Top 3 Survey Software: Comparison of SoGoSurvey, Qualtrics Research Core, and Zoho Survey

You want to know more about your customers but the surveys you conduct suffer from inconclusive results. Then there are problems that come with survey creation, among them poor survey design, vague questions, and lack of appeal to respondents, not to mention that survey creation, especially when done manually could take up much of your time. But surveys are still the most reliable source of market information and customer feedback, painting a clear picture of both your business and your customers. Fortunately, tech has made conducting surveys more cost-efficient and intuitive these days.

The top 3 survey software solutions we’re featuring here mirror how far survey software has evolved in the past five months. They can help automate repetitive tasks while making sure that you ask the right questions every single time. These tools help you reach your target participants and make sure that you can understand survey results as they come. These results can be shared with relevant parties such as decision-makers, enabling them to make data-driven business decisions. Now, these are but some of the survey software benefits that are in the offing. Here, you can compare their features, unique selling points, and benefits in detail to give you a better view of how these tools work. By the time you’re done with this reading, you’ll better appreciate these products and even be able to choose one for yourself.

Online surveys have become a popular tool for many companies, helping them glean valuable information on their employees, customers, and markets. However, there are instances when surveys fail to do what’s expected of them. This is often due to poor survey design, which is the foundation of all effective surveys and the inappropriate use of online surveys, which is what most survey tools make. Customer surveys, for instance, have become notorious, with many companies asking site visitors to take uninvited and often lengthy surveys. This does not sit well with both prospects and existing clients, many of whom view such as spam. In fact, a study on the value of online surveys published in the Journal of Internet Research has concluded that online surveys should be used appropriately and their weaknesses addressed for them to be better than their traditional counterparts.

Keeping surveys brief is crucial in engaging respondents. (Source: GatherUp)

Despite these downsides, the use of online surveys is seen to further proliferate as they are more dependable and affordable than conventional survey methods. They are also more interactive, time-conserving, and can easily integrate with most analytics solutions. This has led to many businesses doing away with traditional surveys and embracing such software. Let’s take a look at the top of the lot here.

1. SoGoSurvey

SoGoSurvey is a robust survey application that allows for the single-click creation and distribution of surveys. The same can be shared, downloaded, and easily understood by relevant parties. All these without the need for complex training or knowledge in coding. This leading platform has numerous features that help you easily create surveys and even enjoy it. It is easy to use, allowing you to utilize the ready-made templates stored in its “survey banks.” These templates can be copied directly into your surveys.

Should you want to investigate the platform firsthand, you can easily do so when you sign up for SoGoSurvey free demo below.

And since survey accuracy depends on the creation of survey questions, the vendor thought it logical to enable the system to aid in question creation by allowing you to make changes to them according to your preference. Questions can be added or deleted as you deem fit with the language used easily modified depending on the target audience. Question types can likewise be tweaked depending on the descriptive score, promoter score, or demographics, among others.

But what sets the app apart from others in the category is that it can keep decision queries hidden until such time that they are needed. All surveys created with the platform can be previewed on mobile devices, tablet computers, and desktops. You’ll have total control over your surveys when you use the app, give them that appearance that you prefer, upload background themes, alter colors, and use templates. You can send out survey invitations while being able to track them through social media or email.

Key Features of SoGoSurvey

1. It keeps decision queries hidden until such time they are needed.
2. It allows you to delete or modify survey questions.
3. It comes with survey templates that can be copied into surveys.
4. Surveys created by the system can be viewed on mobile devices.

2. Qualtrics Research Core

Qualtrics Research Core is an enterprise market research platform designed to capture survey data, analyze them, and come up with strategic plans. It pioneered the use of AI in data analysis to predict market trends using its very own predictive intelligence engine called Qualtrics iQ.

Despite processing complex surveys, the app is incredibly easy to use. Beginners and experts in survey creation can easily build, test, and modify survey templates within minutes using its graphical user interface. The survey library is filled with templates that expedite building surveys. It cuts down the time it takes to prepare a comprehensive survey which is helpful for users who are not familiar with it.

