Quick access: which tool do you use today?
Guide by task
For each task we name the condition that usually tips the balance, plus a few tools worth looking at. The list is not exhaustive.
Thesis and scientific studies
Deciding factor: Do you need experiments, reaction times or custom programming, or mainly logic and analysis?
- Methodological depth and custom programming; free for eligible non-commercial research projects, see the comparison for conditions and limits: SoSci Survey
- Some universities run their own LimeSurvey instance (common in Germany): LimeSurvey
- If your university has a licence (mainly German-speaking universities): Unipark
- Free student account at SurveyHero (by enuvo GmbH): SurveyHero
QUESTIONSTAR fits if you want to build your questionnaire without programming, compare groups statistically and bring the data into SPSS with labels. More on academic research
Evaluate courses
Deciding factor: Are you evaluating individual courses digitally, or is there a central procedure for the whole university, including paper forms?
- Central evaluation with paper forms, scanning and student information systems: evasys
QUESTIONSTAR fits if you want to evaluate your course digitally, let students take part in the lecture hall via QR code and show the results during the lecture itself. Templates for course evaluation
Forms and registrations
Deciding factor: Does the form require payments, document signatures or approvals?
- Payments, signature workflows, approvals: Jotform
- Conversational forms with strong design: Typeform
- If your team already works in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: Google Forms, Microsoft Forms
- Attractively designed forms with many templates: AidaForm (see catalog)
QUESTIONSTAR fits if you want to collect feedback or registrations and turn them directly into an analysis and a report; you capture signatures via a signature field, and we do not offer payments. More on seminars and events
Employee and customer feedback
Deciding factor: A survey your team sets up itself, or an ongoing program with support, many channels and built-in AI analysis?
- Ongoing experience program with text analytics and action plans: Qualtrics, Tivian
- Many channels and built-in AI text analysis: Netigate
- Personal support and follow-up questions to respondents: Questback
- Many small surveys in parallel, providers hosting in Germany: easyfeedback, LamaPoll
QUESTIONSTAR fits if your team wants to run an employee or customer survey itself, check differences between groups and pass the results on as a report. More on HR surveys · More on customer feedback
Special market research methods
Deciding factor: Do you need conjoint, MaxDiff, TURF or a provider panel?
- Alchemer, QuestionPro, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey (panel)
QUESTIONSTAR does not offer these methods as dedicated features.
Self-hosting and open source
Deciding factor: Does the software have to run on your own server, be open source, or both?
- Open source, own server: LimeSurvey
- Own server with a license: SoSci Survey, evasys
QUESTIONSTAR runs on-premise in the CUSTOM plan; it is not open source.
Cross-cutting: provider certification
If your procurement requires certificates of the provider itself: LamaPoll is certified to ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 and holds a TISAX label (information-security label of the German automotive industry); easyfeedback offers TISAX; Netigate, Questback and Survio are certified as companies to ISO 27001. With QUESTIONSTAR, the data centers are certified to ISO 27001.
Cross-cutting: start free or inexpensively
Many tools offer a free entry point, with very different limits: by responses, surveys, term or features. Check which limit matters for your task. Details are in the respective comparisons.
Where QUESTIONSTAR fits and where it does not
Fits if ...
- your team wants to set up an employee or customer survey itself and pass the results on as a finished report in Word or PowerPoint.
- you want to compare groups in a study or thesis and check whether differences hold statistically, and you need the data labeled in SPSS.
- instructors want to evaluate their course digitally and show the results directly in the lecture hall.
- a survey is to run in many languages without translating each language version by hand.
- several colleagues create and analyze surveys together.
Conditions
- Free: 1 active survey, 50 responses, all survey features.
- Unlimited responses in paid plans; the number of simultaneously active surveys is limited per plan.
- Unlimited users from PROFESSIONAL.
- Public prices, monthly or yearly; Academic plans STUDENT €29/month, RESEARCHER €295/year, CHAIR €895/year, CAMPUS on request.
- IONOS data centers in Germany (EU), ISO 27001 certified; AI analysis via MCP with your own assistant, no built-in AI text analysis.
Consider other tools if ...
- the form involves payment or a complete document signature process is needed.
- paper forms have to be scanned.
- conjoint, MaxDiff, TURF or reaction-time experiments are mandatory.
- centrally consolidating tickets, reviews and chats is a mandatory requirement.
- the software must be open source.
See sample exports: Example .sav · Export dialog · Example Office report (PPTX)
All comparisons from A to Z
Each tool with its character and the situations where it is strong. Every comparison shows when QUESTIONSTAR is the better fit and when it is not.
