Google Forms and SurveyMonkey are both entry level survey tools. They offer a mix of free functionality and paid capabilities, and are used across company sizes.
Google Forms is applicable to a broader range of uses, while SurveyMonkey is more specialized. Google Forms can be used for building registration forms, quizzes, and assessments in addition to surveys. In contrast, SurveyMonkey is tailored to more in-depth survey design, distribution, and analysis.
Features
Google Forms and SurveyMonkey both have strong features tailored for their use cases.
Google Forms’s free version is very accessible for casual or entry-level users at small volumes. For instance, it is well suited for educational or student-driven academic uses. For businesses, Forms is bundled with the rest of the G Suite. This packaging makes Forms an easy default tool for organizations that have adopted the Google environment. It also includes prebuilt templates for common use cases, which makes the tool more accessible for casual users.
In contrast, SurveyMonkey stands out for its more in-depth survey capabilities. In particular, users point to its excellent branding and personalization options. These features enable a more professional survey experience. It also offers a wide range of prebuilt question options and the ability to deeply customize questions and logic flows. The greater level of customization allows more intensive users to tailor each survey to their exact needs.
Limitations
While each product have certain strengths, Google Forms and SurveyMonkey also have some tradeoffs.
Google Form’s focus on accessibility across user backgrounds places a ceiling on the depth of functionality and complexity. In particular, reviewers have been limited by Google Forms’s question branching simplicity, and basic dynamic capabilities. The user interface and graphic design is also relatively basic and simplistic. The tool lacks the visual and branding customization found in more complex tools.
In contrast, SurveyMonkey provides a more intensive survey administration experience, which can be more difficult for less experienced users. For instance, the survey design process is a much more complex process, with less in-process guidance for unfamiliar designers. The UI is also not as user-friendly or intuitive as some other survey tools.
Pricing
Google Forms is free to use for personal use. It is also included in all Google Suite packages, which are priced at $6/user/month for the Basic plan, $12/user/month for additional cross-suite functionality and security features, and $25/user/month for the Enterpise package that includes additional management and security features.
SurveyMonkey has two pricing systems, one for personal plans and one for business plans. Personal plans are either $32/month or $99/month for additional functions like A/B testing, custom variables, and payments. The Business Plans system has three tiers. The Team Advantage, at $25/user/month, includes all of the Personal Plans features for 3+ users. Team Premier, at $79.95/user/month, includes additional analysis, white labelling, and logic functions. The Enterprise tier, which is priced by quote from the vendor, includes more customization, security features, and management capabilities.
