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A Guide From Domandata

How to Choose Free Survey Software for Research

Written by Domandata, which makes a survey platform. We name our product where it fits and say where another tool fits better. Claims about other tools link to their own documentation, checked ; confirm anything decisive with the vendor or your institution.

Graduate students and unfunded researchers often need survey software without a budget. Several genuinely free options exist, but free usually comes with a catch: a cap on responses, a time limit, a ban on personal data, or a server you have to run yourself.

This guide lists the free routes worth considering, what each one allows, and where the real costs of a study usually are.

The short answer

First check your institution: a university license for Qualtrics, REDCap, or Microsoft Forms costs you nothing and is often pre-approved. Without one, SoSci Survey is free for non-commercial scholarly work, LimeSurvey is free to self-host, KoboToolbox has a free plan for nonprofit users within a monthly cap, and Google Forms works for simple anonymous questionnaires. Domandata's free plan is for drafting and previewing only; collecting responses requires a paid plan.

Read the fine print on free plans

  1. 1

    Response and survey caps

    Free tiers often cap responses, active surveys, or questions. Check the cap against your planned sample, including pilot and excluded responses.

  2. 2

    Exports

    Some free plans let you collect data but not export it, which makes them unusable for analysis. Confirm you can download complete data in a format your software reads.

  3. 3

    Personal data and ethics

    Some free services prohibit collecting personal data or offer no data-processing agreement, and your IRB or data-protection office may reject a tool without one.

  4. 4

    Time limits and account deletion

    Free projects or accounts can expire or be deleted after inactivity. Download and archive your data and instrument promptly.

  5. 5

    Self-hosting is free software, not free work

    Open-source tools cost nothing to license, but someone has to host, secure, back up, and update the server. Ask whether your department already runs one.

  6. 6

    The budget usually goes to participants

    For paid online samples, participant payments and recruitment-platform fees generally exceed software costs. Budget for those first.

Free options, by situation

You have a university affiliation

Check your IT or research office's software list before anything else. A licensed tool is free to you and usually already reviewed for data security.

Qualtrics

Enterprise survey platform that many universities license campus-wide, and the default tool in much of academic survey research.

Pricing model
Usually an institutional license at no personal cost to students and staff, on terms set by your university's agreement. A capped free account is meant for trying the platform.
Where it runs
Cloud only. Publishes ISO 27001 and FedRAMP certifications.

Strengths

  • If your university licenses it, it is already paid for and usually reviewed by IT.
  • Mature, deep feature set, including Survey Flow randomizers and quotas.
  • Exports to CSV, Excel, and SPSS.

Watch out for

  • Access depends on your institution; leaving it can mean losing the license.
  • The free account caps responses, active surveys, and questions per survey, which rules out most studies.

Sources:Qualtrics Free AccountsQualtrics Account CreationQualtrics RandomizerQualtrics Security

REDCap

Secure web application for surveys and research databases, developed at Vanderbilt and widely used in clinical and health research.

Pricing model
No charge to non-profit institutions that join the REDCap consortium; not available to individuals or commercial organizations.
Where it runs
Installed and supported by your institution. Can be configured to support HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 compliance.

Strengths

  • Built for sensitive and regulated data, with audit trails.
  • Branching, calculated fields, longitudinal scheduling, and a mobile app.
  • Exports to SPSS, SAS, Stata, and R.

Watch out for

  • Only available if your institution runs an installation.
  • Features and support depend on how your institution configures and staffs it.

Sources:REDCap SoftwareJoining the REDCap Consortium

Microsoft Forms

Simple form tool in Microsoft 365, often available through a university's tenant.

Pricing model
Included with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 Education; free with a personal Microsoft account at much lower response limits.
Where it runs
Cloud, inside your organization's Microsoft 365 tenant when used through work or school.

Strengths

  • Usually already licensed by the university.
  • Responses open directly in Excel.

Watch out for

  • No SPSS, Stata, or R export.
  • Personal accounts have low response limits.

Sources:Microsoft Forms LimitsMicrosoft Forms Results

Non-commercial research with no budget

Both are free for academic use under conditions: SoSci Survey limits personal data and project length on its free server, and LimeSurvey Community Edition needs a server you maintain.

SoSci Survey

Professional questionnaire tool from Munich, widely used in European social science.

Pricing model
Free for non-commercial scholarly projects and non-profits; commercial use is paid.
Where it runs
Cloud servers in Munich, or install it on your own server.

