Ethnio vs SurveyMonkey (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Ethnio if

• Fits if you run a research team that recruits its own participants
• Works for teams already using Qualtrics or Zoom for sessions

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you are one person: $82 a seat a month on yearly billing
• Tight if your pool passes 10,000 participants, as unlimited is Enterprise only
• Watch out: paying incentives asks for a card, even during the trial
• Skip it if you have 7 or more seats and want a posted price, as that goes to a custom quote

Pick SurveyMonkey if

• Fits if you run customer, employee or market research and need statistics on the answers
• Works for a one-off project on the month-to-month Standard plan, at $149 for the month

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you only need a simple form, at $39 a month billed annually ($468) for the cheapest yearly plan
• Pricey if you want crosstabs, advanced logic or multilingual surveys, since all wait for Premier at $139 a month
• Tight if you stay free: 10 questions per survey, and the number of viewable responses is only shown after sign-up
• Watch out: paid plans cap responses (1,000 a month on Standard, 15,000 a year on Advantage) and charge $0.15 for each extra
• Skip it if you're a team of two, as Team plans need 3 users, and Salesforce, Power BI, Tableau and SSO need Enterprise at 5 or more

Ethnio

• Pricing is per seat: Pro covers 1-6 seats and 7 or more seats move to a custom Enterprise quote.
• The Pro plan lists a 10,000-participant limit; an unlimited pool is Enterprise only.
• Paying incentives prompts for a credit card, including during the trial.
• SSO and third-party risk assessments are Enterprise features.

SurveyMonkey

• The free Basic plan allows 10 questions per survey and shows only a limited number of responses per survey.
• Standard Monthly is the only plan billed month to month; the Advantage, Premier and Team plans are billed annually.
• Team plans need at least 3 users. SSO and the Salesforce, Marketo, Power BI and Tableau integrations are Enterprise-only, and Enterprise needs 5 or more users and a demo.
• Paid plans cap responses (1,000 a month on Standard, 15,000 a year on Advantage) and charge $0.15 per extra response.

Ethnio

Screeners

Screeners use conditional logic, question templates and auto-qualification, and can be sent as links or posted on social media.

Intercepts

Targeted intercepts recruit participants on websites, iOS apps and Android apps.

Panel management

Import, sync and govern a pool of participants for qualitative and quantitative studies. Pro lists a 10,000-participant pool.

Scheduling, consent and incentives

Automatic session scheduling, tracked participant consent, and incentive payments in any currency or country.

AI translations and tech checks

Screeners, emails and incentive pages can be translated into 47+ languages. Participants can record a sample video or audio check in the screener.

Integrations and API

Connects with Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Slack, Google Calendar, Zoom and consent-signing tools, and exposes an API and webhooks.

SurveyMonkey

Build with AI

Type a prompt that describes the goals of a survey and SurveyMonkey generates a draft to edit and customize. It is listed on the free Basic plan.

Logic and survey controls

Skip logic starts on Standard Monthly. Advanced logic, block randomization and multilingual surveys are reserved for the Premier tiers.

Analyze with AI and Thematic Analysis

Ask a question to get AI-generated charts and insight summaries, and have open-ended answers grouped into themes. Both start on the Advantage tier.

Statistical analysis

Statistical significance and multi-survey analysis come with the Advantage tier, and crosstabs with Premier.

Team seats and shared assets

Team plans share brand assets and set user roles and permissions. Full Access seats create and send surveys; Analyst seats view, comment on and analyze shared ones.

Mobile apps

Free iOS and Android apps create, send and analyze surveys, with push notifications. The separate SurveyMonkey Anywhere app adds kiosk mode, plus an Offline Mode on Enterprise plans.

Ethnio

• Pro$82

  per seat / month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)

  For 1-6 seats: unlimited studies and intercepts, localization, global incentives, centralized consent, unlimited collaborators.

• EnterpriseCustom

  For 7+ seats: everything in Pro plus an unlimited participant pool, SSO, third-party risk assessments, multiple teams and a dedicated CSM.

SurveyMonkey

• Basic$0

  1 user, unlimited surveys, 10 questions per survey and a limited number of responses per survey, with Build with AI.

• Standard Monthly$149

  per month, billed monthly

  Unlimited questions and 1,000 responses per month, with skip logic, custom design, email invitations and data exports.

• Advantage Annual$39

  per month, billed annually ($468)

  15,000 responses per year, plus payments, statistical significance, multi-survey analysis, Analyze with AI and Thematic Analysis.

• Premier Annual$139

  per month, billed annually ($1,668)

  40,000 responses per year, plus white label branding, advanced logic, multilingual surveys, crosstabs and phone support.

• Team Advantage$30

  per user / month, billed annually, 3-user minimum

  50,000 responses per year, shared brand assets, user roles and account permissions, and the Advantage analysis tools.

• Team Premier$92

  per user / month, billed annually, 3-user minimum

  100,000 responses per year, plus white label branding, advanced logic, multilingual surveys, crosstabs and phone support.

Ethnio

• Annual discount

  20% off with annual billing

  The pricing page toggles between monthly and annual billing and labels annual as 20% off; Pro lists $82 per seat annually and $99 monthly.

SurveyMonkey

• Education

  Reduced pricing for students and educators

  Students and educators on a free plan in the US and UK can upgrade at reduced prices from a link on the pricing page. Discounts are granted at SurveyMonkey's discretion for one-year periods.

• Nonprofit

  Discounts for eligible nonprofits

  Nonprofits on a free plan can submit a discount application. Discounts are discretionary, run for one year and cannot be added to an existing paid account.

• By country

  Lower price shown to buyers in India

  On October 9, 2026 the pricing page read from India showed Advantage Annual at ₹1,999 a month (₹23,988 billed annually); read from the United States the same day it showed $39 a month ($468).