Qualtrics Research is known as a high-end platform with a rich set of features. Some of its advanced functionalities include embedded data, randomization, advanced branching, display logic, triggers, quotas, mobile compatibility, and offline mode. It also has over 100 question types to ensure you can create a survey that suits your specific needs.

The single platform can be used for any use case—whether it’s customer satisfaction, product research and development, segmentation and strategy, and marketing and brand research. What used to be a task that’s only available to trained experts is now accessible to anyone in your organization through self-service. This increases productivity and efficiency in your team as each member can independently work on their task.

 Key Features of Qualtrics Research Core

1. It pioneered the use of AI in survey data analysis
2. It has a survey library to facilitate survey creation.
3. It comes with over 100 question types.
4. It can be used in any survey use case.

3. Zoho Survey

Zoho Survey is a simple-to-use online survey builder. It is ideal for users who are looking for a no-fuss tool to use in creating surveys and questionnaires to reach audiences on any device. It is loaded with features such as customizable reports, various question types, shareable surveys, and team collaboration.

Since the software offers a simple and direct online survey solution, its features are more stripped back compared to its higher-end competitors. In turn, it gives you only the essential features you will actually use to eliminate complexities and a long learning curve.

Furthermore, Zoho Survey is affordable to many types of users. In fact, users can start with a completely free plan with no time limit. The package already includes unlimited surveys, up to 10 questions per survey, and 100 responses per survey. Once you need to scale up, you can choose among its affordable packages, which range from $20 to $60 per month.

Key Features of Zoho Survey

1. It is an easy-to-use tool.
2. It is affordable and comes with a free plan.
3. It can create surveys that can reach audiences on any device.
4. It integrates with most Zoho products.

Comparison of Key Features

Supported Question Types

If you’re looking for a tool that can support your complex survey needs, all of the three products here are very capable solutions. They help you ask a question in many ways and in different question types—each with a variety of settings for accessing each possibility.

All of them support question types including static content, standard questions (such as multiple-choice and rank order). They even support specialty questions including NPS and drill down. They have also and advanced survey settings including captcha verification and file upload capabilities among others. Each option gives you an effective method of collecting detailed information from your respondent without requiring much effort on their part.

Other survey question formatting capabilities include star rating, ranking, single and multiple answers, text fields, slider, and dropdown. The thing about SoGoSurvey, however, is its ability to hide decision queries, until they are needed.

Verdict: It is virtually a tie among three of the best survey software available on the market today. They all help you manipulate questions and home in on the data that you want to know from your audience.

Collaboration

Qualtrics, SoGoSurvey, and Zoho Survey are excellent when it comes to collaboration. Each has its own set of tools that enable you to work together with your team, department, and even clients. Teams that share projects move faster and eliminate duplicate efforts.

SoGoSurvey lets you share your surveys with others and collaborate on reviewing surveys. Sending members an invite is as easy as adding their email address or using social media which can also be tracked. Surveys can be filtered according to language when necessary. Zoho Survey, on the other hand, also supports survey sharing, while promoting collaboration. You can add a deadline, modify the reviewer list, and make colleagues survey co-owners for access to reports and analytics after the survey is published.

Meanwhile, Qualtrics’ Collaborate feature enables users to log in to their accounts and access surveys without giving out your account information. You can also restrict the type of access for users. Furthermore, Qualtrics has a more elaborate tool for collaborating inside your organization (individual users and groups in your organization), outside your organization (new users) and SSO (Single Sign-On) users. These let you stay on top of shared surveys through collaboration permissions.

Verdict: Qualtrics, SoGoSurvey, and Zoho Survey are reliable tools for collaborating with your teams on creating and sharing surveys. It is virtually a tie among the three platforms at this point of comparison.

Distribution Channels

Distributing your survey is crucial to reach your respondents. The more distribution channels your software has, the wider range of respondents it can reach. The top 3 survey software solutions in this list offer various channels for sending out your surveys.

