LimeSurvey
Survey software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$36 per month
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
Small
Medium
Large
- Public sector and nonprofit organizations
- Information technology and software
- Education and training
What is LimeSurvey
LimeSurvey is an open-source survey software platform used to design, distribute, and analyze online questionnaires. It supports use cases such as academic research, customer feedback, employee surveys, and public-sector data collection. Organizations can self-host it for greater control over data and infrastructure, or use a hosted offering provided by the project’s commercial entity. The product emphasizes configurable question types, survey logic, multilingual surveys, and export options for downstream analysis.
Open-source and self-hostable
LimeSurvey can be deployed on an organization’s own infrastructure, which helps teams meet internal security, data residency, or compliance requirements. The source-available/open-source model allows deeper inspection and customization than many proprietary survey tools. Self-hosting also reduces dependency on a single SaaS vendor’s roadmap and pricing changes.
Advanced survey logic options
The platform supports conditional branching, relevance equations, quotas, and validation rules to build complex questionnaires. These capabilities fit research and operational surveys that need skip logic, screening, and controlled sampling. It also supports multilingual surveys, which is useful for global or multi-region programs.
Flexible data export formats
LimeSurvey provides exports to common formats (for example CSV/Excel) and statistical packages (commonly used in research workflows). This makes it practical for teams that analyze results outside the survey tool in BI or statistical software. It also supports token-based participant management for controlled distribution and tracking.
UI and workflow complexity
The administration interface and survey-building workflow can feel less streamlined than some modern, highly guided survey platforms. New users may require training to use advanced logic and participant management effectively. Complex surveys can be harder to maintain without strong internal conventions and documentation.
Requires technical ownership when self-hosted
Self-hosted deployments require the organization to manage hosting, updates, backups, email deliverability, and security hardening. This can be a barrier for small teams without IT support. Operational tasks (patching and monitoring) remain the customer’s responsibility unless using a managed hosting option.
Limited native research services
LimeSurvey focuses on survey execution rather than bundled research services such as panel recruitment, automated sampling marketplaces, or end-to-end managed research. Organizations needing those services typically integrate external providers or use separate platforms. Some advanced analytics and reporting experiences may require exporting data to other tools.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 per month | Always free; 25 responses/month; 10 MB upload storage; 1 admin user; unlimited surveys; access to core question types and survey logic; no email support. |
| Basic | $39 per month (billed monthly) | 1 admin user; 1,000 responses/month; 250 MB upload storage; unlimited surveys & questions; suitable for individual researchers. |
| Expert | $36 per month (billed annually — $432/year) | 3 admin users; 10,000 responses/year; 1 GB upload storage; white‑label domain; remove LimeSurvey branding; includes everything in Basic. |
| Business | $70 per month (billed annually — $836/year) | 5–10 admin users (selectable); 50,000 responses/year; 3 GB upload storage; 1 alias domain; priority email support; includes everything in Expert. |
| Corporate | Custom pricing — contact sales | Tailored users/responses, advanced features (SSO, LDAP, SAML), dedicated server options, VIP support, onboarding/training and customization. |
Notes: Non‑EUR prices shown on the vendor site are for orientation; actual checkout is in EUR. The vendor states users can “Sign up for free” and the free plan can be used indefinitely (not a time‑limited trial). (All plan details sourced from the vendor's official pricing and help pages.)
Seller details
LimeSurvey GmbH
Hamburg, Germany
2003
Private
https://www.limesurvey.org/
https://x.com/limesurvey
https://www.linkedin.com/company/limesurvey
