Forms & Surveys
SmartSurvey
Provenance unknown Report an error0–5 in half steps. 5 means the rubric's top anchor is met on the evidence.
by SmartSurvey Ltd · www.smartsurvey.co.uk
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SmartSurvey at a glance
- Vendor
- SmartSurvey Ltd
- Headquarters
- Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Data hosting
- Default not stated; pages mention United Kingdom source, captured 3 Nov 2026
- Free plan
- Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026
- Panel verdict
- The AI panel rates SmartSurvey 3/5, the mean of 6 judges. SmartSurvey is a UK survey and form builder whose strongest criterion is collection and workflows, scored 7-8: contact-list invitations with reminders that skip bounced and completed recipients, email and SMS delivery, website and in-app embeds, popups, QR codes, unlimited tracking links, event triggers, a documented API and stated panel access to over 20 million respondents across 70+ countries. how scores are made
- As of
- Vendor pages captured 3 Nov 2026; evaluated by the panel 3 Nov 2026. all sources
Read this page as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The panel's verdict
SmartSurvey is a UK survey and form builder whose strongest criterion is collection and workflows, scored 7-8: contact-list invitations with reminders that skip bounced and completed recipients, email and SMS delivery, website and in-app embeds, popups, QR codes, unlimited tracking links, event triggers, a documented API and stated panel access to over 20 million respondents across 70+ countries. Form building at 6-7 rests on skip-logic and piping documentation. Scores spread 4 to 6 on sovereignty and 5 to 7 on consent and data protection. The sovereignty gap turns on the same facts: a UK company under English and Welsh law, UK data centres on named ANS servers, an appointed EU representative and a published sub-processor list, weighed against a privacy policy permitting storage and processing outside the UK or EEA, which pushed one judge handling special-category research data to a 4. Consent credits a genuine anonymous mode and exportable consent evidence against default IP recording and manual deletion. Hosting and administration sits at a flat 6. Pricing transparency sits at 3, with no prices on the captured pages.
Speaks for it
- Contact-list invitations with reminders that automatically exclude bounced and already-completed recipients, alongside email, SMS, website and in-app embeds, popups and QR distribution
- Panel access to over 20 million respondents across 70+ countries is stated on the homepage, with API documentation available
- Skip logic and piping are documented in depth, from jump-to-page routing and disqualification tagging to carry-forward answers, system variables and per-link themes and translations
- Anonymous mode stops IP and email addresses being recorded, and consent can be exported with completion timestamps as GDPR evidence
- The chain is traceable: a UK company under English and Welsh law, ICO registration Z1155070, a named DPO, UK data centres on servers from named provider ANS, a published sub-processor list and ISO 27001 stated
Held against it
- The privacy policy states personal data may be stored, transferred and processed outside the UK or EEA
- IP addresses are recorded by default until anonymous mode is switched on
- Deletion has to be initiated manually, and the captured pages give different figures for backup retention — up to 21 days on one, up to 30 days on another
- Single sign-on supports OpenID Connect only from the Scale plan up, with SAML2 and plain OAuth2 stated as unsupported
- No monetary prices, response limits, billing periods or cancellation terms appear on the captured pages
Best for
- You run surveys from managed contact lists across several channels and need reminders that automatically skip bounced and already-completed respondents
- You are a UK organisation that wants a traceable chain — UK data centres, ICO registration, a named DPO and a published sub-processor list
- You need documented GDPR accountability, with exportable consent-plus-timestamp evidence and a genuine anonymous mode
- Your team authenticates through OpenID Connect and manages sub-users with granular per-survey permissions
Avoid if
- You require EU hosting or an EU contracting entity — data is kept in the UK and the privacy policy permits storage, transfer and processing outside the UK or EEA
- Your federation or IT stack depends on SAML2, Shibboleth or plain OAuth2 single sign-on, which the help pages state is not supported
- You need deletion to run automatically on a schedule — the pages state deletion has to be initiated manually
- You plan to collect sensitive responses on the free Basic account, which the pages state is excluded from TLS encryption
The scores
| Criterion | Panel median |
|---|---|
| Form & survey building | 3 of 5 |
| Distribution, response collection & workflows | 3.5 of 5 |
| Survey analysis & reporting | 3 of 5 |
| Consent, GDPR & respondent data | 3 of 5 |
| Hosting choice, teams & portability | 3 of 5 |
| European sovereignty | 2.5 of 5 |
Form & survey building
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How this is scored
What can be built without code: question and field types, conditional logic and branching, piping and hidden fields, calculations, multi-page forms and progress, templates, design and branding, multiple languages, and accessible output for respondents.