Zoho Survey makes it easy for your surveys to reach its right audience. Some channels available include web links, custom domain links, custom emails, email campaigns, social media platforms, QR codes, and private group access. It integrates with MailChimp and Zoho Campaigns to leverage your email campaigns.

As for SoGoSurvey, it distributes surveys through different channels as well. This includes social media, website feedback areas, partner web pages, custom landing pages, SMS, and even offline access. Plus, it offers ballot box stuffing through single-use links and passwords. You may also use restriction parameters like cookies or IP addresses. You can also distribute surveys via mobile through QR codes.

The same applies to Qualtrics in this regard. It is also known for its long list of distribution channels. It also supports email surveys, SMS surveys, websites, and mobile sites, social media platforms, QR codes, IVR, receipt surveys, and offline surveys. It also has a survey director which gives you complete control over a survey by generating a single dynamic link. This points respondents—based on criteria such as location and demographics—into a single survey at a specific period.

Verdict: It is virtually a tie among the three. All three platforms provide you with being able to distribute your surveys via all digital channels. This is a given among top-tier products. And, all of these are at the top of the heap.

Reporting and Analytics

Qualtrics Research Core is built for complex research which can be seen in its in-depth reports and analytics. First of all, you can choose two places–Results and Reports, each serving a different purpose. The former gives a quick view and analysis in a default report that consists of custom visualizations and question-based pages. The latter, on the other hand, enables you to control the layout and format the report from scratch.

What sets Qualtrics apart from other choices is its predictive intelligence engine called Qualtrics iQ. Powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, Qualtrics Research Core eradicates tedious manual analysis by directly providing statistical and predictive analysis.

Even though SoGoSurvey and Zoho Survey are not as robust as Qualtrics Research Core, the reports they generate are still quite useful and sufficient for most data collection needs. For instance, SoGoSurvey generates reports reflecting charts, overall rated scores, and graphical representations that can be modified as needed. But more than generating reports, the app can likewise share them with relevant parties through social media or email.

Zoho Survey, meanwhile, offers a good variety of reporting capabilities to simplify the visualization of complicated data. It generates real-time, trend, custom, filtered responses, cross-tab, and shared reports.

Verdict: SoGoSurvey offers the most easy-to-understand real-time reports with a focus on flexibility and customizability. However, Qualtrics and Zoho Survey are also capable of generating insightful reports that can be easily understood. SoGoSurvey has a slight edge is in the usability of its reporting and analytics module while Qualtrics has a slight edge in more advanced features. It is virtually a toss-up depending on which aspect you find more important.

Integrations

All three solutions offer integrations and API access for you to maximize and streamline your business process along with your existing systems. This eliminates redundancy and increases efficiency throughout your organization.

SoGoSurvey integrates with Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Zapier, Google+, and Twitter. For enterprise users, an API that comes with the system facilitates further integrations.

If you’re using Zoho products, Zoho Survey is the most ideal app to use because it automates data transfer between the Zoho systems, especially with Zoho CRM. The app also connects with Zoho Campaigns, Zoho SalesIQ, Zoho Sheet, Google Sheets, and MailChimp.

Out of the box, Qualtrics doesn’t have as many integration options as the two previous tools. It does offer integration with popular products such as Salesforce, Tableau, Marketo, Slack, and Adobe Analytics. Meanwhile, the Qualtrics API is highly robust for a more custom approach. It lets you automate tasks and transfer data back and forth between Qualtrics and external systems.

Verdict: SoGoSurvey has vast integration options owing to its API, but this is only true for enterprise users. Zoho Survey, on the other hand, is best for users already using Zoho Products. Also, Qualtrics Research Core has integrations with popular products and its own Qualtrics API for customization. We give a slight edge to SoGoSurvey here.

Pricing

There is a clear distinction in pricing for all three products. SoGoSurvey and Zoho Survey are tied when it comes to their pricing tiers. In fact, you can create an account on the two platforms for free using their basic plan. However, these only include the basic features of creating and sharing surveys. To get more advanced features, you have to upgrade to their premium plans.

