Typeform vs SurveyMonkey - Which Questionnaire Platform is Best?

0 min read

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

Static and dynamic content editing

"A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!"

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Many modern businesses have made digital forms part of their routine activity. Forms and questionnaires are a fantastic tool to source information and share data.

The main purpose of a questionnaire or observation form is to extract data from the respondents in a relatively inexpensive, quick, and efficient way - particularly helpful when the researcher isn't present to collect the responses first hand, or the respondents are pressed for time.

In this Typeform vs SurveyMonkey review, we will reveal the key features and downfalls of each application so you can decide which it is you should depend on.

An Introduction to Typeform 👀

Typeform is a web based platform you can use to create anything from customer surveys to lead generation forms. It makes collecting and sharing information comfortable and conversational. 

“Create forms, surveys, and quizzes that people enjoy answering.” - Typeform

Typeform is one of the most widely used digital form tools across an abundance of industries, but it is important to work out if it is the right tool for your business, so let’s dive in.

Say Hello to SurveyMonkey 👋

SurveyMonkey is essentially a cloud-based survey tool that enables users to create, send and analyse surveys and responses. 

SurveyMonkey has been around far longer than Typeform, which is justified by its 17 million active users.

SurveyMonkey User Interface
SurveyMonkey User Interface

The platform was initially created to allow users to easily create surveys, quizzes and polls for any audience, and over time it has evolved into a fantastic tool for small businesses to gather respondents' feedback and analyse the results using the insights to make better, data-driven decisions. 

Typeform survey types

  • Customer satisfaction
  • Customer loyalty
  • Job satisfaction
  • Market research
  • Opinion polls
  • Concept testing
  • Order forms
  • Feedback forms
  • Employee satisfaction
  • Application forms
  • Feedback surveys
  • Evaluation forms
  • Signup forms
  • Marketing surveys
  • HR surveys
  • Registration form
  • Lead generation
  • Contact form
  • Quizzes

SurveyMonkey survey types

  • Customer satisfaction 
  • Market research 
  • Net Promoter Score℠
  • Online research 
  • Employee satisfaction 
  • Marketing surveys
  • Meeting surveys 
  • Event planning 
  • Student surveys, teacher surveys, school surveys
  • Concept testing 
  • Customer satisfaction 
  • Employee engagement 
  • Employee satisfaction 
  • Evaluation surveys
  • Feedback forms
  • Onboarding and registration
  • Performance reviews

Top features of Typefrom and SurveyMonkey

An array of features make both Typeform and SurveyMonkey a dream to interact with for the end user. Let’s take a look at 5 areas of comparison:

1. Logic jump

Amend the customer journey based on their answers; an if-when scenario. 

If the respondent answers ‘cat’ in the example below, they’re taken to Q2 group; if the respondent answers ‘dog’ they jump to the Q3 group.

This functionality is particularly useful in lead generation to qualify potential customers before hopping on a call. 

Typeform form builder - easy to add questions, change question type and amend settings
Typeform form builder - easy to add questions, change question type and amend settings

Similar to Typeform, SurveyMonkey has Skip Logic. This lets you skip respondents to a specific question on a later page based on their answer to a previous closed-ended question.

It’s great to dig deeper with regard to specific answers or request further information based on previous responses.

An example of SurveyMonkey logic where answers reveal different subsequent questions
An example of SurveyMonkey logic where answers reveal different subsequent questions

2. Real-time results and data export options

We’ll touch on this in the integrations section below but both platforms allow owners to export data for analysis purposes. This can be in the form of an excel spreadsheet or could directly import into a CRM if it’s part of Typeforms integration suite.

Typeform has worked so hard on making the aesthetic design of the surveys look great, and the ease of use of the platform to create and fill out the surveys, but the process of getting the data out of Typeform can be a little more complicated than SurveyMonkey. 

Typeform largely requires data to be exported to another platform for any indepth analysis. It does offer extremely useful insights into response times and drop-off rates but for more detailed analysis, you’ll need to link an integration. 

