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

Pick Pollfish if

• Fits if you need answers from strangers rather than your own list
• Works for researchers who can set a budget per response

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you need many answers, because each response costs from $0.95
• Watch out: full-service projects start at $5,000 per market and enterprise at $10,000 a year
• Skip it if you only want to collect your own form entries, as it is built around its panel
• Tight if you want free responses, as the page gives no allowance or trial

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

Pollfish

• The platform is free but responses are charged per response, from $0.95 each, so cost grows with sample size.
• Full-service projects start at $5,000 per market and enterprise packages at $10,000 a year.
• It is a research product built around its own panel, not a general form or data-collection tool.
• The page gives no free response allowance or trial; the free part is the builder and joining.

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.

Pollfish

AI survey builder

Describe a research goal and the builder drafts a survey with questions and logic, which can then be edited by hand.

Drag-and-drop builder

A visual editor handles skip logic, branching, answer shuffling, exclusive options and image or video questions, with live preview.

Survey templates

Templates cover brand awareness, concept testing, pricing studies such as Van Westendorp, conjoint and MaxDiff.

Own audience

Responses come from Pollfish's own first-party panel, which the company says is drawn from Prodege's consumer programs.

Full-service research

Teams that want a managed study can buy a project with a dedicated research expert and finished reports.

Team tools

Single sign-on, shared access, folders and one-click survey duplication are listed for team use.

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.

Pollfish

• DIY Platform$0

  Free to join and no seats. Responses from the panel cost from $0.95 each.

• Full Service$5,000

  per project and up

  Simple general-population studies start at $5,000 per market, with a dedicated research expert and presentation-ready reports.

• Enterprise$10,000

  per year and up

  Annual commitments from $10,000 with volume discounts, a dedicated account manager and both DIY and full-service options.

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.

Pollfish

No public discounts listed.

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).