10 Best Online Survey Software In 2021

Do you need survey software? I bet there isn’t a company in existence that wouldn’t benefit from compiling their own customer satisfaction metrics. 

Obtaining customer feedback is just one part of the puzzle. You also need to turn it into actionable insights.

Online survey software can help you with all of the following: 

• building feedback surveys and forms
• reporting on the data you find
• measuring customer sentiment and satisfaction as a follow-up action
• engaging in market research
• employee satisfaction strategies
• testing the user-friendliness of your mobile app
• planning what to do with the final data collection

Microsoft reported that 54% of customers actually have increased their expectations for modern customer service, meaning that your “tried and true” methods may not be enough as products and customers continue to evolve. 

However, you don’t want to willy-nilly make a survey and stick in your customers’ faces. In fact, 72% of consumers warn that intrusive or poorly designed surveys can actually hinder their experience with a website or product. 

So what is a CX manager to do? You need some sort of survey system but it has to be the right one so that respondents aren’t turned off by the process. 

Luckily, there are plenty of online survey software options available so anyone can find the perfect fit. That’s why I wrote this article: to quickly compare and evaluate the best online survey software of 2021. 

If you want to improve your digital customer experience with the best survey tools around, then keep reading.

The Best Online Survey Software

Here’s a shortlist of the best online survey software:

1. Google Forms
2. SoGoSurvey 
3. SurveyLegend
4. SurveyNuts
5. Survey Planet
6. Formstack
7. Crowdsignal
8. Survicate
9. Feedier
10. LimeSurvey

Free Survey Software Options

Not being able to pay doesn’t mean you can’t collect valuable feedback from your team and/or customers. Free software survey options available for those who have a lean project budget. These survey software apps are either free forever or have a freemium plan that you can use: 

1. HubSpot Forms
2. Google Forms
3. SurveyMonkey
4. Typeform
5. Survicate
6. SurveyLegend
7. Qualaroo
8. ProProfs Survey Maker

Google Forms, Survicate, and SurveyLegend all made our “best of” list so keep reading for a brief comparison of these free online survey tools. 

If you’ve already completed some surveys, you might be looking for sentiment analysis tools to help you properly analyze and extract insights from the data you’ve collected. 

Survey Software Comparison Criteria

What do I look for when I do a survey software comparison? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria: 

1. User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive? Can you personalize the survey design to suit the brand style? Is adding images, changing colors, and adjusting fonts easy to do? Does the interface support various data-gathering options, like multiple choice, numerical ratings, and short answer? Is it optimized for mobile devices?
2. Usability: Is survey creation easy to learn and master? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Would customers with minimal tech experience be able to navigate completing a survey with minimal assistance? Is the support team responsive?
3. Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations, like Salesforce or G Suite? Does it work with the standards of NPS surveys? Can survey data be easily exported to popular formats (Excel, PDF, etc.)?
4. Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible? Are there price-based limitations of the number of responses you can collect, the type of feedback you can track, or the number of survey questions you can ask?

Survey Software Key Features

Here are some of the key features that I looked for in the survey software that I reviewed. 

1. Question design tools (ie. question library)
2. Survey templates 
3. Questionnaire & interview options (ie. different question types)
4. Compatible with Net Promoter Score (NPS)
5. Question & answer conditions/logic (ie question skip logic, question branching)
6. Flexible scoring system 
7. Image/video hosting
8. Customizable email invites 
9. Randomization options
10. Auto save
11. Reporting & analysis for survey results & response rates 
12. Social media sharing

Overviews Of The 10 Best Survey Software

Ready to find your new research platform? Here’s a brief comparison of survey software on this list to show what each does best, plus screenshots to showcase some of the features.

1. Google Forms — Best for G Suite users

2. SoGoSurvey — Best for integration with pre-existing CRM

3. SurveyLegend— Best free online survey software

4. SurveyNuts — Best at ease-of-use for survey builders & takers

5. SurveyPlanet — Best for device-agnostic teams (mobile, tablet, PC)

6. Formstack— Best for employing logic & conditions

7. Crowdsignal— Best for customizing the look and feel of surveys & polls

8. Servicate— Best for in-site or in-app surveys

9. Feedier— Best interactive & gamified forms

10. LimeSurvey— Best open source survey software

Other Survey Software Options

Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top 10 list but are still worth checking out. 

1. Videoask — Best for incorporating video into surveys
2. SurveySparrow — Best text & sentiment analysis tools
3. Nipo — Best CAPI and CATI cloud survey solutions
4. Survio — Best filtering & segmentation audiences
5. Key Survey — Best multilingual audiences
6. Delighted — Best for typing indicators that alert to incoming feedback in real-time
7. Cognito Forms — Best easy-to-use, drag-and-drop form builder
8. Enalyzer — Best for a minimalistic design & decluttered interface
9. QuestionPro — Best for customer support that is available 24/7
10. Gainsight PX — Best for surveys specific to SaaS products
11. Remesh — Best at using artificial intelligence to analyze responses
12. Compport — Best for employee feedback/employee engagement
13. BlueX Survey — Best at conditional branching, piping, and/or randomization
14. Snap Surveys — Best for training and support options
15. Peakon — Best for sales & pipeline surveys & metrics
16. Lattice — Best for empowering remote team management
17. Customer Guru — Best at tracking segmented customer satisfaction
18. Checkbox Survey — Best for cloud-hosted or on-premises flexibility
19. Survey Methods — Best user satisfaction score according to Capterra
20. Qualtrics — Best for using advanced text and voice analytics in responses
21. Satmetrix — Best for CX certification & training resources
22. SurveyGizmo — Best for enterprise-level survey requirements
23. Zoho Survey — Best for helping narrow a target audience
24. Zonka Feedback — Best Customer Feedback Management Software

What Do You Think About These Survey Software Tools?

If this article helped you find a survey platform, then I have done my job. Which survey tool was your favorite from this list? Is there an online survey software tool that you would add here? Let us know in the comment section. For more customer experience insights, be sure to sign up for our newsletter.