0 — Not a form or survey builder; questions cannot be authored in the product.
3 — A builder with the common question types and a few templates; logic, branding or languages are basic or not described.
5 — A drag-and-drop builder with a wide range of question types, conditional logic that shows, hides or skips questions, multi-page forms, a template library, and the customer's logo, colours and fonts.
8 — Advanced logic with piping, hidden fields, calculations and scoring, randomisation, surveys translated into several languages from one master, reusable question libraries, custom CSS or themes, and accessible forms with a named standard (WCAG 2.1 AA or BITV) stated.
10 — Best-in-class authoring: complex research designs (loops, quotas in logic, conjoint or MaxDiff), versioned forms with change history, a published accessibility conformance report, and every element of a form available through the API.
The Market Researcher
Skip logic and piping are documented in real depth — rule conditions, jump-to-page with a start-at question, answer piping with system variables and contact-list fields, carry-forward responses, and a disqualified-page route for screening. For my research designs I miss evidence of quota control, randomisation, calculations, or one master survey translated across my four languages, so this sits between a standard builder and research-grade authoring. 1 4 5 7 10
The Operations Manager
A colleague could realistically build our forms without IT: question types from multiple choice to sliders and NPS, skip logic with several condition types and a preview to test it, jump-to-page routing, disqualification pages, and piping that reuses answers, contact fields and system variables in later questions. Per-link themes and translations are described; we found no public information on calculations, scoring, randomisation, reusable question libraries or a stated accessibility standard. 1 4 5 7 10
The HR Lead
Skip logic with documented conditions, jump-to-page actions and disqualification paths, plus a full piping toolkit covering question and answer piping, system variables, carry-forward and custom delimiters, default answers and per-link themes and translations, take authoring well beyond the basics. We found no public information on calculations, randomisation, reusable question libraries or accessibility conformance to a named standard such as WCAG or BITV, which my works council will ask about. 1 4 5 7 10
The Academic Researcher
Branching is documented in real depth — skip logic with several condition types, jump-to-page with a start-at question, all-rules evaluation and disqualified-response tagging — and piping covers answers, questions, carry-forward options, system variables and delimiters. But we found no public information on randomisation, reusable question libraries, calculations or scoring, custom CSS, or any named accessibility standard, and question types are listed only as "multiple choice, sliders, NPS, free text, and more". 1 4 5 7 10
The Data Protection Officer
Skip logic comes with a full condition set, jump-to-page routing, disqualification tagging and preview testing, and the piping documentation runs deep — question and answer piping, carry-forward of earlier answers, system variables such as the respondent's email address, custom contact fields and delimiter options — alongside themes and per-link translations. Question types include sliders, NPS and free text. I found no public information on calculations, randomisation, reusable question libraries or a named accessibility standard, which is what separates the top tier. 1 4 5 7
The Skeptic
Skip logic with branching, jump-to-page rules and both question and answer piping are documented in convincing depth, and per-link themes and translations exist alongside question types from NPS to sliders. We found no public information on calculations, scoring, randomisation, question libraries or a stated accessibility standard, so the evidence sits between the solid logic tooling and the advanced-authoring level. 1 4 5 7
Distribution, response collection & workflows
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How this is scored
How forms reach people and what happens to an answer: share links, embedding, QR codes, email invitations with reminders, contact lists and panels, offline or kiosk collection, file uploads, payments and signatures inside the form, notifications, approval or assignment of submissions, and automations that pass a response on to other tools.
0 — No way to collect responses from other people; the product only analyses data collected elsewhere.
3 — A share link and an embed code, with responses visible in the product; invitations, notifications and onward workflows are basic or not described.
