FreeOnlineSurveys vs SmartSurvey (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, FreeOnlineSurveys and SmartSurvey share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and FreeOnlineSurveys starts cheaper, at about $17.41 a month against about $93.79 a month.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
FreeOnlineSurveys grades higher on value for money. SmartSurvey grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
FreeOnlineSurveys
Free survey, quiz and form maker with paid plans in pounds
SmartSurvey
UK online survey platform with a free plan and CX programs
Which one is for you
Pick FreeOnlineSurveys if
- Fits if you need a one-off survey or quiz that closes within 14 days
- Works for people who want payments or a calculator inside the same form
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you run a survey longer than 14 days, because free projects stop collecting then
- Pricey if you need exports or cross-tabulation, which are paid
- Watch out: prices are in pounds only, and the paid plans are sold under the Shout name
- Watch out: the inbox feature on paid plans is labelled coming soon
Pick SmartSurvey if
- Fits if you want a free plan to try and a UK-based vendor
- Works for teams that need dashboards and shared reports on Growth
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you are one person, with Advanced at GBP 70 a month
- Tight if you stay free, as there are 100 responses a month and no e-mail invites
- Skip it if you need several users on Advanced, as multiple users start on Growth, GBP 100 a user
- Watch out: prices are in pounds and exclude VAT
- Watch out: case management and full white labelling are Scale add-ons
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAFreeOnlineSurveysFair | 2.2GPASmartSurveyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CEssentials is £12.99 a month on yearly billing, about $17, which is in the middle of what forms tools charge. Plus is £25 and Business £59. | DAdvanced is GBP 70 a month billed annually (about $90) for one user, against a forms middle of $20 and a dearer quarter of $39. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free plan gives unlimited projects and 1,000 responses a month, but each project collects for only 14 days. A survey you leave running will stop. | CBasic is free: 100 responses a month and no e-mail invites. A 14-day trial of Advanced and Growth needs no card. |
| Features | CSurveys, quizzes, forms, payments and calculators in one place. Exports, cross-tabulation and branding removal need a paid plan, and the inbox feature is marked coming soon. | BBuilder, logic, analysis, dashboards, sharing, distribution, API and integrations. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build each survey or form yourself. | CNo rating on record. You build surveys yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with sharing by link, QR code or embed and connectors for Stripe, Gmail and Outlook. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb only, with three listed integrations and an API. |
| Best for | surveys, quizzes and forms on a free plan | UK survey work with a free plan to start |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: FreeOnlineSurveys and SmartSurvey. How we grade
Price against what you get
FreeOnlineSurveys starts at about $17.41 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SmartSurvey starts at about $93.79 a month and scores 2.7.
SmartSurvey scores higher, and starts $76.38 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 13 score higher than FreeOnlineSurveys for less, and 5 score higher than SmartSurvey for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- FreeOnlineSurveys also covers reports and a/B testing.
- SmartSurvey also covers templates and dashboards.
At a glance
| FreeOnlineSurveys | SmartSurvey | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | £12.99 per month, billed annually (£20 billed monthly) | £70 per month, billed annually (£90 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Unlimited surveys, forms and quizzes, 1,000 responses a month, 1 user, with a 14-day collection window per project. | Basic: 1 user, 100 responses per month, no e-mail invites, 130+ templates, AI survey building and export of a results summary to Word. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of paid features, no credit card required | 14-day free trial of the paid Advanced and Growth plans, no credit card needed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Problem Free Ltd. | SmartSurvey |
| Price read from | freeonlinesurveys.com | smartsurvey.co.uk |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
FreeOnlineSurveys
- Prices are shown in pounds sterling only; no dollar price was found.
- Free-plan projects stop collecting after a 14-day window, and exports, cross-tabulation and branding removal need a paid plan.
- The inbox feature on paid plans is labelled coming soon.
- The company behind it is UK-based and the pricing page is built around its Shout product.
SmartSurvey
- Prices are in pounds sterling and exclude VAT, according to the pricing page.
- Advanced includes a single user; multiple users start on Growth, which is priced per user.