For teams, the starting plan of SoGoSurvey is at $25/month ($299 billed annually). individuals can choose from plans that cost $40, and $99 per month depending on the advanced features they need. For enterprise users, they must contact the vendor for pricing details. However, its basic free plan is quite capable already, especially for SMEs. Its free plan includes features such as a survey bank, real-time reports, and a contact manager. What’s more, surveys are made available in different languages.

Zoho Survey offers the most affordable starting plan at $20/month which includes unlimited surveys, questions, and responses. Its recommended plan costs $25/month which unlocks white label and multilingual surveys, email notifications, piping logic, and Zoho CRM and Google Sheets integration. The platform also has a good free plan offering with features such as unlimited surveys and 100 responses per survey. However, each survey has a limit of 10 questions only.

Of the three, Qualtrics Research Core may be the priciest. Also, the pricing is only available on a quote basis to allow their experts to ensure the system includes the essential features you need. It is an enterprise-grade platform and it is priced as such. This pricing strategy is unique compared to the scalable plans that SoGoSurvey and Zoho Survey provide. For general use, this does not make it the most price-friendly of the three.

Verdict: SoGoSurvey and Zoho Survey offer scalable prices that are ideal for individuals, startups, and small businesses. Qualtrics Research Core, for its part, may be more expensive. For priced plans, the Zoho Survey as the slightest edge. But, for the free plan, SoGoSurvey is superior given its more comprehensive feature set.

Get the Right One for these Online Survey Trends

Survey software more often than not focuses on the creation of online surveys. So it goes without saying that what impacts online surveys affects this tool category. The following are trends that are seen to influence online surveys in the coming years.

Online Surveys to Focus on CX

Customer service is a business area where online surveys have proven very useful. Companies are seen to invest more in customer service, stemming from the fact that most consumers prefer brands that offer rich customer experience. This is why online surveys are most likely to focus on methods that allow for feedback collection. These, coupled with sound customer experience strategies, make for great customer service. However, for those of you who require a tool solely for feedback collection, there are top feedback solutions that you can turn to.

Focus on Customer Obsession

Companies’ drive for customer success is seen to contribute to corporate growth. This, in turn, spawns the need for online surveys to get valuable insights to boost customer service.

Use of Microsurveys

Micro surveys are now recognized as the fastest way to gather customer feedback as they work in real-time. These surveys are likely to reinforce traditional online surveys, the response rates to which, have consistently been declining. Besides, successful businesses are known to make decisions based on feedback.

Increased Survey Technology Regulations

To better protect customer data during online surveys, the General Data Protection Regulation was passed into law. It requires companies to keep customer data safe against cybercriminals and the like. Essentially, if you’re practicing good data privacy practices, you’ll find GDPR a familiar space. For instance, it requires that you declare the respondent’s data will be stored and used by your company. You should also provide an unsubscribe link, where it applies. Discussions on the impact of GDPR on web forms are relevant to online survey forms. Both companies conducting online surveys and survey software vendors must closely watch future regulations to ensure customer data security when conducting online surveys.

And we’re through. Having read our top 3 survey software list and the detailed comparisons that we provided, you are now ready to hunt for the perfect tool. Just take time to consider what you require in such a system and go for free trials to experience what a solution can do for you. You can also take our word for it by going for our top tool first, SoGoSurvey. As shown, it has the best mix of comprehensive features and ease-of-use in this category. It easily tops the list of best survey builder tools in the market today.

By Christopher Robinson

Christopher Robinson is a senior productivity research analyst who specializes in optimizing online collaboration and project management using Scrum and agile approaches. In his work, he always emphasizes the need for distributed work training and the formation of efficient work habits. His work was mentioned in various business publications, including Entrepreneur and InfoQ. He’s a strong proponent of the GTD model. He has been cooperating with the FinancesOnline team for 5 years now, and his publications always focus on practical aspects of productivity tools that can have an actual, transformative impact on a company.