SurveyMonkey and Google Forms are two of the most popular survey form builders available. Both platforms have various unique features and designs. Google Forms integrates with the rest of the Google Suite and SurveyMonkey is a powerhouse. Because platforms have benefits, it can be difficult to decide which survey program is best for you.
Continue reading to learn all about SurveyMonkey vs Google Forms.
What is SurveyMonkey?
SurveyMonkey is an online survey tool designed to collect business feedback. Since its inception, SurveyMonkey has been adding features to meet the unique needs of users. Today it is one of the best-known survey services with a complete feature offering.
What are Google Forms?
Google Forms is an online survey tool and is part of Google’s suite of free products. Your form responses are automatically transferred to Google Sheets and saved to Google Drive. Google Forms is a powerhouse with the full suite of Google apps behind it.
SurveyMonkey vs. Google Forms
When deciding which survey platform is best for you, there are many features to consider. We’ve broken down the essential elements to help compare both services. See more about SurveyMonkey vs. Google Forms below.
Prices
Google Forms is 100% free, but you need a Google account. Fortunately, creating an account is also free. There are no limits to the number of forms you can create. You can also create an unlimited number of questions and collect unlimited answers.
On the other hand, SurveyMonkey offers a tiered model for advanced features and limits. There is a free tier called “Basic”, which limits you to 10 questions per survey and 40 responses per survey, with other limited features. They also offer plans in Inpidual, team and company levels.
The Inpidual plan can range from $99 per month to $1,400 per year. Team plans can range from $25 per user per month to $75 per user per month. Enterprise plans require you to request a quote from the SurveyMonkey sales team.
While Google’s free service seems immediately more attractive, SurveyMonkey offers a wide variety of features. With each level of its pricing plans, SurveyMonkey adds additional advanced features and quickly surpasses Google Forms.
Customizations
Currently, Google Forms customizations are minimal compared to SurveyMonkey.
Google Forms offers 20 templates that you can customize with a header image or the preloaded image. You can also change the theme color and background color. There are four options for fonts. However, Google Forms does not allow you to remove Google branding.
SurveyMonkey’s free plan offers 40 templates and nine pre-designed themes. You can also adjust the design of your survey. There is the option to use image and video questions in your survey, a feature not available in Google Forms.
SurveyMonkey’s paid plans offer even more features, including 200 survey templates organized by industry and purpose. Paid plans can remove the SurveyMonkey branding and add themes with custom fonts, colors, layouts, and images. If you plan to embed a survey on your website, SurveyMonkey allows you to add your full branding to the survey.
Collaboration
Google Forms collaboration features are limited even compared to other Google products. There is no view-only option when inviting collaborators, only an “Edit” option. You also cannot make comments or view the change history. However, you can add an unlimited number of collaborators.
Google Forms collaboration tools perform better than SurveyMonkey’s Basic and Inpidual plans. With these plans, there is no collaboration tool.
However, Teams and Enterprise plans have access to a full set of collaborative features. You can set different permissions to view, edit and comment on surveys and results. The live collaboration feature allows you to create a survey with another team member.
Kind of questions
Google Forms offers nine question types: short answers, multiple choice, checkboxes, and drop-down menus. There are no pre-written questions, but Google Forms allows you to modify user-generated Google Forms templates. These could be useful as a basis for creating your survey.
SurveyMonkey offers more question types than Google. Depending on your plan, you can choose from 15 question types. These include multiple choice, text, Net Promoter Score, A/B comparisons, and matrices. However, not all plans offer all question types. Only SurveyMonkey’s “essential question types” are available in each plan.
“Essential question types” include:
- Multiple choice
- Checkboxes
- Dropdown lists
- Text’s box
Additional question types are only available for paid plans. The standard monthly plan only has access to a few other question types, while question types like A/B testing questions are only available on annual subscriptions. Team and Enterprise plans have access to all types of questions.
Conditional logic
Conditional logic is essential for surveys. It allows you to send users to a different p of the survey or even end the survey based on their responses. This allows for more specific questions and more valuable answers.
Google Forms allows you to use conditional logic only for multiple choice and drop-down questions. On the other hand, SurveyMonkey will allow you to use conditional logic in multiple options, drop-down menus, checkboxes, and star ratings.
You can only use conditional logic with SurveyMonkey paid plans.
Compilation of responses
Collecting responses is an essential part of the survey. If you don’t reach your survey users, you won’t be able to collect the information you need. For this reason, having a variety of ways to submit your survey is critical to your success.
Google Forms allows you to distribute your survey in three ways. You can send the survey via email, post a link, or embed the survey on your website.
When collecting responses, SurveyMonkey offers more options than Google Forms. You can collect responses using the same methods as Google Forms or other options. With SurveyMonkey, you can send the survey on Facebook Messenger or embed it in a mobile app.
If your survey parameters allow it, you can also take advantage of SurveyMonkey. Audience characteristic. With this feature, you can buy responses from your target audience. This can quickly increase the number of results you have and provide better analysis of your questions.
With the SurveyMonkey Anywhere app, you can collect results without access to Wi-Fi. Some have used the app to collect responses at conferences, retail stores, and more. Results are stored on your device locally and uploaded to SurveyMonkey once your internet connection is restored.
The SurveyMonkey Anywhere app is available for both Android and iOS.
Analysis and reports
Google Forms offers different graphs depending on the type of question to help analyze the answers within the program. You won’t be able to decide how you want the data to be displayed since everything is preset. However, you can export the data directly to Google Sheets or Google Data Studio. There you can perform an advanced analysis of the results.
SurveyMonkey offers more options within the program for analyzing survey results. The Basic plan provides eight types of charts, such as pie charts, bar charts, and line charts. Additionally, you can customize chart colors and labels. You’ll need a paid plan if you want to export your SurveyMonkey results.
Another great feature of SurveyMonkey reports is its ability to compare questions. If you use a pre-designed question in your survey, your results can be compared to other surveys that used the same question. This will tell you how your results compare to those of similar companies.
Customer service
Google Forms does not offer a help center if you have problems. Your only option is Document Editors Help Center It offers only basic troubleshooting solutions. If this does not cover your needs, the only solution is to do an Internet search on the topic.
Basic SurveyMonkey users have access to 24/7 email support if they have problems. For higher tier plans, the level of support available increases. Members on paid inpidual and team plans can expect prioritized phone and email support over Basic members. Enterprise plan members have an additional level of support and have a Customer Success Manager assigned to their accounts.
SurveyMonkey vs. Google Forms: Which is Better?
Overall, SurveyMonkey offers more features and options than Google Forms. This is true even for SurveyMonkey’s basic plan. However, for shorter surveys, Google Forms’ limited options may be more than enough.
Google Forms has a more user-friendly interface and can be used for purposes other than a traditional survey. Typical uses for Google Forms can include event RSVPs, job applications, questionnaires, order forms, and more.
In comparison, SurveyMonkey has more options for the same features as Google Forms. However, the Basic plan is the only affordable option. Users creating surveys may not need all the features of paid plans. These plans are not very economical and may require payment for an entire year. It’s also worth noting that SurveyMonkey has a longer learning curve due to a more complicated interface.
A survey for every need
Depending on your survey goals, you may have a clear winner between SurveyMonkey and Google Forms. Both platforms offer features to meet the needs of their users and can be used for different purposes. Choosing one will be based solely on the needs of the user, as the two platforms satisfy different levels of need.
Have you recently created a survey in SurveyMonkey or Google Forms? Which platform worked best for you? Let us know your preferred survey platform in the comments below.