Alchemer
US platform for surveys and customer feedback
Strong when you need conjoint, MaxDiff or TURF; surveys are part of a larger feedback platform
Last checked: October 21, 2026
easyfeedback
Survey tool from Koblenz, Germany
Strong when TISAX matters; you want to buy a single survey as a package
Last checked: October 21, 2026
evasys
Widely used for central course evaluation at universities
Strong when paper sheets with scanning are part of it; course evaluation runs centrally with campus management
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Google Forms
Forms in Google Workspace
Strong when you want simple forms with no setup; Google Sheets is where you analyze
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Jotform
Form and workflow builder
Strong when payment happens inside the form; documents are signed or approvals are triggered
Last checked: October 21, 2026
LamaPoll
Survey tool from Berlin, Germany
Strong when certifications are the deciding factor
Last checked: October 21, 2026
LimeSurvey
Open-source survey software
Strong when your IT wants to run the software itself; an open-source audit is mandatory
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Microsoft Forms
Forms in Microsoft 365
Strong when it is already licensed and approved; quick polls and quizzes are enough
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Netigate
Enterprise platform for customer and employee feedback
Strong when feedback from many channels should come together; AI text analysis should be built in
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Qualtrics
Experience management platform for large organizations
Strong when you run an ongoing XM program; you need integrated panel offerings
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Questback
Feedback solutions for employees and customers from Oslo
Strong when you want personal support; follow-up questions to respondents are part of the process
Last checked: October 21, 2026
QuestionPro
Broad research and experience platform
Strong when you need conjoint, MaxDiff and your own panel; multiple feedback areas should come from one source
Last checked: October 21, 2026
SoSci Survey
Standard tool in German-speaking social science research
Strong when experiments, reaction times and custom programming matter; you research non-commercially and free of charge
Last checked: October 21, 2026
SurveyHero
Survey tool by enuvo GmbH, Switzerland
Strong when you want a free plan with unlimited responses (30-day window); you want English templates and AWS EU hosting with GDPR and nFADP
Last checked: October 21, 2026
SurveyMonkey
Internationally known survey platform
Strong when the Audience panel is part of the methodology; you need many native integrations
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Survio
Simple survey builder from Brno, Czech Republic
Strong when a low monthly price is the deciding factor; you want to run many small surveys for free
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Tivian
Experience suite that grew out of the EFS business
Strong when text analytics and action plans run in production in Discover XI; you use the EFS panel or EFS community
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Typeform
Conversational forms with strong design
Strong when one question per screen and visual design are important
Last checked: October 21, 2026
Unipark
University edition of the EFS platform
Strong when your university already works with Unipark and a framework agreement is in place
Last checked: October 21, 2026
AidaForm
Nicely designed forms, classic or conversational.
Strong when you want templates built around clear goals and scenarios, for example registration, application, order or feedback; payments, signatures and video and audio responses are also possible.
There is no detailed comparison for AidaForm.
Card last checked: October 21, 2026
How we compare
- Who is comparing: the QUESTIONSTAR team (Motaev Marx Motaev GbR). We are a provider ourselves, and we make that transparent.
- Selection: We picked tools that cover different tasks, operating models and target audiences and that can be compared with QUESTIONSTAR. The selection is not exhaustive.
- Sources: publicly accessible pricing pages, help articles and documentation from the providers; the sources are cited in each comparison.
- Wording: "Not publicly documented" means we did not find it in the sources, not that it is missing. We state the strengths of the others explicitly.
- Up to date: Each card shows the date of the last review of that comparison. We review regularly and whenever we learn of changes.
- Corrections: A detail out of date, or a comparison missing? Write to us.
Frequently asked questions
What alternatives to QUESTIONSTAR are there?
Depending on the task, these include SoSci Survey and LimeSurvey for research, evasys for central course evaluation, Jotform and Typeform for forms, Qualtrics and Netigate for feedback programs, and QuestionPro and Alchemer for specialized market research methods. The guide above shows which condition tips the balance in each case.
Which survey tool is right for a thesis or dissertation?
First check which tools your university provides. SoSci Survey can be used free of charge for eligible non-commercial projects and offers dedicated research features. QUESTIONSTAR is a good fit when you want to build more demanding questionnaire logic in the graphical editor and begin the analysis with significance tests inside the tool. More on academic research.
Which survey tool is GDPR-compliant?
GDPR compliance does not depend on the tool or server location alone, but also on which data you process, for what purpose and with which settings. GDPR applies whenever you survey people in the EU. For the tool itself, what matters is the provider's registered office, the data location and the DPA; you will find these details in the comparisons. QUESTIONSTAR hosts with IONOS in Germany and makes the English DPA available for download. Whether a tool fits your project is something your data protection officer checks.
Why is there no comparison with tool X?
We picked tools that cover different tasks, operating models and target audiences; the selection is not exhaustive. Write to us if a comparison is missing.