The best SurveyMonkey alternative for most people is Tally, a free form builder with unlimited forms and responses within fair use. Google Forms is the simplest free option, Zoho Survey is the closest match for real survey work, and Fillout or Jotform suit businesses that need more design, payments or automation.
- Tally: best free alternative overall
- Google Forms: best for simple surveys in Google Workspace
- Microsoft Forms: best if you use Microsoft 365
- Zoho Survey: closest match to SurveyMonkey’s survey features
- Fillout: best free plan for teams
- Typeform: best for conversational, one-question-at-a-time surveys
- Jotform: best for payments, HIPAA and importing SurveyMonkey surveys
- Formbricks: best for website and in-app feedback you host yourself
- LimeSurvey: best open-source tool for research surveys
How we compared them: This is a research comparison based on pricing pages, help documentation and features, not a hands-on test, so our picks are “best fit” calls. On November 3, 2026, we checked SurveyMonkey, Tally, Microsoft Forms, Fillout, Zoho Survey, Formbricks, LimeSurvey, Jotform’s import guide and QuestionPro’s import guide at the source. Typeform and Jotform plan prices come from Jet Admin’s check on September 25, 2026, and Zoho Survey’s dollar prices from Costbench (October 31, 2026), because those pages didn’t load for us. SmartWorkflowLab has no sponsorship or affiliate deal with any tool in this list.
SurveyMonkey Pricing in 2026: The Baseline
As of November 2026, this is what SurveyMonkey costs for one user in the US, according to its pricing page, last updated October 15, 2026:
| Plan | Price | Responses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | 10 per survey | Up to 10 questions and 3 collectors |
| Standard Monthly | $149 a month | 1,000 a month | The only plan you can pay monthly |
| Standard Annual | $300 a year | Unlimited | US, UK and Australia only |
| Advantage Annual | $468 a year | Unlimited | Billed yearly |
| Premier Annual | $1,668 a year | Unlimited | Billed yearly |
| Team Advantage Annual | $360 a year per user | Unlimited | Minimum 3 users, includes AI analysis |
| Team Premier Annual | $1,104 a year per user | Unlimited | Minimum 3 users |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Minimum 5 users |
SurveyMonkey is an online survey tool with a large question bank, analysis tools and a paid audience panel. Three things push people toward SurveyMonkey competitors:
- The free plan barely works. Ten questions and 10 responses per survey is enough to test, not to run a real survey.
- Monthly billing is expensive. Standard Monthly costs $149 a month and still caps you at 1,000 responses, while the cheaper plans require a full year up front.
- Teams pay per seat with a minimum. Team plans start at 3 users, so a small team pays for at least three seats.
Verdict: SurveyMonkey is affordable only on a yearly plan; anyone who wants to pay monthly, or needs more than 10 free responses, will find cheaper options below.
SurveyMonkey Alternatives at a Glance
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Entry paid plan (billed yearly) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tally | Free surveys with no fixed cap | Unlimited forms and responses (fair use) | Pro: $24 a month |
| Google Forms | Simple surveys, Google users | Free with a Google account | Included in Google Workspace |
| Microsoft Forms | Microsoft 365 teams | 200 responses per form (personal account) | Included in Microsoft 365 |
| Zoho Survey | Survey features at a low price | 100 responses per survey | Basic: about $7.42 a month |
| Fillout | Teams on a budget | 1,000 responses a month, unlimited seats | Starter: $15 a month |
| Typeform | Conversational surveys | 10 responses a month | Basic: $28 a month |
| Jotform | Payments, HIPAA, SurveyMonkey import | 5 forms, 100 submissions a month | Bronze: $34 a month |
| Formbricks | Website and in-app feedback | Free to self-host (AGPLv3) | Quote-based |
| LimeSurvey | Open-source research surveys | Cloud: 25 a month; self-hosted: free | Cloud Basic, billed monthly |
Feature Check: What You Keep and What You Lose
Most switchers worry about losing survey features. Here is how the core ones compare, based on each tool’s documentation:
| Feature | SurveyMonkey | Tally | Google Forms | Microsoft Forms | Zoho Survey | Fillout | Typeform | Jotform | Formbricks | LimeSurvey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skip and branching logic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (by section) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Matrix or Likert questions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (grid) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Answer piping (recall answers) | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Buy responses from a panel | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Self-host on your own server | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Import SurveyMonkey surveys | n/a | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
The big losses when you leave are SurveyMonkey’s question bank, its industry benchmarks and its paid panel. Answer piping is missing from Google Forms and Microsoft Forms, which matters if your surveys refer back to earlier answers.