5 — Links, embedding and QR codes, email notifications on submission, file uploads, a few native integrations (spreadsheets, CRM, chat) plus a connector service such as Zapier or Make, and either email invitations with reminders or payments inside the form.
8 — Invitations to managed contact lists with reminders and unique links, response quotas and closing rules, offline or kiosk collection, submissions routed for approval or assignment, conditional notifications, documented webhooks and a REST API to read and write responses.
10 — Collection at research and process scale: panel or sample sourcing, multi-channel distribution (email, SMS, web, app intercept) with deduplication, workflows with branching and audit trail, and every response event exposed to the customer's systems in real time with a stated delivery guarantee.
The Market Researcher
Invitations go to managed contact lists with follow-up reminders that exclude bounces and already-completed respondents, and around that sit email, SMS, web pop-up, embed, QR and in-app channels, unlimited unique tracking links, event triggers, a documented API, and access to a panel of over 20 million respondents across 70+ countries. I found no public information on response quotas, closing rules, offline or kiosk collection, or webhooks, which is what holds it below the top band. 1 6 7 10
The Operations Manager
Distribution is broad — email and SMS sending built in, contact-list invitations with reminders that skip bounces and removed recipients, website and in-app embeds, pop-ups, exit-intent, QR codes, unique tracking links, event-based sending, and an API or native integrations toward CRM, helpdesk and database systems. For my paper-form replacement I specifically need file uploads for damage photos and payment capture on order forms, and we found no public information on either, nor on submission notifications or approval routing. 1 6 7 10
The HR Lead
Built-in email and SMS delivery to contact lists, with reminders that automatically exclude bounces, removed recipients and already-complete respondents, plus unlimited tracking links with per-link restrictions, QR codes, website and in-app embeds, pop-up and exit-intent triggers, event-triggered sends, opt-out tags and published API documentation. Panel access to twenty million respondents across seventy-plus countries is even claimed. We found no public information on webhooks, approval routing, offline or kiosk collection, or quota-based closing rules. 1 4 6 7 10
The Academic Researcher
This is close to how my panel studies actually run: contact-list invitations with reminders that exclude bounces and removed recipients, unique tracking links, QR codes, JavaScript and iframe embeds, pop-up and exit-intent triggers, email and SMS delivery, event-based sending, and API or native integrations with documentation. Panel access to over 20 million respondents across 70+ countries is stated on the homepage; we found no public information on response quotas, closing rules, offline or kiosk collection, or webhooks. 1 6 7
The Data Protection Officer
Invitations go to managed contact lists with reminders that automatically exclude bounced and removed addresses, tracking links are unique and unlimited per survey with their own themes, restrictions and QR codes, and distribution spans email, SMS, website embeds, popups with visit-length and exit-intent triggers and app embeds, with event triggers, a documented API and consumer panels of millions of respondents also on offer. I found no public information on response quotas and closing rules, offline or kiosk collection, approval routing or webhooks. 1 6 7
The Skeptic
Contact-list invitations with reminders that skip bounces and completed respondents, unlimited tracking links, QR codes, embeds, popups, exit surveys and event triggers are all documented, alongside a documented API and access to 20 million panel respondents across 70+ countries. We found no public information on quotas and closing rules, offline or kiosk collection, approval routing or webhooks. 1 6 7 10
Survey analysis & reporting
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How this is scored
What the product does with the answers: live results and charts, filters and segments, cross-tabulation, NPS, CSAT and other standard scores, open-text and sentiment analysis, shareable dashboards and reports, and exports to the formats analysts use (CSV, Excel, SPSS, R).
0 — No view of results inside the product; submissions can only be forwarded or downloaded one at a time.
3 — A table of responses with simple charts per question and a CSV export; filters, comparisons and report sharing are basic or not described.
5 — Charts per question, filters and segments, at least one comparison or cross-tab view, standard scores such as NPS, shareable or exportable reports (PDF, presentation), and exports to CSV and Excel.
8 — Cross-tabulation with significance testing, weighting, open-text coding or sentiment analysis, trend reports across survey waves, dashboards for different audiences with permissions, and SPSS or R exports with labels.
