10 Best Free Survey Tools (2026): Limits Compared

Free survey tools compared (checked 2026-11-01)

The best free survey tool is the one whose free plan covers your response volume and question logic. Tally and Google Forms suit most people, Microsoft Forms suits Microsoft 365 teams, and SurveyPlanet suits long surveys without branching. Every limit below was read from the vendor's own pricing or help page on 2026-11-01.

Prices are in US dollars as shown to us. SurveyMonkey's page served Canadian team pricing (Team Advantage CA$30 per user a month, billed annually, 3 users minimum), so we have not listed a US price.

How we picked

We compared each tool's free plan as the vendor describes it on its own pricing or help page, checked on 2026-11-01. A tool qualified only if its free plan does not expire. We did not score brand recognition.

1. Response limit: how many responses you can collect, and whether the limit is per month, per survey or per form.
2. Branching: whether skip or conditional logic is on the free plan.
3. Getting data out: Sheets, Excel, CSV or webhooks on the free plan.
4. Fit: the kind of survey each free plan suits best.

splitforms publishes this list and is not ranked in it, because it is a form backend rather than a survey builder. It appears in a note at the end for people who want to embed a survey on their own site.

1. Tally: best free survey tool with logic

Tally's pricing page lists unlimited forms and unlimited submissions on Free, with conditional logic, webhooks and file uploads up to 10 MB per file. Pro is $24/month and removes Tally branding and the file-size limit.

Good: conditional logic on the free plan, a fast document-style editor and clean embeds. Watch for: Tally branding on free forms. See our Tally alternatives if you want to compare further.

2. Google Forms: best for internal and casual surveys

Google Forms is free with a Google account and sends responses straight to Google Sheets. It publishes no response cap. Section-based branching (go to section based on answer) covers simple skip logic.

Good: live in minutes, familiar to respondents, real-time Sheets. Watch for: limited styling for customer-facing surveys and branching only between whole sections. Our Google Forms alternatives for business covers other options.

3. Microsoft Forms: best for Microsoft 365 users

Microsoft's limits page allows up to 200 responses per form on a free personal account and 1,000 on a paid personal account, with up to 400 forms per account. Work and school plans raise the response limit much higher. Responses open in Excel, and branching and quiz grading are built in.

Good: fits Teams, Excel and SharePoint. Watch for: the 200-response cap if you use a free personal account.

4. SurveyPlanet: unlimited responses on free

SurveyPlanet's free plan lists unlimited surveys, questions and responses. Question branching and exporting results are Pro features, at $20 per month or $180 per year.

Good: no volume cap for linear surveys. Watch for: free users get in-app reports only, with no branching or export.

5. QuestionPro: research-style surveys

QuestionPro's free plan lists 200 responses per survey, and its comparison table includes logic on Free. Paid plans are priced per user: Team Edition is $83 per user a month billed annually for 5 or more users, and Advanced is $99 per user a month.

Good: a generous per-survey allowance for a research tool. Watch for: paid plans are aimed at teams and enterprises.

6. Zoho Survey: short surveys for Zoho users

Zoho Survey's free plan lists unlimited surveys, 10 questions per survey and 100 responses per survey, and every participation counts as a response, finished or not. Its pricing table marks skip logic and CSV or XLS report export as not included on Free; surveys can be exported as PDF.

Good: fits teams already on Zoho. Watch for: the 10-question limit and no free skip logic.

7. Jotform: forms and surveys with payments

Jotform's free Starter plan lists 5 active forms, 100 submissions a month, 500 stored submissions and 100 MB of uploads, plus 10 payment submissions a month and Jotform branding. Bronze is $39 per month, or $34 per month billed yearly.

Good: a polished drag-and-drop builder and many templates. Watch for: the 5-form and 500-stored limits. See Jotform alternatives 2026.

8. Crowdsignal: polls for WordPress sites

Crowdsignal, from Automattic, lists 2,500 signals (responses) on its free plan, with unlimited surveys and limited data export. Signals over the cap are collected but not viewable. Branching starts on Premium, $15/month billed annually.

Good: easy polls inside WordPress. Watch for: no free branching.

9. SurveyMonkey: a familiar name, tight free plan

SurveyMonkey's free Basic plan allows 10 questions per survey, and the pricing page shows the response limit only after you sign in. Logic features are listed on paid plans, and the team plans shown to us require at least 3 users.

Good: respondents recognize it, and the question library is large. Watch for: the 10-question cap and paid-only logic.

10. Typeform: best for trying conversational forms

Typeform's free plan allows 10 responses a month across all forms, per Typeform's community forum. Basic lists conditional logic and 100 responses a month, at $39/month or $28/month billed yearly on the plan card.

Good: one-question-at-a-time forms that feel good on mobile. Watch for: the free plan is a trial in practice. If you are leaving Typeform, see migrate from Typeform.

Which free survey tool should you pick?

• You need conditional logic without paying: Tally.
• Internal, school or quick polls: Google Forms, or Microsoft Forms if you work in Microsoft 365.
• Long, linear surveys with lots of responses: SurveyPlanet.
• Research surveys with logic: QuestionPro, if 200 responses per survey is enough.
• Polls inside WordPress: Crowdsignal.
• Conversational, one-question-at-a-time forms: Typeform, on a paid plan.

Note: embedding a survey on your own site

If you want the survey to live in your own site's HTML, with your styling and no third-party embed, a form backend is an alternative to a survey builder. splitforms (which publishes this article) receives the form post, stores each response in a dashboard and emails you. Free is 500 submissions in total, not per month. Pro is $5/month for 5,000 a month and Annual is $49/year for 15,000 a month; CSV export and webhooks are on paid plans. There are no survey charts or shareable survey links, so you build the questions yourself.

<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
  <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" />
  <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="New customer survey response" />

  <label>How likely are you to recommend us? (1–10)</label>
  <input type="number" name="nps" min="1" max="10" required />

  <label>What's the one thing we could improve?</label>
  <textarea name="improvement" required></textarea>

  <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

Framework guides: React, Next.js, Astro, Svelte. Plans are on the pricing page.

Related reading

• Top 10 free form builders 2026, for general-purpose forms.
• Google Forms vs Typeform vs splitforms.
• Best free form backend services 2026, if you build the form yourself.
• splitforms vs Typeform, splitforms vs Tally, splitforms vs Jotform.

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