers more.

What is the best website to create a survey?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It all depends on the features you are looking for and the type of survey you want to create. However, popular online survey tools such as Typeform, SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and LiGRE are wonderful places to start.

Which is the most popular online free survey tool?

LiGRE is one of the most popular free survey tools available today. It offers powerful features that allow users to quickly and easily create surveys, collect data, and analyze results.

Conclusion: Top Free Survey Tools

When it comes to free online survey makers, you have so many options available. Research your needs, consider the features of each tool, and decide which best meets your requirements.

And remember, LiGRE is here to help you get started with a free forever plan. Sign up today.

Did you learn a lot about the best free survey tools in this post?

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