Strengths

  • Free for most academic projects.
  • Labelled exports for SPSS, R, and Stata, plus a codebook.
  • Programmable survey paths for complex designs.

Watch out for

  • Free projects are time-limited and may not collect personal data under the GDPR; that requires the paid server.

Sources:SoSci Survey for AcademicsSoSci Survey Data Download

LimeSurvey

Open-source survey platform you can host yourself or use as a hosted cloud service.

Pricing model
Community Edition is free to self-host under the GPL; LimeSurvey Cloud has a free tier and paid subscriptions, with education discounts.
Where it runs
Self-hosted or cloud, with cloud regions including Germany and Finland and a GDPR data-processing agreement.

Strengths

  • Full control of the data when you host it yourself.
  • Exports to SPSS, R (via a plugin), Stata, CSV, and Excel.

Watch out for

  • Self-hosting requires someone to maintain, secure, and update the server.
  • Routing is written as relevance equations, and some statistical exports need extra configuration.

Sources:LimeSurvey PricingLimeSurvey Exporting ResultsLimeSurvey ExpressionScript

Field or low-connectivity research

A free plan for nonprofit users, with a monthly submission cap and offline collection on Android.

KoboToolbox

Data-collection platform from the nonprofit Kobo, built for field, humanitarian, and low-connectivity research.

Pricing model
Free Community Plan for nonprofit users, with a monthly submission cap; paid plans add capacity, and for-profit organizations contact sales.
Where it runs
Public global server, public EU server, or a private server.

Strengths

  • Offline data collection on Android and in offline-capable web forms.
  • GPS, photo, and audio capture for fieldwork.

Watch out for

  • SPSS export is a labels syntax file to apply to CSV data, not a ready .sav file.
  • Monthly submission cap on the free plan.

Sources:About KoboToolboxKoboToolbox ExportsKoboCollectKoboToolbox Accounts and Plans

Behavioral experiments you can code

Free and open source if you can program and arrange hosting; paid hosting such as Pavlovia is optional.

jsPsych

Free JavaScript library for behavioral experiments that run in the participant's browser.

Pricing model
Free and open source under the MIT license.
Where it runs
None included; host it yourself or with a service such as JATOS, Cognition.run, or Pavlovia.

Strengths

  • Complete flexibility, with a large plugin ecosystem.
  • No license fees.

Watch out for

  • Requires JavaScript programming.
  • You arrange hosting, data storage, and security yourself.

Sources:jsPsych: Running ExperimentsjsPsych on GitHub

PsychoPy and Pavlovia

Open-source software for building cognitive and behavioral experiments with a graphical Builder or Python code; Pavlovia runs them online.

Pricing model
PsychoPy is free. On Pavlovia, piloting is free and collecting data is paid per participant or through an institutional license.
Where it runs
PsychoPy runs on your own computer for lab studies; Pavlovia is a cloud service.

Strengths

  • Designed for precise stimulus timing in cognitive tasks.
  • A graphical Builder, with Python for anything custom.
  • Free for in-lab studies.

Watch out for

  • Advanced work needs Python or JavaScript.
  • Online fielding costs money unless your institution holds a license.

Sources:PsychoPyPsychoPy and Pavlovia PricingPavlovia Piloting and Running

oTree

Python framework for interactive, multiplayer experiments such as economic games and markets, which also supports surveys.

Pricing model
Free under an MIT-style license that asks you to cite the oTree paper in publications.
Where it runs
Self-hosted on Heroku or your own server.

Strengths

  • Real-time interaction between participants, which survey platforms generally do not offer.
  • Free and open source.

Watch out for

  • Requires Python programming.
  • You set up and run the server.

Sources:oTreeoTree Server Setup

Longitudinal or diary studies

Free, with automated reminders for repeated measures, if you are comfortable with R for advanced logic.

formr

Open-source survey framework from the University of Göttingen that chains surveys into automated runs for diary and longitudinal studies.

Pricing model
Free; researcher accounts are requested from the maintainers.
Where it runs
Hosted at formr.org, or self-hosted.

Strengths

  • Automated email and text reminders for repeated measures.
  • Deep R integration for item logic and personalized feedback.

Watch out for

  • Advanced use needs R.
  • Accounts are approved by administrators.

Sources:formrformr Documentation

Short anonymous questionnaires

Google Forms is free with spreadsheet output. SurveyMonkey's free plan does not export responses, so it only works if you never need the raw data elsewhere.

