--- url: "https://questionstar.com/faq/" title: "FAQ — QUESTIONSTAR" description: "Answers on plans & payment, features, data protection & GDPR, team, integration, onboarding and methodology for the QUESTIONSTAR online survey tool." lastmod: "2026-07-04" type: "marketing" --- # Häufig gestellte Fragen ## Plans & payment **What are the differences between the plans?** Our plans differ primarily in **two factors**: - **Number of surveys running in parallel at the same time** — how many surveys you can have active at once. - **Term** — monthly or annual subscription. In addition: - **Larger plans** include **user management** (custom roles, security policies, project groups). - **Number of invitation emails per month** is set as a limit — not decisive for most use cases. Functionally, **all survey features are identical in every plan** — plans differ in volume, Whitelabel branding and user management. In the **free plan** there's one restriction: 1 active survey with up to 50 responses plus a subtle QUESTIONSTAR notice in the layout. Details on the [Pricing page](/pricing). **Which payment methods are accepted?** - **Credit cards:** VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, UnionPay - **PayPal** - **Bank transfer** (when ordering by invoice) **Are my payments secure?** Yes. All transactions on our website are encrypted. All payment providers through which we process your payments are **PCI DSS certified** and thus meet the highest security standards for online payments. We ourselves don't store credit card numbers or payment-provider credentials. **Can I order by invoice?** Yes. If your company can’t pay via the supported payment systems, you can order any plan by invoice. Select "Invoice" when choosing the payment methods. You receive the invoice by email and in your profile under "My invoices". If you’ve entered a different billing email address, the invoice goes there. Your account is unlocked according to your chosen plan. **Payment term:** 14 days from the issue date. On late payment, the account is downgraded to the FREE plan (all surveys except the most recently started one are stopped, access to respondent data is limited to 50 records). Once payment is received, the restrictions are lifted — you have to restart the stopped surveys yourself. **How is an upgrade to a higher plan billed?** When upgrading during a running license, only a **difference amount** is due: the unused but paid term of your previous plan is deducted from the price of the new plan. The new license starts on the order date. On each subsequent renewal, the full price of the new plan applies (unless you’ve downgraded or canceled in the meantime). **How is a downgrade billed?** On downgrade, the current plan first applies until the end of its term. After that, the downgraded plan applies. The renewal charge is made accordingly on that date. At the same time, surveys exceeding the downgraded plan's allowance are stopped — by **FIFO** (first-in-first-out): the surveys started first are stopped first, until the permitted number of simultaneous surveys is reached. **How do I cancel my plan?** In the **profile settings → "Plan and account usage" → "Cancel subscription"**. The plan applies until the end of the license term, then the account is transferred to the FREE plan. In the process, all surveys except the most recently started one are stopped. The day after expiry, the FREE-plan restrictions take effect for the most recently started survey. ## Product features **How many responses can I collect?** In the **free plan:** one active survey with up to 50 responses. In the **Business plans**, currently no fixed limit per survey — tiered response volumes aren't part of the model. Functionally, all survey features are identical in every plan — plans differ only in volume, Whitelabel and user management. **Do I need programming skills for customizations?** No. Layout, colors, logos, personalization — all adjustable via the interface. An **HTML/CSS/JavaScript editor** is available in every plan, but isn't required. **Do I need SPSS or R for the analysis?** For many studies, no. Statistics (regression, t-tests, correlations, crosstabs) run in the browser. For special cases (factor analysis, clustering, structural equation models) you export the raw data as an SPSS, CSV or XLSX file. **Can we run QUESTIONSTAR on our own servers?** Yes, **on-premise** is possible — especially for larger organizations for which the online licenses aren't enough in volume. Get in touch and we'll check what fits your infrastructure: [sales@questionstar.com](mailto:sales@questionstar.com) **Do respondents need an account?** No. Respondents only need the link, QR code or embed. Account creation is for the survey owner — one time, free. **Which channels can I distribute surveys on?