- The free plan has 100 responses a month and no e-mail invitations.
- Case management, reputation management and full white labelling are add-ons on the Scale tier.
Key features
FreeOnlineSurveys
- Surveys, quizzes and forms
- One builder with 20-plus question types, logic, themes and a choice of one question per page or several.
- Sharing options
- Share by link, QR code or web embed on every plan; pop-up and slide-out forms and email invitations start on Essentials.
- AI-assisted questions
- AI generation is included at low, medium and high usage levels on Essentials, Plus and Business.
- Reports
- Charts and individual responses are free; cross-tabulation, custom reports, public sharing and PDF or spreadsheet export need a paid plan.
- Contacts
- Paid plans turn form responses into contacts, with lists, segments and prefilled forms.
- Payments and calculators
- Stripe payments and calculators start on Plus.
SmartSurvey
- Survey and form builder
- Create surveys or forms with core question types and 130+ templates; advanced question types and AI building are on the plans listed.
- Logic and personalisation
- Advanced and above include logic and personalisation, a custom thank-you message and custom branding with a logo and theme.
- Analysis
- Paid plans include sentiment analysis, trend charts and word clouds; Scale adds thematic analysis of open-text answers.
- Dashboards and sharing
- Growth adds dashboards, multiple user accounts, permissions and shared templates; Scale lists unlimited dashboards.
- Distribution
- Send by e-mail, popups, web embed, QR codes, tracking links and offline or kiosk mode; SMS invitations are on Scale.
- API and integrations
- Growth includes an API and webhooks, with Salesforce and Power BI connections listed among the integrations.
Plans
FreeOnlineSurveys
Free$0
1,000 responses a month, 1 user, logic and piping, 14-day collection window.
Essentials£12.99
per month, billed annually (£20 billed monthly)
Unlimited responses and collection time, 1 user, 10,000 contacts, 3,000 email invitations a month, cross-tabulation, exports and 100MB uploads.
Plus£25
per month, billed annually (£45 billed monthly)
3 users, 25,000 contacts, 5,000 invitations a month, Stripe payments, A/B testing, hidden fields, no Shout branding and 3 calculators.
Business£59
per month, billed annually (£99 billed monthly)
5 users, 50,000 contacts, 7,000 invitations a month, custom URL slug, unlimited calculators, priority support and purchase-order payment.
SmartSurvey
Basic£0
1 user, 100 responses per month, core question types and 130+ templates.
Advanced£70
per month, billed annually (£840 a year; £90 billed monthly)
1 user, 30,000 responses and 90,000 e-mail invites a year, logic, custom branding, sentiment and text analysis.
Growth£100
per user / month, billed annually (£1,200 a year; £125 billed monthly)
Priced per user, with 90,000 responses a year, dashboards, user permissions, shared templates, API and webhooks.
ScaleCustom
Sold through sales: thematic analysis, auto translate, SMS invitations, hiding the SmartSurvey badge, SSO and HIPAA compliance.
Ways to pay less
FreeOnlineSurveys
- Annual discount
44% off with yearly billing
The pricing page toggle labels the yearly option as saving 44% against monthly billing.
- Education
Student and school or nonprofit pricing
Verified students pay £2.99 a month billed annually for Essentials features; registered schools and nonprofits pay £12.99 a month billed annually for Plus features.
SmartSurvey
- Annual discount
Save with annual billing
The pricing page says annual billing saves up to 22%: 22% on Advanced and 20% on Growth.
- Education
Student plan
The student plan page says its plan starts from £7.50 a month with annual billing, and also lists a free tier.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, FreeOnlineSurveys or SmartSurvey?
As of Nov 13, 2026, FreeOnlineSurveys is cheaper to start with: about $17.41 a month, against about $93.79 a month for SmartSurvey. FreeOnlineSurveys starts at £12.99 per month, billed annually (£20 billed monthly), and SmartSurvey starts at £70 per month, billed annually (£90 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, FreeOnlineSurveys or SmartSurvey?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both FreeOnlineSurveys and SmartSurvey have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.