10 — A research-grade analysis environment: statistical models beyond cross-tabs (driver analysis, regression), benchmarks, text analytics with themes the customer can edit, and every analysis reproducible from documented exports or an analytics API.
The Market Researcher
Cross-tabs are documented with row or column orientation, raw numbers or percentages in cells, filters and export options; NPS is a native question type, dashboards update live, reports can be filtered, scheduled and shared, and AI theme and sentiment detection covers open text before my board meeting. I found no public information on significance testing, weighting, trends across waves, or SPSS and R exports, so analysis stays a notch below research-grade. 1 3 9
The Operations Manager
The results side is credible: live dashboards, cross-tab reports with custom filters, raw-number or percentage cells and chart options, reports that can be filtered, scheduled, exported and shared, plus AI that spots themes and sentiment in open text, and response-level find, edit, export and delete. We found no public information on significance testing, weighting, trend reports across waves, or analyst export formats such as SPSS. 1 3 9
The HR Lead
Dashboards show key metrics as they come in, reports can be filtered, scheduled, exported and shared securely, NPS is among the question types, and the AI feature spots themes and sentiment in open text. Cross-tab reports let you set question orientation, switch between raw numbers and percentages, and apply a custom filter to exported responses. We found no public information on significance testing, weighting, trend reports across survey waves, SPSS or R exports — or on hiding results below a minimum group size, the first thing my works council asks about. 1 3 9
The Academic Researcher
Cross-tab reports with filters, chart types and export options are documented in detail, and the homepage promises dashboards, scheduled shared reports and AI theme and sentiment spotting in open text. But we found no public information on significance testing, weighting, trend reports across waves, or exports to SPSS or R with labels — the formats my statistics lab opens — and the export formats themselves are not named on the captured pages. 1 3 8 9
The Data Protection Officer
Cross-tab reports are documented with custom filters, raw-number or percentage cells, row and column orientation and configurable chart types, AI spots themes and sentiment in open-text feedback, dashboards show key metrics as responses come in, reports can be filtered, scheduled and shared, an NPS question type exists and responses are exportable. I found no public information on significance testing, weighting, trend reports across survey waves, or SPSS and R exports. 1 3 9
The Skeptic
Cross-tab reports with filters, chart options and export filtering are documented in help articles, dashboards, scheduled report sharing and AI sentiment analysis of open text are advertised, and NPS is a native question type. We found no public information on significance testing, weighting, trend reports or which export file formats are produced. 1 3 8 9
Consent, GDPR & respondent data
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How this is scored
What the product gives the customer to collect personal data lawfully: consent and privacy-notice fields, anonymous surveys that really drop IP addresses and identifiers, retention periods and automatic deletion, handling of access and erasure requests, encryption of responses, a data processing agreement, and controls over cookies and tracking on the form itself.
0 — The product collects no personal data from respondents, so there is nothing to protect; or it is a different kind of product.
3 — A privacy policy and a statement of GDPR compliance, with a checkbox field usable for consent; anonymity, retention and deletion are not described.
5 — A data processing agreement offered to customers, a consent or privacy-notice field, an anonymous mode that does not store IP addresses, responses deletable by the customer, and encryption in transit and at rest stated.
8 — Retention periods with automatic deletion, tools for access and erasure requests per respondent, field-level encryption or masking of sensitive answers, forms that set no tracking cookies by default, a published list of technical and organisational measures, and a named data protection officer.
10 — Data protection by design and evidenced: end-to-end or customer-key encryption of responses, documented data minimisation defaults, a DPA with audit rights and subprocessor change notice, records of consent kept with each response, and an independent audit of the privacy controls published.