What 1,500 Responses a Month Costs on Each Tool
A small business running a monthly customer survey with about 1,500 responses would pay this for one user:
| Tool | Plan that covers 1,500 a month | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tally | Free (fair use) | $0 | $0 |
| Google Forms | Free | $0 | $0 |
| Microsoft Forms | Microsoft 365 business plan | Already included if you have one | Same |
| Fillout | Starter (2,000 a month) | About $19 | $15 |
| Zoho Survey | Plus (3,000 per survey a month) | $35 | $25 |
| SurveyMonkey | Standard Annual (unlimited) | Not available | $25 ($300 a year) |
| Jotform | Silver (2,500 a month) | $49 | $39 |
| Typeform | Business (10,000 a month) | $129 | $91 |
SurveyMonkey’s $149 Standard Monthly plan doesn’t fit, because it caps at 1,000 responses. A personal Microsoft account allows only 200 responses per form, so this case needs a Microsoft 365 business account.
What a 3-Person Team Pays for 5,000 Responses a Month
Teams are where SurveyMonkey’s 3-seat minimum hurts most. For three people collecting about 5,000 responses a month, billed yearly:
| Tool | Plan | Cost per month (billed yearly) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Forms | Included in Google Workspace | $0 extra |
| Tally | Pro, unlimited team members | $24 |
| Fillout | Pro (5,000 a month), unlimited seats | $40 |
| Zoho Survey | Enterprise (3 users, 7,000 per survey a month) | $75 |
| SurveyMonkey | Team Advantage, 3 users × $360 a year | $90 |
| Typeform | Business (10,000 a month, 5 seats) | $91 |
For a small team, Tally Pro costs about a quarter of SurveyMonkey Team Advantage, and Fillout Pro less than half, for the same response volume.
1. Tally: Best Free Alternative Overall
What is Tally? Tally is a form and survey builder that works like a text document: you type questions, and it turns them into a clean form you can share by link or embed.
Tally’s free plan is the reason it’s first. It allows unlimited forms and submissions within fair use, with conditional logic and file uploads, which covers what most people use SurveyMonkey for.
As of November 2026, according to Tally’s pricing page:
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Unlimited forms and responses (fair use), 10 MB uploads |
| Pro | $24 a month | $29 a month | No branding, custom domains, unlimited team members, drop-off analytics |
| Business | $74 a month | $89 a month | Data retention controls, email verification, 90-day history |
Monthly prices come from Jet Admin’s check on September 25, 2026.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- Cross-tabs, benchmarks and the pre-written question bank.
- A panel for buying responses.
- Tally branding on free forms.
Verdict: Pick Tally if you want SurveyMonkey’s everyday survey features for free and can live without its advanced analysis.
2. Google Forms: Best for Simple Surveys
What is Google Forms? Google Forms is Google’s free form and quiz builder, which saves every response to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
Google Forms is the simplest switch. Anyone with a Google account can build a survey in minutes, and responses land in Sheets, where you can chart, filter and share them. There’s no paid version of Forms itself; business features such as shared drives and admin controls come with Google Workspace.
Pricing: Free with a Google account, and included in every Google Workspace plan.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- Answer piping and advanced logic; branching works by section only.
- Design control and branding.
- Survey-specific analysis beyond summary charts.
Verdict: For quick, free surveys where you’re happy to analyze results in Google Sheets, Google Forms does the job with nothing to set up.
3. Microsoft Forms: Best for Microsoft 365 Teams
What is Microsoft Forms? Microsoft Forms is Microsoft’s survey, quiz and poll builder, included with Microsoft 365 and free with a personal Microsoft account.
If your company already pays for Microsoft 365, Forms costs nothing extra and fits into Teams, Excel and SharePoint.
As of November 2026, according to Microsoft’s Forms limits page:
| Account type | Responses per form | Forms | Questions per form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free personal Microsoft account | 200 | 400 | 200 |
| Paid personal account | 1,000 | 400 | 200 |
| Microsoft 365 business or education | Up to 5,000,000 | 400 | 200 |
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- Answer piping.
