Survey Solutions

Survey Solutions is free survey software for organizations designing detailed questionnaires and collecting data in the field, online, or by phone. It is best suited to research teams that need offline tablet work, GIS, or programmable data workflows and can take responsibility for deployment. Its broad toolkit comes with practical constraints: self-hosted servers need ongoing care, and browser interviews require a live connection.

Overview

Developed by the World Bank’s Data group since 2012, Survey Solutions brings survey design, interviewing, data-quality controls, and integrations together. The maker identifies National Statistical Offices, NGOs, universities, think tanks, and private survey firms among its clients and partners, and says the software is used in more than 150 countries. That institutional reach fits its emphasis on complex data collection; teams running simple, occasional polls may find its deployment and questionnaire capabilities more than they need.

Key features

The Questionnaire Designer supports multilingual questionnaires, team collaboration, online and tablet testing, compiler guidance, and formatted PDF output. Nested rosters, answer piping, cascading and linked questions, barcode and picture questions, audio, and external sensor data give survey designers room to build structured instruments. Macros, calculated variables, lookup tables, answer validation, and paradata monitoring help guide interviews and assess data quality. These controls are useful where consistency matters across enumerators and complex flows, though they call for deliberate survey design.

Collection can happen through offline tablet CAPI, browser-based CAWI, phone-based CATI, or a mix of modes. GIS tools collect location, distance, and area data, support geofencing, and provide offline interviewer guidance with satellite imagery and GPS. This makes the platform a strong fit for field research where geography matters. Browser interviews have a narrower role: they need continuous internet, do not support geography questions, render barcode questions as text, and allow picture questions only as image uploads.

REST APIs support custom dashboards, reports, database connections, and automated quality controls; an R package covers almost all API calls. Optional connections include Google reCAPTCHA and Maps, Esri mapping, Amazon SES and S3, and Twilio SendGrid, with some services potentially adding charges. Server components can run on premises or in the cloud, with documented deployment options for Docker, AWS, Azure, and Windows Server. That flexibility suits organizations with technical capacity, but a self-hosted installation makes its administrators responsible for backups, updates, and maintenance.

Pricing

Survey Solutions is free: both the Free and Free Survey Solutions software plans are priced at $0. They provide server and tablet components as free downloads, with no restrictions on use by public or private companies. The distinction that matters in practice is provision: users must supply their own tablets and server hosting, so the software has no purchase price but deployment still requires equipment and operational capacity.

Platforms

Survey Solutions supports Android, API, Linux, self-hosted, web, and Windows environments. The Interviewer app requires an Android tablet running Android 8.0 or later with at least 2 GB of RAM. The web interviewer is the less suitable choice for disconnected fieldwork because it requires internet throughout an interview and lacks geography questions.

Who it's for

Choose Survey Solutions if your organization needs intricate questionnaires, offline tablet collection, GIS, multiple interview modes, or API access without paying a software license fee. It is particularly well matched to statistical offices, NGOs, universities, think tanks, and survey firms with staff able to manage a server or cloud deployment. Look elsewhere if you need browser interviews to work offline, rely on geography questions in the browser, or cannot provide and maintain the required infrastructure.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Free server and tablet downloads have no public- or private-company use restrictions, making the software accessible for institutional projects with their own equipment and hosting.
• Pro: Offline tablet CAPI, GIS collection, and mixed-mode support address fieldwork needs that basic web forms do not cover.
• Pro: Extensive questionnaire logic, validation, paradata, REST APIs, and an R package support controlled data collection and custom workflows.
• Con: Self-hosting puts backups, updates, and ongoing maintenance on the organization, which adds real operational work to a free deployment.
• Con: Browser interviews require a constant connection and lack geography questions; barcode and picture question handling is also limited.
• Con: Tablet interviewing requires Android 8.0 or later and at least 2 GB of RAM, and users must supply the tablets.

Alternatives

For a lightweight form workflow, Typeform offers an ongoing free plan with unlimited forms but only 10 responses per month; choose it when that response cap fits and you want a form-focused option across web and mobile platforms. Alchemer has a free plan and paid tiers with annual response allowances, making it worth comparing when those quotas suit your survey volume. Formbricks offers a Hobby plan with one workspace and 250 responses per month, or a Pro plan at $89 a month; its self-hosted option may suit teams comparing deployment choices.

KoboToolbox is another freemium survey option; its Starter plan is $21 a month and includes 1,000 submissions, a potential fit when that submission allowance matches the project. Qualaroo offers Essentials at $39.99 a month with 1,000 email sends and unlimited responses, and Business at $99.99 a month; consider it when those plan terms fit your response workflow. SatisMeter has a free plan capped at 25 responses per month, while Growth costs 199.00 USD; it fits smaller response volumes if that cap is sufficient.

SurveyJS offers an Essential plan with unlimited forms, submissions, and file uploads, and a Basic plan with unlimited admins, making it an option to compare when those allowances matter. LimeSurvey offers a free plan capped at 25 responses per month and one admin, or a Basic plan at $39 a month; choose it when that smaller free allowance or paid entry tier fits. To compare broader categories, browse Survey API Software, Survey Software, and Mobile Forms Software.

Verdict

Survey Solutions is a strong choice for research organizations that need sophisticated survey logic, offline tablet collection, GIS, and API-driven workflows without a software license fee. Its central trade-off is operational: the organization must provide equipment and hosting, maintain self-hosted servers, and accept the browser interviewer’s connection and feature limits. Choose it when those responsibilities are manageable and fieldwork needs are substantial; look elsewhere for a simpler form workflow or offline browser interviewing.