The Market Researcher
Anonymous surveys genuinely drop the respondent's IP and email address, individual responses can be found, edited, exported and deleted, encryption is stated as TLS 1.2 in transit and SQL Transparent Data Encryption at rest, a DPO and data protection team are in place, and an export of consent alongside completion timestamps is offered as GDPR evidence. Deletion has to be initiated manually today, retention is only "as long as necessary", and I found no public information on field-level encryption or the cookie behaviour of the form page itself. 2 3 10 11
The Operations Manager
There is a genuine anonymous mode that skips recording IP and email addresses, responses I can export or delete myself, tools for data-subject requests, marketing-consent collection with opt-out tags and a consent-plus-timestamp export, encryption with TLS 1.2 in transit and database-level encryption at rest, and a named data protection officer. Deletion is initiated manually, with backups persisting up to 21 days on one captured page and up to 30 days on another, and we found no public information on a data processing agreement or automatic retention deletion. 2 3 10 11
The HR Lead
Anonymity is real when switched on — the anonymised setting records neither IP nor email address — and a named data protection officer, encryption in transit and at rest, deletable surveys and responses, respondent rights routed through the survey creator, and exportable consent evidence with timestamps give me much of what the works council demands. Two cautions: IP addresses are recorded by default until that setting is chosen, and the vendor itself states the free Basic account is excluded from TLS encryption. The captured pages give different figures for how long backups retain deleted data (up to 21 days on one, up to 30 days on another), deletion is initiated manually today, and we found no public information on automatic deletion schedules or a data processing agreement. 2 3 10 11
The Academic Researcher
The GDPR pages are unusually specific: an anonymous mode that does not record IP or email addresses, per-response find-edit-export-delete, an appointed DPO with a legal contact, TLS 1.2 in transit and transparent data encryption at rest, and an export of consent plus completion timestamp presented as GDPR evidence — exactly the consent record my ethics board asks for. Three things temper it: IP addresses are recorded by default until the anonymous option is switched on, survey deletion is manual, and the captured pages give different figures for how long backups persist after deletion (21 days on the security page, 30 days in the privacy policy); TLS encryption is also stated to exclude the free Basic account, so every instrument would need a paid plan. 2 3 10 11
The Data Protection Officer
Anonymous mode genuinely stops the IP and email address being recorded, encryption in transit and at rest is stated, a named DPO with a data protection team, a published list of technical and organisational measures, breach notification to controllers and a sub-processor list on the vendor's own pages are all documented, and consent can be collected with an exportable consent-plus-timestamp record. Against that, deletion has to be initiated manually with automation only in development, deleted data persists in backups for a period on which the captured pages give different figures, IP addresses are recorded by default until anonymous mode is switched on, and the free Basic account is excluded from TLS encryption. I found no public information confirming a data processing agreement is offered to customers. 2 3 10 11
The Skeptic
Anonymous mode genuinely drops IP and email addresses, a DPO is appointed with an ICO registration published, encryption is stated in transit and at rest, consent can be exported with timestamps, and self-service account deletion exists. On the other side of the ledger, IP addresses are recorded by default until anonymous mode is selected, the privacy policy lists the free Basic account as an exception to TLS encryption, deletion must be initiated manually, the captured pages give different figures for backup retention (21 days on one, 30 on another), and an objection to a subprocessor can only be resolved by terminating the account. We found no public information on a data processing agreement being offered to customers. 2 3 10 11
Hosting choice, teams & portability
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How this is scored
What the customer may choose about where and how the product runs and who uses it: a selectable data region or EU-only hosting, self-hosting or an on-premise edition, team workspaces with roles and permissions, single sign-on, an audit log, custom domains and white-labelling, and a complete export of forms and responses that another tool can import.
0 — A single-user tool with no export of forms or responses.
3 — Shared access for a team and a response export; data location, roles and single sign-on are not described.
5 — Hosting location stated with an EU option, team workspaces with at least two roles, single sign-on on a higher plan, a custom domain or removed vendor branding, and an export of all responses.
8 — EU-only hosting selectable per account or a self-hosted edition, granular roles per form or folder, SSO with SAML and user provisioning, an audit log, white-labelling, and forms and responses exportable in a documented format with an API.
10 — Full control over operation: an open-source or on-premise edition with feature parity, customer-chosen region per workspace, administrative APIs, a documented migration path in and out, and an uptime commitment with a published status history.