- Design options beyond themes.
- Personal accounts stop at 200 responses per form, and the 400-form limit counts deleted forms in the recycle bin.
Verdict: Microsoft 365 companies should start here, since Forms is already paid for and handles very large surveys.
4. Zoho Survey: Closest Match to SurveyMonkey
What is Zoho Survey? Zoho Survey is a dedicated online survey tool from Zoho, with survey templates, logic, multi-language surveys, reports and an AI survey creator.
Zoho Survey is built for surveys rather than general forms, so it’s the closest replacement if you rely on SurveyMonkey’s survey-specific features. Zoho says its surveys are HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and you can buy panel responses for an extra fee.
Response limits come from Zoho Survey’s pricing page, checked November 3, 2026, which offers up to 35% off for yearly billing. Dollar prices come from Costbench, verified October 31, 2026:
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Responses per survey | Users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 100 | 1 |
| Basic | About $7.42 a month | Not offered | 12,000 a year | 1 |
| Plus | $25 a month | $35 a month | 3,000 a month | 1 |
| Pro | $35 a month | $49 a month | 5,000 a month | 1 |
| Enterprise | $75 a month | $109 a month | 7,000 a month | 3 |
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- SurveyMonkey’s larger question bank and benchmarks.
- Paid plans are mostly single-user, so extra people cost extra, except Enterprise’s 3 users.
- A less modern look than Tally or Typeform.
Verdict: Zoho Survey gives you SurveyMonkey-style survey tools, panel responses and compliance for a fraction of the price, especially if you already use Zoho.
5. Fillout: Best Free Plan for Teams
What is Fillout? Fillout is a form builder with design control, logic, payments and native connections to tools such as Airtable, Notion and HubSpot.
Fillout sits between Tally’s simplicity and Typeform’s design, and every plan, including Free, allows unlimited team members.
As of November 2026, according to Fillout’s pricing page:
| Plan | Billed yearly | Responses a month |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 |
| Starter | $15 a month ($180 a year) | 2,000 |
| Pro | $40 a month ($480 a year) | 5,000 |
| Business | $75 a month ($900 a year) | Unlimited |
Billed monthly, the same plans cost about $19, $49 and $89, according to Automation Atlas.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- Survey analysis tools such as cross-tabs.
- A question bank and benchmarks.
- Fewer ready-made templates than Jotform.
Verdict: For a small team that wants a clear 1,000 free responses a month and no per-seat fees, Fillout is the strongest value here.
6. Typeform: Best for Conversational Surveys
What is Typeform? Typeform is a form and survey builder known for showing one question at a time, which feels more like a conversation than a long form.
Because each question fills the screen, Typeform feels more personal than a long form, which is why many teams use it for customer-facing surveys. It’s the most polished-looking tool here, and also one of the most expensive.
As of September 25, 2026, according to Jet Admin’s Typeform pricing check:
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Responses a month | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 10 | n/a |
| Basic | $28 a month | $39 a month | 100 | 1 |
| Plus | $56 a month | $79 a month | 1,000 | 3 |
| Business | $91 a month | $129 a month | 10,000 | 5 |
Typeform tests prices, so the offer on your account may differ.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- Response volume: SurveyMonkey’s yearly plans have no response cap.
- A free plan as limited as SurveyMonkey’s, at 10 responses a month.
- A panel for buying responses.
Verdict: Typeform earns its price only when the look and feel of a customer-facing survey matter more than the cost per response.
7. Jotform: Best for Payments, HIPAA and Importing From SurveyMonkey
What is Jotform? Jotform is a form builder with thousands of templates, payment fields, e-signatures, PDF output and a HIPAA-friendly plan for health data.
Jotform covers far more than surveys: order forms, registrations, applications and patient intake. It’s also the easiest move from SurveyMonkey, because it can turn a SurveyMonkey survey into a Jotform form from the survey’s link, according to Jotform’s import guide. Past responses stay in SurveyMonkey.
As of September 25, 2026, according to Jet Admin’s Jotform pricing check:
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Forms | Submissions a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0 | $0 | 5 | 100 |
| Bronze | $34 a month | $39 a month | 25 | 1,000 |
| Silver | $39 a month | $49 a month | 50 | 2,500 |
| Gold | $99 a month | $129 a month | 100 | 10,000 |
Nonprofits and schools get 50% off Bronze, Silver and Gold, and Jotform shows prices in USD or EUR depending on where you are, according to Jotform’s pricing page.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- Only 5 forms on the free plan.