** Direct link, personal token links, QR code, embed in five modes (inline, button, tab, modal, bubble), social link with OG preview, email sending with personalization and reminders. One survey — all channels in parallel, one shared dataset. Details on [/product-tour](/product-tour) (Step 3 "Distribute"). **Is there real-time analysis?** Yes. Answers appear immediately in the dashboard — live counter without refresh. Charts show the current state of the collection at any time. Interactive live-voting setups (e.g. during a lecture or concert) are also possible. For very large events (thousands in parallel) please coordinate in advance. ## Data protection & GDPR **Where is the data stored?** By default in **Germany — the IONOS data centers in Frankfurt and Berlin**. GDPR-compliant by default, DPA included, no US sub-processor in the standard configuration. Hosting within the EU is available on request. **Are you GDPR-compliant? Can we get a DPA?** Yes, QUESTIONSTAR is GDPR-compliant by default. Compliance under **Art. 28** (processing on behalf), **Art. 32** (security measures) and **Art. 33** (incident notification) GDPR. We provide a prepared **DPA (data processing agreement) as a PDF**. Download the document in the footer under "DPA", fill it in and send it to us at [support@questionstar.com](mailto:support@questionstar.com) — we countersign and send it back. **What happens to my data if I cancel?** Until the end of the paid term, you have full access. We recommend exporting all data and reports before the plan expires. After that, the account is downgraded to the free plan — the data is preserved, but only what the free-tier limits allow stays visible (one survey × 50 responses). On a later upgrade, full access is back. If you want to delete everything immediately — the profile setting "Delete account": all data, including surveys and answers, is gone irreversibly. No support ticket needed. **Can we prevent multiple responses?** Yes. Selectable per survey: **cookie-based** (one browser, one response) or via a **personal token link** (one person, one response). Both have limits — we tell you which upfront. **Who processes data besides QUESTIONSTAR?** - **Hosting:** IONOS data centers Frankfurt and Berlin (Germany) - **Email delivery:** SendGrid (Twilio Inc., USA — with standard contractual clauses and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) - **CDN:** Microsoft Azure Frankfurt for static assets - Full sub-processor list in our privacy policy and on [/security](/security). For strict EU-only procurement, please coordinate in advance. **Does it work with screen readers? Is QUESTIONSTAR accessible?** ARIA tags are maintained throughout and tested in practice. Not every question type is equally suitable (sliders without steps are problematic). There's no formal WCAG certification. ## User management & team **Can several people work on one survey?** Yes. Share a survey with other users — **even in the free plan**. The invited person doesn't need to be a member of your account; they get access to exactly this survey with the rights you grant per person (12 granular rights plus an "administrator" switch). In plans with **user management**, organizational tools come in: **project groups** (share a survey with a whole group), **define your own roles** (Editor, translator, designer as templates; custom roles can be created), **security policies** (minimum password length, auto-logout) and an **activity log**. **Can we use single sign-on (SSO)?** Yes, configurable on request. - **Company SSO:** any OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect identity provider — e.g. Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Google Workspace, Okta, Auth0 or your own IdP stacks. - **University SSO via Shibboleth:** QUESTIONSTAR is a [Service Provider in eduGAIN and DFN-AAI](/university-sso). Connection to further federations via Shibboleth can be set up quickly on request. Details at [/university-sso](/university-sso). - Get in touch: [sales@questionstar.com](mailto:sales@questionstar.com) **Who is eligible to use the Academic plans?** With our Academic plans we support academic and non-commercial use. To take advantage of them, sign up with an **email address of your college or university**. We maintain a database of universities and colleges to verify eligibility. Colleges and universities with our **campus license** let their staff and students use the Academic plans at no extra cost — if you sign up with such a university email, your account is upgraded automatically. ## Integration & migration **Which tools can we integrate?