Google Forms

Free form builder in Google Workspace that writes responses straight into a Google Sheet.

Pricing model
Free with a Google account and included in Google Workspace, including Education editions.
Where it runs
Cloud. Covered by Google's HIPAA Business Associate Agreement only under a Workspace agreement.

Strengths

  • No setup, and familiar to collaborators and students.
  • Responses land in a spreadsheet immediately.

Watch out for

  • No SPSS, Stata, or R export; you get a Sheet or CSV.
  • Branching is section-based, with no built-in treatment arms or quotas.

Sources:Google Forms: ResponsesGoogle Forms: BranchingGoogle Cloud HIPAA Compliance

SurveyMonkey

General-purpose commercial survey tool known for ease of use.

Pricing model
Free plan plus paid subscriptions; the free plan caps questions per survey and does not export data.
Where it runs
Cloud.

Strengths

  • Quick to learn for straightforward questionnaires.
  • SPSS (.sav) export on paid plans.

Watch out for

  • The free plan cannot export responses, so it does not work for a study you need to analyze elsewhere.
  • Logic and randomization features vary by plan; confirm what your design needs before paying.

Sources:SurveyMonkey Plan DetailsSurveyMonkey Free Plan RestrictionsSurveyMonkey SPSS ExportsSurveyMonkey Logic Features

When a low-cost paid plan is worth it

If you need randomized experiments, conjoint, or labelled SPSS and Stata exports and have no institutional license, a monthly individual plan can cost less than the hours spent working around free tools. You can cancel when fieldwork ends.

DomandataOur product

Browser-based survey platform built for academic social-science research: survey experiments, conjoint, and analysis-ready data.

Pricing model
Free plan for drafting and previewing; fielding a study, Flow logic, and exports need a paid individual or team plan with published self-serve pricing.
Where it runs
Cloud only, on U.S.-based infrastructure providers.

Strengths

  • Randomized treatment arms (weighted, stratified, or balanced) with the assigned condition saved in every export.
  • Conjoint, MaxDiff, list experiments, and reaction-time tasks built in, without custom JavaScript.
  • Native SPSS (.sav) and Stata (.dta) exports with a generated codebook, plus Qualtrics .qsf import.
  • Links OSF preregistrations and deposits replication materials to Harvard Dataverse or Zenodo.

Watch out for

  • Does not sign HIPAA Business Associate Agreements, so it is not suitable for studies that require one.
  • Cannot be self-hosted, and the data-hosting region is not fixed by contract.
  • The free plan cannot collect responses; fielding a study requires a paid plan.
  • A newer, smaller vendor: its SOC 2 Type I audit is still in progress, which some IT reviews ask for.

Sources:Domandata PricingDomandata Trust Center

Before you launch on a free tool

  • The response cap covers your sample plus pilots and exclusions
  • You can export complete data, not just view it
  • Your ethics board accepts the tool's data handling
  • You know when the project or account expires
  • The instrument and raw data are archived somewhere you control
  • Someone is responsible for updates if you self-host

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there completely free survey software for academic research?

Yes. SoSci Survey is free for non-commercial scholarly projects, LimeSurvey Community Edition and jsPsych are free and open source, KoboToolbox has a free plan for nonprofit users, and REDCap is free through consortium institutions. Each has conditions, such as self-hosting or limits on personal data, so check them against your study.

Is Domandata free?

Domandata has a free plan for drafting surveys and previewing them as a respondent, with no credit card required. Collecting responses, Flow logic, and exports require a paid individual or team plan, so it is not a free option for fielding a study.

Can students use Qualtrics for free?

Students at universities with a Qualtrics license can usually sign up through the institution at no cost. Without a license, the free Qualtrics account caps responses, surveys, and questions, which rules out most thesis projects.

What is the cheapest way to run an online survey experiment?

Use a tool your university already licenses if it supports random assignment. Otherwise, a free open-source tool works if you can host it, and a low-cost paid plan is often cheaper than building randomization by hand. Participant payments are usually the largest cost.

Keep Reading

Domandata Pricing

What the free plan includes and what paid plans add.

Why Domandata

Our own case for Domandata, and when to use another tool.

Qualtrics Alternatives

Options for when you lose or outgrow a license.

What Social-Science Surveys Need

Requirements for social-science designs, with pilot tests.