The Market Researcher
Hosting is UK-based on servers from a named provider, permissions are granular per survey for sub-users on Business or Enterprise team accounts, surveys can be transferred between users, and single sign-on via OpenID Connect with PKCE arrives on Scale plans and above — with SAML explicitly not supported. I found no public information on an EU or selectable data region, self-hosting, an audit log, or white-labelling. 1 3 12 13
The Operations Manager
Hosting is stated as UK-based, with granular per-survey permissions for sub-users, user management on Business and Enterprise team plans, and single sign-on via OpenID Connect from the Scale plan upward — the help pages state SAML2 and plain OAuth2 are not supported. We found no public information on a selectable data region, an audit log, custom domains or white-labelling. 1 3 12 13
The HR Lead
Hosting is UK-only on dedicated servers from a named provider, ANS, with granular per-survey permissions for sub-users on Business and Enterprise team plans, master and sub-user roles, single sign-on via OpenID Connect from the Scale plan upwards — the vendor states SAML2 and plain OAuth2 are not supported — plus free machine-readable export of account data and an API. We found no public information on an EU hosting option, self-hosting, an audit log, custom domains or white-labelling. 1 2 3 12 13
The Academic Researcher
Granular per-survey permissions for sub-users, user management on Business or Enterprise team accounts, and single sign-on using OpenID Connect on Scale plans and above are evidenced — though the help pages state plainly that SAML2 and Shibboleth are not supported, which our university federation relies on. Hosting is stated to be UK-based with ANS named for dedicated servers, and responses are exportable; we found no public information on a selectable EU region, self-hosting, an audit log, custom domains or white-labelling, and the privacy policy states data may be stored, transferred and processed outside the UK or EEA. 2 3 12 13
The Data Protection Officer
Data is held in a UK data centre on dedicated servers supplied by a named provider, master users get granular per-survey permissions over sub-users with a review page for shared permissions, and single sign-on via OpenID Connect with PKCE is available from the Scale plan up, though the vendor states SAML and plain OAuth are not supported. Responses are exportable and an API is documented. I found no public information on a selectable data region, an audit log, custom domains or white-labelling, and the privacy policy notes data may be stored or processed outside the UK or EEA. 2 3 12 13
The Skeptic
UK hosting with a named infrastructure provider, granular per-survey permissions for sub-users on Business and Enterprise team plans, and single sign-on from the Scale plan upward give real team and location substance. The single sign-on is OpenID Connect only, with SAML and OAuth2 explicitly unsupported, and we found no public information on a selectable data region, self-hosting, an audit log or white-labelling. 1 3 12 13
European sovereignty
panel opinion
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How this is scored
Who the contracting entity and the parent company are, where forms and responses are hosted, and who the subprocessors are (hosting, email delivery, payment providers, analytics, AI features). Independently sourced by the sovereignty pipeline; responses often carry personal and sometimes special-category data, so the whole chain counts, not only the database.
0 — Non-EU vendor and contracting entity, hosting unstated, subprocessors unnamed, and no data processing agreement offered.
3 — A privacy policy and a data processing agreement exist, but hosting location is unstated or non-EU and the subprocessors are not listed.
5 — EU hosting available and an EU contracting entity or EU representative, but parts of the chain (email, analytics, AI features, support) run through non-EU providers without a stated safeguard.
8 — EU hosting on named infrastructure, EU contracting entity, subprocessors listed with their locations, a data processing agreement published, and security certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2) stated.
10 — Sovereign end to end and evidenced: European ownership, entity, hosting and every subprocessor, data export and deletion documented, and certifications published with their scope rather than implied.
