LimeSurvey — An open-source survey and forms platform (GPL) self-hostable for free or available as managed cloud hosting from $39/month, serving 60,000+ organizations in 160+ countries.
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Best for: academic and market researchers needing advanced survey logic with self-hosting or GDPR-compliant cloud hosting
Pricing: Free to self-host under the GPL; Cloud plans start at $39/month for the Basic tier, scaling to a custom-quoted Corporate tier.
- LimeSurvey's core software is open source under the GPL and free to self-host.
- LimeSurvey Cloud pricing starts at $39/month for the Basic tier (1 admin user, 1,000 responses/month, 250MB storage).
- LimeSurvey serves 60,000+ companies in 160+ countries.
- The platform includes 800+ survey templates and 30+ question types, plus advanced methods like conjoint analysis and MaxDiff.
- LimeSurvey has a 4.4/5 rating from 50 reviews on Capterra.
Limitations: Self-hosting requires running and maintaining your own server.; Cloud Basic's 1,000 responses/month and single admin user cap is low for active teams.; Corporate tier pricing is not published and requires a custom quote.
Top alternatives: SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Qualtrics, Google Forms, Jotform — full list
What is LimeSurvey?
LimeSurvey is an open-source survey and forms platform, licensed under the GPL, used by academic researchers, market research firms, enterprises, healthcare institutions, and public-sector organizations to build and distribute surveys, questionnaires, polls, and votes. The platform includes 800+ pre-built survey templates and more than 30 customizable question types, with logic branching, media integration, and advanced research tools like conjoint analysis, MaxDiff, and heatmaps. Surveys can be distributed via public links, QR codes, embedded widgets, or password-protected access, and results come with a built-in statistics dashboard. Security features include 2048-bit SSL, GDPR compliance tooling, and WCAG 2.2 accessibility support, and the platform supports 80+ languages for both the survey editor and respondent-facing forms. Organizations can self-host the GPL-licensed core for free, or pay for LimeSurvey's managed Cloud hosting, which is offered across 7 regions (including EU, US, UK, Canada, and Australia) for teams that want data-residency choices without running their own servers. Discounts of 30-50% are available for teachers, students, and charitable organizations on the Cloud plans.
LimeSurvey is an open-source online survey tool for building professional surveys, questionnaires, polls, and forms, with 800+ templates and 30+ question types including advanced research methods like conjoint analysis and MaxDiff. The core software is free and self-hostable under the GPL, while LimeSurvey also sells managed cloud hosting starting at $39/month for the Basic tier (1 admin user, 1,000 responses/month, 250MB storage), scaling to Expert and Business tiers, plus a custom-quote Corporate tier with SSO/LDAP/SAML support. It's built for academic researchers, market researchers, healthcare and public-sector organizations, and enterprises that need GDPR-compliant surveys with data residency options across 7 hosting regions. LimeSurvey has a 4.4/5 rating from 50 reviews on Capterra.
Standout feature: Advanced research-grade question types like conjoint analysis, MaxDiff, and heatmaps built into a fully open-source platform that can be self-hosted at no cost under the GPL.
Biggest weakness: The self-hosted Community Edition requires the user to run and maintain a server themselves, and the Cloud plans' entry tier is limited to a single admin user and 1,000 responses per month, a low ceiling that pushes active survey teams toward the pricier Expert or Business tiers quickly.
Pros
- Fully open source (GPL) and free to self-host, with no feature gating between free and Cloud tiers.
- 800+ templates and 30+ question types, including advanced methods like conjoint analysis and MaxDiff.
- GDPR compliance tooling and choice of 7 hosting regions for data residency requirements.
- 80+ language support for both survey creation and respondent-facing forms.
Cons
- Self-hosting requires managing your own server, updates, and security patches.
- Cloud Basic's entry tier is capped at 1 admin user and 1,000 responses/month, a tight limit for active research teams.
- Interface and survey-logic builder have a steeper learning curve than simpler form tools like Google Forms or Typeform.
- Corporate tier pricing (SSO, LDAP, SAML) is not published and requires a custom quote.
LimeSurvey pricing
Free tier · paid from $36/mo · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted (Community Edition) | Free | Free, open source under the GPL; unlimited surveys and responses, requires the user to install and maintain their own server. |
| Cloud Basic | $39/mo | 1 admin user, 1,000 responses/month, 250MB storage, unlimited surveys, managed hosting. |
| Cloud Expert | $36/mo | Billed annually at $432/year; 3 admin users, 10,000 responses/year, 1GB storage, white-label domain, custom branding. |
| Cloud Business | $70/mo | Billed annually at $831/year; 5-10 admin users, 50,000 responses/year, 3GB storage, 1 alias domain, priority email support. |
| Cloud Corporate | Custom | Custom quote; tailored users and response volumes, advanced features, SSO/LDAP/SAML, dedicated server, VIP support. |
What reviewers say
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