- Submission limits are shared across all your forms.
- Survey-specific analysis and benchmarks.
Verdict: Jotform makes sense when surveys sit alongside payment, registration or health forms, and its SurveyMonkey import saves you rebuilding each survey by hand.
8. Formbricks: Best for Website and In-App Feedback
What is Formbricks? Formbricks is an open-source survey platform for link surveys, website pop-ups and in-app surveys, which you can run on your own servers.
Formbricks suits software companies and privacy-minded teams that want feedback, such as NPS, from inside their product. Because the Community Edition is open source under AGPLv3, you can run it on your own server and keep every response in your own database.
As of November 2026, according to Formbricks’ pricing page, the Community Edition is free to self-host forever, with API access, webhooks and surveys on every channel. The paid Experience Suite adds AI analysis, dashboards, single sign-on, audit logs and support, with unlimited seats, priced by quote. A managed cloud in the EU is listed as coming soon.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- A ready-made cloud service: you host it yourself or ask for a quote.
- Classic research features such as a question bank and panel.
- Someone technical to run the server.
Verdict: Formbricks is the right call for product teams that want feedback surveys inside their own app with the data on their own servers.
9. LimeSurvey: Best Open-Source Tool for Research Surveys
What is LimeSurvey? LimeSurvey is a long-running open-source survey tool used widely by universities and researchers, available as a free self-hosted Community Edition or as a paid cloud service.
LimeSurvey is closer to SurveyMonkey for research than any other tool here, with advanced question types, quotas and detailed logic. Its Community Edition is free to install on your own server, and LimeSurvey Cloud runs it for you.
As of November 2026, according to LimeSurvey’s subscription plans:
| Cloud plan | Billing | Administrators | Responses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 | 25 a month |
| Basic | Monthly | 1 | 1,000 a month |
| Expert | Yearly | 3 | 10,000 a year |
| Business | Yearly | 5 to 10 | 50,000 a year |
| Corporate | By agreement | Tailored | Tailored |
Unused responses don’t carry over. LimeSurvey lists cloud prices including VAT on its own site.
What you give up vs SurveyMonkey
- A modern, simple editor; LimeSurvey takes longer to learn.
- A large free cloud plan, at only 25 responses a month.
- A panel for buying responses.
Verdict: Researchers who need SurveyMonkey-level survey logic without a subscription should run LimeSurvey Community Edition, or use its cloud if they don’t want to manage a server.
Best SurveyMonkey Alternative by Use Case
- Small business feedback: Tally or Fillout.
- Schools and classrooms: Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, which most schools already have.
- Academic research: LimeSurvey, or Qualtrics if your university licenses it.
- Product and NPS feedback: Formbricks.
- Health or patient forms: Jotform’s HIPAA plan, or Zoho Survey, which says it’s HIPAA compliant.
- Enterprise research and employee surveys: Qualtrics or QuestionPro.
Privacy and Compliance
If data location or compliance is your reason for switching, these are the options to look at:
- Your own servers: Formbricks and LimeSurvey Community Editions run entirely on infrastructure you control.
- Health data: Jotform offers a HIPAA plan, and Zoho Survey says its surveys are HIPAA and GDPR compliant. Check which plan includes it before you collect health data.
- Company accounts: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 keep form data inside your existing company account, under the same admin and retention controls as your email and files.
Whatever you choose, ask the vendor where data is stored and for its security reports before you collect personal or sensitive answers.
Other Sites Like SurveyMonkey Worth Knowing
- Qualtrics is the enterprise standard for research, customer and employee experience surveys, and the usual upgrade from SurveyMonkey for large organizations. It’s priced by quote and offers far deeper analysis and panel options than any tool above.
- QuestionPro is a survey-first competitor with a beta tool that imports SurveyMonkey surveys and their responses through the SurveyMonkey API, according to its import guide. The import skips logic and some question types, and needs a Research Edition license.
- SurveySparrow offers conversational surveys with NPS and customer-experience features.
- Alchemer is an advanced survey tool for researchers who need complex logic and reporting.
