LimeSurvey vs SimpleSurvey (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick LimeSurvey: it is third in our ranking of form and survey tools, and it grades higher too, 2.4 against 2.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
LimeSurvey grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LimeSurvey
Open-source survey tool, hosted in the cloud or self-hosted
SimpleSurvey
Canadian-hosted survey software priced per workspace and user
Which one is for you
Pick LimeSurvey if
- Fits if you're an academic or market researcher who exports to SPSS, R or Stata
- Works for organizations that must keep survey data on their own servers, or run one survey in several languages
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want answers sent on to your other apps, as only Google Analytics and Google Translate are listed, plus the API
- Not for you if you need single sign-on, since SSO, LDAP and SAML are listed under Corporate with no public price
- Tight if you're on the free cloud plan: its limits aren't published, and passing them locks you out for the rest of the month
- Watch out: checkout is always in euros, so the dollar price shown differs by country, and Basic is 1 admin and 1,000 responses a month
- Pricey if you want a white-label domain or custom branding, which start at Expert, billed yearly at about $432
Pick SimpleSurvey if
- Fits if your rules require data hosted in Canada
- Works for multilingual surveys sent by email
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there is none after the 15-day trial
- Pricey if you add people: PRO is $58 a user a month and manages only 3 users
- Not for you if you need SMS invitations, SSO or integrations, which are Enterprise
- Watch out: the page shows plain dollar signs, and a Canadian company may be quoting Canadian dollars
How we grade them
| 2.4GPALimeSurveyFair | 2.0GPASimpleSurveyFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CBasic is about $39 a month billed monthly for 1 admin and 1,000 responses, which is right at the top of this category's middle band. Expert works out at $36 a month paid yearly. Checkout is always in euros, and the price shown varies by country. | CSOHO is $31 a month on yearly billing, between the middle and the dearer quarter of forms tools. PRO is $58 a user and TEAM $96 a user. |
| Free plan and trial | BTwo free routes and one is unlimited: the cloud free plan locks no features, though the pricing page won't state its caps and going over locks you out until the month ends, and the Community Edition is free to run on your own server. | CA 15-day trial with no card is all you get. There is no free plan, so after two weeks you pay. |
| Features | BThe whole survey job, nothing in the listing missing: matrices, rankings, sliders, uploads and equations, with skip logic, branching, piping, quotas and randomization, one survey in several languages, bulk invitations, and exports to SPSS, R, Stata and Excel. | CMultilingual surveys, logic, cross-tab reports and exports, payments and voting. Integrations, SMS invitations and SSO are Enterprise only. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and this is a tool you learn: quotas, piping and branching to set up, participant lists to manage, and the free edition installs on a server you run yourself. | CNo store rating on record. You build each survey and form yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, and barely connected. The listing names two integrations, Google Analytics and Google Translate, neither of which sends your answers anywhere. The public API is the only way out. | CWeb only, with a Power BI connection. Integrations and automation are Enterprise only. |
| Best for | research surveys you can host yourself | surveys hosted and processed in Canada |
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: LimeSurvey and SimpleSurvey. How we grade
Price against what you get
LimeSurvey starts at $39 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SimpleSurvey starts at $31 a month and scores 2.0.
LimeSurvey scores higher, and starts $8 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 29 score higher than LimeSurvey for less, and 60 score higher than SimpleSurvey 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
- LimeSurvey is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- LimeSurvey also covers templates.
At a glance
| LimeSurvey | SimpleSurvey | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $39 per month, billed monthly (charged in EUR, about €34) | $31 per month, billed $372 annually, or $149 per 3 months |
| Free plan | Free cloud plan with no locked features but limits on responses, upload storage and administrators; the pricing page does not state the limits. The self-hosted Community Edition is free. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 15-day free trial on any plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | LimeSurvey GmbH | Simple Story |
| Price read from | web.archive.org (not the vendor's own page) | simplesurvey.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
LimeSurvey
- Checkout is always in euros; non-euro prices on the pricing page are shown for orientation only and differ by country.
- Basic covers 1 admin user and 1,000 responses a month; Expert and Business have yearly allowances of 10,000 and 50,000 responses.
- White-label domains and custom branding start at Expert, and SSO, LDAP and SAML are listed under Corporate.
- On the free cloud plan, access is locked until the end of the month once the response limit is exceeded.
SimpleSurvey
- There is no free plan; every plan follows a 15-day trial.
- PRO and TEAM are priced per user, and PRO manages up to 3 users.
- SMS invitations, SSO and SAML, integrations and automation are Enterprise only.
