LimeSurvey vs SurveyHero (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 2.2.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
LimeSurvey grades higher on the free plan and features. SurveyHero grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
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
SurveyHero
Online survey builder with unlimited responses on every plan
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 SurveyHero if
- Fits if you run short surveys and don't want to count responses
- Works for a one-person researcher on the Professional plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're staying free: each survey closes 30 days after its first response
- Pricey if you need branching logic, as it starts at Business, $45 a month billed annually
- Watch out: white labelling and custom domains are Enterprise only, $125 a month billed annually
- Tight if you need a team, since plans include only 1 to 5 users
- Too light for forms that take payments, as the listing shows surveys only
How we grade them
| 2.4GPALimeSurveyFair | 2.2GPASurveyHeroFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CProfessional is $25 a month billed annually ($35 monthly) for 1 user, between the cheaper quarter ($12.50) and the dearer quarter ($34) of form tools. |
| 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. | CThe free Basic plan has unlimited surveys, questions and responses, but each survey stays open only 30 days after its first response. |
| 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. | CQuestion types, templates, reports, exports, sharing, API and webhooks. But branching logic and branding removal start at Business, $45 a month. |
| 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 rating on record. It's a web app where you build each survey and its logic. |
| 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. | BWeb only, but it has WordPress, Google Analytics and webhooks, plus an API on Business. |
| Best for | research surveys you can host yourself | online surveys with no cap on responses |
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 SurveyHero. 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. SurveyHero starts at $25 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and SurveyHero starts $14 a month lower. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 20 score higher than LimeSurvey for less, and 15 score higher than SurveyHero 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 reports.
At a glance
| LimeSurvey | SurveyHero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39 per month, billed monthly (charged in EUR, about €34) | $25 per month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly) |
| 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. | Basic plan: unlimited surveys, questions and responses for 1 user, but each survey stays open only 30 days. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | LimeSurvey GmbH | SurveyHero |
| Price read from | web.archive.org (not the vendor's own page) | surveyhero.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 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.
SurveyHero
- On the free Basic plan each survey stays open for 30 days after its first response.
- Branching logic, branding removal and API integration start at Business, $45 per month billed annually.
- White labeling and custom domains are Enterprise only.
- The plans include one to five user accounts, so extra seats mean moving up a tier.
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.
SurveyHero
- Unlimited responses
- Every plan allows unlimited surveys, questions and responses; the free plan limits how long each survey stays open.
- Question types and templates
- A survey editor with many question types, templates, side-by-side questions and print-ready PDF export of the questionnaire.
- Skip and display logic
- Branching is part of Business and above, along with multilingual surveys and Google Translate.
- Reports and exports
- Real-time results with automatic charts, filtering and export to Excel or CSV compatible with SPSS.
- Sharing and invitations
- Share by link, QR code or embed, use a WordPress plugin, and send email invitations and reminders.
- API and webhooks
- A developer API and webhooks are listed under integrations on the higher plans.
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.
SurveyHero
Basic$0
1 user, unlimited surveys, questions and responses, with each survey open for 30 days.
Professional$25
per month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
1 user, no time limit on surveys, all question types, your own logo and colors, anonymous surveys, filtering and export.
Business$45
per month, billed annually ($59 billed monthly)
3 users, branching logic, multilingual surveys, branding removal, redirection, API integration and priority support.
Enterprise$125
per month, billed annually ($255 billed monthly)
5 users, white label with your own domain, custom CSS and JavaScript, custom reports and top-level support.
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.
SurveyHero
- Education
Free student accounts, 50% off for educators
Students get a free account with full access, and educators, faculty and researchers get 50% off a paid plan.
- Nonprofit
50% off yearly plans for nonprofits
The pricing FAQ gives nonprofit organizations 50% off all yearly plans.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LimeSurvey or SurveyHero?
As of Nov 12, 2026, SurveyHero is cheaper to start with: $25 a month, against $39 a month for LimeSurvey. LimeSurvey starts at $39 per month, billed monthly (charged in EUR, about €34), and SurveyHero starts at $25 per month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, LimeSurvey or SurveyHero?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both LimeSurvey and SurveyHero 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.