When to Stay on SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey still leads in a few areas. Stay if you need its question bank of pre-written questions, its industry benchmarks, advanced analysis such as cross-tabs and statistical significance, or its paid audience panel for reaching people outside your own list. For a single user who can pay yearly, Standard Annual at $300 a year with unlimited responses is fair value.
Switch if you want to pay monthly, if 10 free responses won’t do, or if your surveys are mostly customer feedback, event registrations or internal polls, where the tools above cost less or nothing.
How to Switch From SurveyMonkey
- Export your past results to Excel or CSV before you cancel, so you keep a full copy.
- Move your surveys. Jotform can import a SurveyMonkey survey from its link, and QuestionPro can import surveys with responses. For any other tool, copy your questions over with the same wording, so new results compare with old ones.
- Rebuild logic carefully and test every path before you send the survey, because no import tool brings logic across reliably.
- Connect the new tool to where responses should go, such as Google Sheets, your CRM or an automation tool. Our guide to automating client onboarding with AI shows how forms can feed a full workflow.
- Cancel SurveyMonkey last, after your first survey runs on the new tool.
For more low-cost tools for a small team, see our list of free AI tools for small business, or read how to choose the right AI tool for a simple way to compare prices and features.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free alternative to SurveyMonkey?
Tally is the best free alternative for most people, because its free plan allows unlimited forms and responses within fair use, with logic and file uploads. Google Forms is the simplest free option if you already use Google, and Fillout’s free plan gives 1,000 responses a month with unlimited team members.
Is Google Forms better than SurveyMonkey?
Google Forms is better for simple surveys on a zero budget, because it’s free with unlimited forms and saves responses straight to Google Sheets. SurveyMonkey is better for research-grade surveys, with a large question bank, answer piping, deeper analysis such as cross-tabs and filters, and the option to buy responses from a panel.
How much does SurveyMonkey cost in 2026?
As of November 2026, SurveyMonkey’s Basic plan is free but limited to 10 questions and 10 responses per survey. Standard costs $149 a month for up to 1,000 responses, or $300 a year with unlimited responses. Advantage costs $468 a year and Premier $1,668 a year, and team plans need at least 3 users.
What is the closest alternative to SurveyMonkey?
Zoho Survey is the closest match, because it’s built for surveys rather than general forms, with templates, logic, reports, an AI survey creator and HIPAA and GDPR compliance. Its free plan allows 100 responses per survey, and its Plus plan allows 3,000 responses per survey each month.
Is there an open-source SurveyMonkey alternative?
Yes, two. LimeSurvey Community Edition is the long-standing open-source tool for research surveys, and Formbricks Community Edition is open source under AGPLv3 and built for website and in-app feedback. Both are free to run on your own server, so you keep every response in your own database.
Which SurveyMonkey alternative is best for small business?
For most small businesses, Tally or Fillout is the best value. Tally’s free plan has no fixed response cap and Pro costs $24 a month billed yearly, while Fillout gives 1,000 free responses a month and unlimited team members on every plan. Microsoft 365 users already have Microsoft Forms at no extra cost.
Can I import my SurveyMonkey surveys into another tool?
Yes, in two tools. Jotform can turn a SurveyMonkey survey into a Jotform form from its link, but it doesn’t bring over your responses. QuestionPro’s beta import tool can move surveys and their responses through the SurveyMonkey API, though it skips logic and some question types and needs a Research Edition license.
Sources
- SurveyMonkey: pricing page, last updated October 15, 2026
- Tally: pricing page, checked November 3, 2026; Jet Admin’s Tally pricing check, September 25, 2026 (independent source)
- Microsoft Forms: form, question and response limits, checked November 3, 2026
- Zoho Survey: pricing page, checked November 3, 2026; Costbench, verified October 31, 2026 (independent source)
- Fillout: pricing page, checked November 3, 2026; Automation Atlas, July 1, 2026 (independent source)
- Typeform: Jet Admin’s Typeform pricing check, September 25, 2026 (independent source)
- Jotform: pricing page, SurveyMonkey import guide and Jet Admin’s Jotform pricing check, September 25, 2026 (independent source)
- Formbricks: pricing page, checked November 3, 2026
- LimeSurvey: subscription plans, checked November 3, 2026
- QuestionPro: SurveyMonkey import tool guide, checked November 3, 2026