- The pricing page shows a plain dollar sign with no currency code; as a Canadian company the prices may be in Canadian dollars.
Key features
LimeSurvey
- Question types and survey logic
- Question types include matrices, rankings, sliders, file uploads and equations, combined with skip logic, branching, piping, quotas and randomization.
- Multilingual surveys
- Run one survey in several languages. The administration and survey interfaces are available in more than 80 languages, with Google Translate support for quick translation.
- Invitations and participants
- Send invitation and reminder emails in bulk from editable templates, handle bounces automatically, prevent multiple participation and let participants save and continue later.
- Statistics and exports
- Quick statistics give a graphical evaluation of results, and data exports to SPSS, R, Stata, CSV, Excel and PDF.
- Self-hosted Community Edition
- The open-source Community Edition is free to download and install on your own server, so response data stays on infrastructure you control.
- Hosting regions and compliance
- LimeSurvey Cloud stores data in the location chosen at setup, including Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada and Australia, and offers a GDPR data processing agreement.
SimpleSurvey
- Canadian data hosting
- The pricing page says data is hosted and processed in Canada.
- Multilingual surveys and forms
- Unlimited multilingual surveys and forms are advertised on the pricing page.
- Logic and branching
- Skip logic from the entry plan, display logic and piping on PRO, and conditional page branching on TEAM.
- Cross-tab reports and exports
- Individual and summary reports with charts and cross-tab, and export to common office formats.
- Online payments
- PRO and up can accept online payments inside a survey.
- Online voting
- The site describes the platform as covering secure surveys, data collection and online voting.
Plans
LimeSurvey
Community Edition$0
Open-source edition to download and run on your own server, with response data kept on your own infrastructure.
Free$0
LimeSurvey Cloud with no locked features, limited in the number of responses, upload storage and administrators.
Basic$39
per month, billed monthly (charged in EUR, about €34)
1 admin user, 1,000 responses a month and 250 MB of upload storage, with unlimited surveys and questions.
Expert$36
per month, billed annually ($432; charged in EUR, about €374)
3 admin users, 10,000 responses a year and 1 GB of upload storage, plus a white-label domain and custom branding.
Business$69
per month, billed annually ($820; charged in EUR, €711)
5 to 10 admin users, 50,000 responses a year and 3 GB of upload storage, plus 1 alias domain and priority email support.
CorporateCustom
Tailored users and responses, SSO, LDAP and SAML, a dedicated server and VIP support.
SimpleSurvey
SOHO$31
per month, billed $372 annually (or $149 per 3 months)
AI survey creation, multilingual surveys, custom branding, skip logic, file upload, cross-tab and exports to CSV, XLS, PDF, DOC and PPT.
PRO$58
per user / month, billed $696 annually ($249 per 3 months)
Up to 3 users with a shared workspace, display logic, piping, online payments, scheduled reports, SPSS export and sentiment analysis.
TEAM$96
per user / month, billed $1,152 annually ($425 per 3 months)
Private and shared workspaces, conditional page branching, disqualification handling, advanced scoring and removal of the SimpleSurvey mention.
ENTERPRISECustom
Adds analytics and AI insights, integrations, workflow automation, SMS invitations, SSO and SAML, a Power BI connector and a customer success manager. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
LimeSurvey
- Education
50% off for students, 30% for teachers
Students get 50% off and teachers 30% off after emailing a valid student or faculty ID. Both must agree to use LimeSurvey only for classroom-related work.
- Nonprofit
30% off for charitable organizations
Charitable organizations get a 30% discount after sending proof of charity status or charity work. Discounts cannot be applied retroactively.
- By country
Lower price shown to buyers in India
The pricing page sets a local price by country. On 9 October 2026 it showed Basic to a reader in India at ₹779 a month (about €7), against $39 (about €34) in a US copy of the page archived in June 2026.
SimpleSurvey
- Other savings
3-month billing option
Each paid plan can be bought for 3 months at a flat price instead of annually: $149 on SOHO, $249 per user on PRO and $425 per user on TEAM.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LimeSurvey or SimpleSurvey?
As of Nov 13, 2026, SimpleSurvey is cheaper to start with: $31 a month, against $39 a month for LimeSurvey. LimeSurvey starts at $39 per month, billed monthly (charged in EUR, about €34), and SimpleSurvey starts at $31 per month, billed $372 annually, or $149 per 3 months.
Which has a free plan, LimeSurvey or SimpleSurvey?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only LimeSurvey has a free plan. SimpleSurvey does not, though it has a free trial.
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.