Alchemer vs Sawtooth Software (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Alchemer if

• Fits if you're a researcher who needs conjoint, card sort or heatmap questions
• Works for teams of one to three building long surveys full of branching, with answers going to Salesforce or HubSpot

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you just want a contact form, since paid plans start at $315 per user a year
• Pricey if you need advanced logic or file uploads, as those start at $1,075 per user a year
• Not for you if there are more than 3 of you, because that means a custom-priced Platform plan
• Tight if you're staying free, with 3 surveys at a time, 100 responses on each and basic question types
• Watch out: the API and single sign-on are Platform only, and kiosk mode and SPSS export need Full Access

Pick Sawtooth Software if

• Fits if you need conjoint or MaxDiff, not a general survey tool
• Works for students and small projects under 50 respondents

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you run real studies, as the free plan stops at 50 respondents per survey
• Skip it if you want a price list, since Professional and Premier are quote-only
• Skip it if you want monthly billing, as only annual subscriptions are sold
• Watch out: Lighthouse Studio, the Premier tool, is a Windows-installed program

Alchemer

• Professional and Full Access allow at most 3 users; larger teams need a custom-priced Platform plan.
• The pricing page limits API access, single sign-on and security assessments to Platform plans.
• The Free account stops at 3 surveys and 100 responses per survey, with a short list of question types.
• Offline or kiosk mode, SPSS export and the market research question types all require Full Access.

Sawtooth Software

• Only the free plan has a published price; Professional and Premier are sold by quote.
• Only annual subscriptions are sold; monthly payment is not offered.
• The free plan stops at 50 respondents per survey.
• Lighthouse Studio (Premier) is a Windows-installed application.

Alchemer

43 question types

Alchemer Survey lists 43 question types. File uploads need Professional, and card sort, heatmap and conjoint questions need Full Access.

Logic, piping and merge codes

Survey logic is on every paid license. Multiple conditions, piping and repeating count as advanced logic and start on Professional.

Link, email, SMS and QR distribution

Share a survey by link, QR code or SMS. Sending email campaigns to a contact list from inside Alchemer starts on Professional.

Reports and exports

Paid licenses share reports by URL, download them as PDF, PowerPoint, Excel or Word and export raw data to Excel. SPSS export is Full Access only.

Integration catalog

A catalog of integrations pushes survey data to, or pulls records from, Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Sheets, Tableau and other systems.

AI survey tools

An AI Survey Builder drafts a survey from a plain-language description, and AI Smart Question generates follow-up questions for respondents.

Sawtooth Software

Choice-based conjoint

Design and field conjoint studies to see which features and prices people pick. Advanced conjoint types are in the Premier plan.

MaxDiff (best-worst scaling)

Respondents pick best and worst from small sets of items. Up to 120 items per exercise on Discover and up to 2,000 on Lighthouse Studio.

Standard survey question types

Multiple choice, grids, open-ends, ranking, constant sum and numeric questions, with skip logic and quotas.

Built-in analysis

Real-time reports, crosstabs, key drivers and cluster analysis, with export to SPSS and Excel.

AI follow-up and open-end analysis

Smart follow-up questions and open-end analysis are listed in the plan comparison as AI features.

Respondent panel

Sawtooth says its panel service reaches over 200 million verified respondents worldwide.

Alchemer

• Free$0

  Up to 3 surveys at a time and 100 responses per survey, with basic question types such as radio buttons, checkboxes, text boxes and ratings.

• Collaborator$315

  per user / year ($55 per user / month billed monthly)

  Unlimited surveys and questions, 75,000 responses a year per account, survey logic, report downloads and email support.

• Professional$1,075

  per user / year ($165 per user / month billed monthly)

  Up to 3 users and 100,000 responses a year, plus advanced logic, email campaigns, file uploads and phone support on annual plans.

• Full Access$1,895

  per user / year ($275 per user / month billed monthly)

  Up to 3 users and 125,000 responses a year, plus market research question types, SPSS export, open-text analysis and offline or kiosk mode.

• Platform PlansCustom

  For more than 3 users: API access, single sign-on, 24/7 support, a customer success manager and feedback collection across other channels.

Sawtooth Software

• Free$0

  Discover with up to 50 respondents per survey, unlimited surveys and questions, and choice-based conjoint and MaxDiff.

• ProfessionalCustom

  Discover with unlimited respondents per survey. Price is by quote; annual subscriptions only.

• PremierCustom

  Lighthouse Studio for Windows with advanced conjoint and MaxDiff and more customization. Price is by quote.

Alchemer

• Annual discount

  Save 43% to 52% with annual billing

  The pricing page marks annual billing as saving 52% on Collaborator ($315 a year against $55 a month), 46% on Professional and 43% on Full Access.

• Nonprofit

  25% off annual plans for non-profits

  Registered non-profit organizations get 25% off annual accounts after entering an EIN or international equivalent at checkout. Monthly accounts are excluded.

Sawtooth Software

• Education

  Academic pricing for students and educators

  Sawtooth lists discounts for students or educators using the software for non-commercial use.