** - **Workflow automation:** Zapier, n8n, webhooks - **Analytics & BI:** Google Data Studio, Microsoft Power BI - **API:** complete REST API with Swagger documentation at api.questionstar.com - **Panel integration:** universal connection to panel providers (quotas, callbacks, data flow) - **AI:** MCP server for AI assistants - Overview and guides: [/integrations](/integrations) **Can we import existing Qualtrics surveys?** Yes. **.QSF and .CSV** are imported directly. Existing logic, question types, answer options and data are carried over. Guide: [/help/integrations/qualtrics](/help/integrations/qualtrics) **Can we process or export the data further?** Yes. Export raw data as **CSV, XLSX or SPSS (.sav)**. Reports as **Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF** — with real, editable Office charts. Pass data directly into other systems via **REST API and webhooks**. Native integration with **Data Studio** and **Power BI**. Automate data into thousands of external apps via **Zapier or n8n**. **What happens automatically with a detractor (or other critical answers)?** Conditional email notifications or webhooks can be configured per survey. Example: on an NPS score ≤ 6 → email to the sales team with the answer as payload. More complex conditions (several questions combined) and actions (webhook + follow-up question + redirect) are also possible. Closed-loop workflows in a CRM, helpdesk or Slack can be triggered directly. ## Demo, trial & onboarding **Is there a free demo period?** You use the **free plan indefinitely** — no time limit, no credit card. Functionally, all survey features are identical to the paid plans; the free-tier limits are one active survey with up to 50 responses and a subtle QUESTIONSTAR notice in the layout. If you need more responses or full Whitelabel, you switch straight to a Business plan — no separate trial version needed. **How can I order additional surveys or a larger license?** If you need **more active surveys** than our highest plan allows, write to us: **[sales@questionstar.com](mailto:sales@questionstar.com)**. Together we'll find a suitable solution — from custom licenses to on-premise setups. **Can I delete my account?** Yes. In your account's **profile settings** you can delete it any time. In doing so, **all data is deleted irreversibly** — customer data, surveys, collected data, contact lists, images, layout templates and more. The deletion can't be undone. If you delete an active paid plan, no costs are refunded. **Alternative:** downgrade to the FREE plan. All data is preserved, the account stays active under the free-tier restrictions. On a later upgrade, your data is still available. ## Methodology & study design **How does pretest mode work?** The survey runs realistically — **logic, timing, user flow**. Multiple testers at once are possible. Answers are **not saved** — the real dataset stays clean, n = 0 at study start. No data mixing, no filtering afterward. **Are there industry benchmarks for NPS or other metrics?** No. QUESTIONSTAR calculates your score, not your comparison to someone else's benchmarks. That's deliberate: external benchmarks often sound more helpful than they are methodologically — different sample structures, survey periods and scale formats usually make industry-wide comparisons unreliable. We recommend using your own comparison values (previous period, your own segments). **Can we set quotas?** Yes. Set a **maximum** per answer option or respondent profile — by demographics, region, age group or your own logic. When the quota is full, you decide what happens: continue to the end of the survey, branch to another path, or politely decline. Important for balanced samples in market research and academia, and for representative citizen surveys. **What happens with many participants at once?** Real-time analysis is smooth up to about **2,000 responses in parallel**. For larger collections (tens of thousands of participants in one time window) we recommend staggered invitations over several days — that keeps response times and server performance stable. For very large events please coordinate in advance: [sales@questionstar.com](mailto:sales@questionstar.com) **Can we share results publicly?** Yes. Aggregated results can be **shared as an online report via link** — no login. Useful for transparency obligations in participation processes or public results communication. Individual personal answers of course stay invisible in the process. **What is the sample size calculator?** A standalone QUESTIONSTAR tool for **planning the sample size** for a quantitative study — freely accessible, no registration, no data storage. It calculates minimum sample sizes based on confidence level, margin of error, population size and expected variance. Available in the footer Resources column or directly: [/stichprobenrechner](/stichprobenrechner).