The Market Researcher
The contracting entity is SmartSurvey Ltd in Tewkesbury under the law of England and Wales, data sits in a UK data centre on servers from a named provider (ANS), a sub-processor list is published with payment providers named, ISO 27001 is stated, and an EU representative is appointed. The captured pages also state that data may be stored or processed outside the UK or EEA and that Google Analytics runs on the site, and I found no EU hosting option, so I read this as a transparent UK chain rather than an EU one. 1 2 3
The Operations Manager
The contracting entity is SmartSurvey Ltd of Tewkesbury under English and Welsh law, responses sit in UK data centres on dedicated servers from a named provider (ANS), an EU representative is appointed, and ISO 27001 plus further certifications are stated. The chain includes PayPal, Stripe and Google Analytics, and the privacy policy says data may be stored or processed outside the UK or EEA in line with GDPR transfer rules; a subprocessor list is referenced but the pages we read do not show its locations, and we found no public information on a published processing agreement. 1 2 3
The HR Lead
The contracting entity is SmartSurvey Ltd under English and Welsh law, hosting sits in UK data centres on named ANS infrastructure, an EU representative (IT Governance Europe Limited) is appointed, a sub-processor list is published naming ANS, PayPal and Stripe, and ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus and FSQS are claimed. The privacy policy states personal data may be stored, transferred and processed outside the UK or EEA under Chapter 5 safeguards, and Google Analytics runs on the website. We found no public information on a data processing agreement. 1 2 3
The Academic Researcher
The contracting entity is SmartSurvey Ltd under English and Welsh law, servers and backups are UK-based with ANS named as the hosting provider, an EU representative (IT Governance Europe Limited) is appointed, a sub-processor list is published, PayPal and Stripe handle payments, and ISO 27001, FSQS and Cyber Essentials Plus are stated. But the entity and hosting are UK rather than EU, and the privacy policy permits storage, transfer and processing outside the UK or EEA — for my faculty, that means a transfer assessment before any special-category data goes in. 1 2 3
The Data Protection Officer
The chain is largely traceable: SmartSurvey Ltd is a UK company under English and Welsh law, ICO-registered, with an EU representative appointed and survey data in a UK data centre on dedicated servers from a named subcontractor; a sub-processor list is published on the vendor's own pages, PayPal and Stripe are named, and ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus are stated. The privacy policy nevertheless allows storage and processing outside the UK or EEA, the locations of the listed sub-processors are not shown on the captured pages, and I found no public information confirming a published data processing agreement. 1 2 3
The Skeptic
A UK company under English law, UK servers on infrastructure named as ANS, an appointed EU representative, an ISO 27001 certificate and a published sub-processor list is more than most vendors show. But hosting is UK-only rather than an EU option, the privacy policy states personal data may be stored, transferred and processed outside the UK or EEA, and PayPal and Stripe sit in the payment chain without stated locations, so a buyer wanting an EU contracting entity and EU hosting does not get them here. 1 2 3
Pricing transparency
not rated — the vendor publishes no price
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How this is scored
Whether a buyer can compute the real annual cost from public pages alone: price per plan and per user, response or submission limits and what happens above them, which features (logic, branding removal, SSO, EU hosting, analysis modules) need a higher plan, add-ons, minimum term and the free tier's limits.
0 — No public prices at all; every customer is a sales call.
3 — A starting price or a free tier exists, but how cost scales with users, responses or features is unclear.
5 — Plans are public with prices and their main limits (users, responses, forms), but at least one commonly needed piece (SSO, EU hosting, extra responses, branding removal) is unpriced or "on request".
8 — Every plan priced publicly with its limits, overage or extra-response prices, feature differences per plan in a comparison table, billing period, VAT treatment and cancellation terms stated.
10 — Complete price computability: annual cost derivable for a given number of users, responses and features, with every add-on, enterprise option, support level and data-return term published.
