Forms & Surveys · head-to-head
LimeSurvey vs SurveyMonkey
As of 29 Oct 2026, the panel rates LimeSurvey 3/5 and SurveyMonkey 3/5 in Forms & Surveys. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 5 of the 6 judges pick LimeSurvey and 1 picks SurveyMonkey. LimeSurvey scores higher on 1 of 7 criteria (Form & survey building). SurveyMonkey scores higher on 5 of 7 criteria (Survey analysis & reporting, Pricing transparency, Hosting choice, teams & portability, plus 2 more). Provenance — LimeSurvey: EU-Made; SurveyMonkey: Rest of world. Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made.
The short answer
LimeSurvey and SurveyMonkey split by criterion, with no overall call. Form building goes to LimeSurvey — mean 7.5 against 6.8, five judges lean LimeSurvey, one SurveyMonkey — on 28+ question types, conjoint and maxDiff methods, relevance equations and 80+ languages. Analysis and reporting goes to SurveyMonkey — 7.0 against 4.8, six lean SurveyMonkey, zero LimeSurvey — on crosstabs, significance testing and AI text analysis; we found no public information on LimeSurvey cross-tabulation or weighting. Collection and workflows splits: means favor SurveyMonkey 6.3 to 5.8, yet three judges lean LimeSurvey on invitations, quotas and access codes. Pricing transparency leans SurveyMonkey, 6.2 versus 5.2. Sovereignty means tie at 5.7 with five judges leaning LimeSurvey, whose data residency is EU-optional versus US default. Weighted totals favor LimeSurvey across five judges — operations manager 7.3 to 6.5, HR lead 6.8 to 6.0 — while the data protection officer's 6.4 to 0 is a split the verdict flags as anomalous.
Choose LimeSurvey if
- You need research-grade form building — conjoint/CBC, maxDiff, relevance equations and 80+ languages — where the mean stands 7.5 to 6.8 with five judges leaning LimeSurvey against one, and five of six judges gave it 9.
- Your team sends mass invitations with bounce handling, quotas and unique access codes per respondent; three judges lean LimeSurvey here, and we found no public information on SurveyMonkey quotas, reminders or unique links.
- You need the option of EU data residency: LimeSurvey's data residency attribute is EU-optional, SurveyMonkey's is US default, and five judges lean LimeSurvey on sovereignty with means tied at 5.7.
- You want to run the software yourself — the verdict documents a free self-hosted Community Edition under GPLv2, and three judges lean LimeSurvey on hosting and administration.
- Your procurement excludes US Cloud Act subprocessor exposure, which is SurveyMonkey's listed attribute; LimeSurvey's subprocessor exposure is listed as unknown.
Choose SurveyMonkey if
- You need crosstabs with statistical significance, password-protected or SSO-enforced dashboards, and an SPSS export — six judges lean SurveyMonkey on analysis and reporting, 7.0 versus 4.8.
- Your team analyzes open-ended responses — SurveyMonkey documents AI sentiment and thematic analysis, while we found no public information on LimeSurvey open-text analysis.
- You want published team pricing: Team Advantage €30 per user per month and Team Premier €75 per user per month, from 3 users billed annually; pricing transparency leans SurveyMonkey 6.2 to 5.2.
- You need a European contracting entity — SurveyMonkey's legal entity jurisdiction is Ireland, and the verdict credits a published subprocessor list and an online DPA with standard contractual clauses.
Read this comparison as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The bench's picks
Same scores, different priorities: each judge's weighting applied to both products. The split is the finding.
- The Market Researcher LimeSurvey SurveyMonkey picks LimeSurvey
- The Operations Manager LimeSurvey SurveyMonkey picks LimeSurvey
- The HR Lead LimeSurvey SurveyMonkey picks LimeSurvey
- The Academic Researcher LimeSurvey SurveyMonkey picks LimeSurvey
- The Data Protection Officer LimeSurvey SurveyMonkey picks SurveyMonkey
- The Skeptic LimeSurvey SurveyMonkey picks LimeSurvey
Criterion by criterion
| Criterion | LimeSurvey | SurveyMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Form & survey building | 4 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| Distribution, response collection & workflows | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Survey analysis & reporting | 2.5 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| Consent, GDPR & respondent data | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Hosting choice, teams & portability | 3 of 5 | 3.5 of 5 |
| European sovereignty | 3 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Pricing transparency | 2.5 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Criterion | LimeSurvey | SurveyMonkey | The bench leans |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form & survey building | LimeSurvey, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Distribution, response collection & workflows | LimeSurvey, 3 of 6 judges | ||
| Survey analysis & reporting | SurveyMonkey, 6 of 6 judges | ||
| Consent, GDPR & respondent data | LimeSurvey, 3 of 6 judges | ||
| Hosting choice, teams & portability | LimeSurvey, 3 of 6 judges | ||
| European sovereignty | LimeSurvey, 5 of 6 judges | ||
| Pricing transparency | SurveyMonkey, 2 of 6 judges |
Stars show the bench average per criterion; the lean counts which product each judge scored higher. Open a judge's tab for their reasoning on both sides.
Sovereignty, side by side
| Dimension | LimeSurvey | SurveyMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | Not determined | Not determined |
| Hosting location | Not determined | Not determined |
| Hosting options | Not determined | Not determined |
| Open source | Not determined | Not determined |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | Not determined |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | Not determined |
Facts, side by side
Only facts both products carry under the same definition — anything else would not be a fair row.
| Data · Free account deletion | 4 · 24 · 41 | SurveyMonkey Basic (free) · yes2 |
|---|---|---|
| Legal · Address | Hamburg · Papenreye 63 · Germany · 224533 | Dublin 2 · 70 Sir John Rogerson's Quay · Ireland · D02 R2964 |
| Legal · Entity name | LimeSurvey GmbH3 | SurveyMonkey Europe UC4 |
| Legal · Register | Hamburg District Court · HRB 137621 | CRO Ireland · 5323274 |
| Legal · VAT number | DE3012331341 | IE3223102GH4 |
| Pricing · Price changes | 6 · quarterly · yes1 | end of current billing cycle · yes5 |
Questions about LimeSurvey and SurveyMonkey
Which is better, LimeSurvey or SurveyMonkey?
As of 29 Oct 2026, the panel rates both 3/5. Weighted by what each judge cares about, 5 of the 6 judges pick LimeSurvey and 1 picks SurveyMonkey. Which one fits depends on the criteria that matter to you; the table on this page shows both side by side, and each judge’s reading has its own page. Both were scored by the same AI bench under the same rubric, from public evidence only, as the methodology describes.
Is LimeSurvey or SurveyMonkey European?
LimeSurvey is European (EU-Made). SurveyMonkey is not European by provenance (Rest of world). Provenance is read from each company’s own legal pages: who builds it and who owns it.
Do LimeSurvey and SurveyMonkey have a free plan?
As of 29 Oct 2026, LimeSurvey’s own pages state a free plan; SurveyMonkey’s pages as captured do not. Each product page links the pricing page it was read from.