The Market Researcher
A free Basic tier exists and some gating is documented — single sign-on needs Scale or above, user management needs Business or Enterprise, the default answer feature needs a Business-Level Account, and TLS encryption is excluded from the free plan — but the captured pages give only tier names, "Self-service" and "Full Access", with no prices, response limits or overage terms. I cannot compute an annual cost from what is public. 2 7 10 12 13
The Operations Manager
A free Basic tier and two named plan tiers, Self-service and Full Access, are public, but no prices appear on the pages we read, so I cannot compute an annual cost or see what happens when response volumes grow. Feature gates surface only piecemeal — single sign-on from Scale upward, user management on Business or Enterprise, default answers needing a Business-level account, and TLS encryption excluding the free Basic account — with no limits, add-ons or overage pricing shown. 2 7 10 12 13
The HR Lead
The captured pages show two plan groups, Self-service and Full Access, and confirm a free Basic tier exists, but no price appears on any page we read. Feature gating surfaces only in fragments: single sign-on from the Scale plan, user management on Business or Enterprise, default answers on a Business-level account. We found no public information on per-plan prices, response limits, overage charges, billing terms or VAT treatment. 2 7 10 12 13
The Academic Researcher
The captured pages name a free Basic account and two plan families ("Self-service" and "Full Access"), but we found no public prices, plan limits, overage terms or comparison table anywhere; the only feature-to-plan mappings surface incidentally in help articles (default answers need a Business-level account, single sign-on starts on Scale, user management needs Business or Enterprise). A buyer cannot compute an annual cost from these pages. 2 7 10 12
The Data Protection Officer
A free Basic tier and two named plan groupings exist, and the help pages gate features to named plans — single sign-on from Scale up, user management on Business or Enterprise Team accounts, default answers on a Business-level account — but the captured pages publish no monetary prices, response limits, billing periods or cancellation terms. A buyer cannot compute an annual cost from what is public. 2 7 10 12 13
The Skeptic
A free Basic tier exists and feature gating surfaces article by article — single sign-on from Scale, default answers from Business, user management from Business or Enterprise — but no price, response limit, billing period or cancellation term appears on the captured pages, and the pricing page's two tiers (Self-service, Full Access) sit beside plan names that do not match them. A buyer cannot compute a cost from these pages. 2 7 10 12 13
European sovereignty — proven facts
0 of 6 dimensions provenBuilt only from facts shown on the vendor's own pages. A dimension we could not prove is left open, not scored as zero.
| Legal entity | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting location | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
| Hosting options | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
| Open source | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
| Data processing agreement | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
| Transfer impact assessment | Not determined | — | uncited Report an error |
Questions about SmartSurvey
Is SmartSurvey European?
Not determined: the vendor’s pages as captured do not say where SmartSurvey is based.
Where does SmartSurvey store data?
The default storage location for customer data is not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026. The vendor’s pages mention United Kingdom as hosting location, per the vendor’s page captured 3 Nov 2026.
Does SmartSurvey have a free plan?
Not stated on the vendor’s pages as of 3 Nov 2026.
What are the best alternatives to SmartSurvey?
As of 3 Nov 2026, the panel rates Formbricks (4/5), easyfeedback (3.5/5) and Netigate (3.5/5) highest among the other 19 Forms & Surveys products evaluated. Ratings that look equal are rounded to half stars; the order uses the unrounded rating, then the name. The highest-rated European alternative is Formbricks (EU-Made). Ratings are the AI panel’s opinion, formed from public evidence: how scores are made. The full list, with European products first: SmartSurvey alternatives.
Where this could be wrong
- Evidence ages. The oldest capture behind this page is from 3 Nov 2026. Vendors change pricing and policies without notice; every fact reflects its source as of the capture date shown in the registry.
- AI can misread a source. Extraction and judgement are automated; a citation guarantees traceability, not infallibility. If something here is wrong, say so — no account needed, every report is decided within 5 business days, and accepted corrections are published.
What we left out
A claim that does not survive our checks costs us the claim, not the page. This is what was taken off this one.
- 6 product facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 2 compliance facts could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and were left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
- 1 pricing fact could not be confirmed on the vendor’s page as captured and was left out of this page and of the panel’s material. Know more? Tell us
Sources (13)
The pages every claim on this page was read from — each one checked, dated, and kept verifiable.
- 1 Vendor page www.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 2 Privacy policy — found from the homepage www.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 3 Security / trust page — found from the homepage www.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 4 Form & survey building — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 5 Form & survey building — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 6 Distribution, response collection & workflows — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 7 Distribution, response collection & workflows — found from sitemap www.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 8 Survey analysis & reporting — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 9 Survey analysis & reporting — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 10 Consent, GDPR & respondent data — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 11 Consent, GDPR & respondent data — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 12 Hosting choice, teams & portability — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →
- 13 Hosting choice, teams & portability — found from sitemap help.smartsurvey.co.uk Checked 3 Nov 2026 Details →