Where data is available in the platform, you’ll not be disappointed by the attractive, easy to use charts, formatted in such a way that you can screen grab the report and easily copy and paste it into a presentation deck to present in an analysis meeting.

Typeform data and insights for form responses
Typeform data and insights for form responses

SurveyMonkey has more detailed analysis available directly from the platform. It has visually stunning and easy to digest reports and charts readily available. 

The analysis tools in SurveyMonkey help you collect, share, and act on survey data to drive growth in your organisation.

  • Explore your automatic charts and graphs to help you understand the data.
  • Customise survey charts types and tables with colours and labels.
  • Generate a word cloud with frequently used words in your open-ended responses.
  • Design a customizable dashboard to present your survey results visually.
  • Share results in any popular format such CSV, XLS, PDF, or PPT.
SurveyMonkey platform data reporting
SurveyMonkey platform data reporting

3. Collaboration and teams

Both Typeform and SurveyMonkey allow teams to collaborate, but in slightly different ways.

With SurveyMonkey, there are finer controls over survey editing, collectors, and viewing the results. These are the forms of roles: design, collect reponses or analyse. 

SurveyMonkey provides a handful of collaborative features that allows multiple survey creators to build surveys together in half the time it would take for one person alone to do. The platform enables users to: create and edit surveys as a team, track survey reports and interpret data together, and also integrate surveys and results with other third-party tools, ensuring a seamless experience all around for both the client and the respondents.

In contrast, Typeform simply has Owners and Managers. Owners have ultimate account permissions like billing and subscriptions and Managers can create, edit and analyse forms.

Both platforms allow teams to have access to themes so they can ensure consistency in templates, logos, or other assets.

4. Templates ad customisation

Get started quickly and easily by using popular templates for lead capture, registration, feedback, orders, research and so much more. It can be overwhelming to try and list out all the questions to include in a survey, so having a tried and tested starting point can be handy. 

The platform has an extensive library of survey templates for users to implement in their own research quickly and effectively. There is a great selection of templates that are available with a free Typeform account

Examples of Typeform templates from lead generation to registration
Examples of Typeform templates from lead generation to registration

Similarly, SurveyMonkey has a suite of readily-available, expert-written surveys that save time and help get higher-quality responses by allowing businesses to get started quickly and easily, customising pre-made templates by changing questions, adding branding and sharing them with team members.

In addition to offering a wide range of survey templates, SurveyMonkey also provides sample questions, depending on the type of survey you want to conduct.

They’re also a great way to find inspiration so you can start to build surveys from scratch.

5. Design and branding

Typeform allows businesses to create on-brand questionnaires by customising layout, fonts, colours, button styles and more so that the journey from your website, social media platform or email marketing tool feels seamless.

Having a focus on aesthetics and design has really paid off for the platform, the extra attention to detail on a lot of the features within Typeform has created a sense of professionalism with a twist. Users can make use of the survey templates knowing that they will come across as knowledgeable professionals, but also ensures the respondents know that the brand knows how to stay relevant and ‘edgy’.

SurveyMonkey also has this functionality, meaning its possible to customise survey templates with themes, logos and brand colours. It looks a little less flexible than Typeform, but still, it’s possible to make a survey feel part of your brand. Those using SurveyMonkey can edit the actual HTML of the form, giving them full control to match the survey to their brand.

Both platforms, dependent on the pricing tier you choose, allow for complete white-labeling, meaning there’s no need to disclose your secret tool to respondents! 

Just a heads up, some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, meaning we may make a small commission on any sign-ups or purchases for the tools we recommend.

Key differences in Typeform and SurveyMonkey’s features

A/B Testing in SurveyMonkey

Asking one survey question one way may yield a totally different answer than asking it a different way. 

SurveyMonkey’s A/B Test feature allows you to randomly display different versions of a question, image, or free-standing text, and set the percentage of respondents that will be shown each variable. 

When you analyze your results, you can assess how the different stimuli affected responses. Thisis great for uncovering how to make your surveys more engaging to increase completion rates. Typeform doesn’t have this functionality.

Larger firms who have a bigger budget behind them will often leverage SurveyMonkey’s Market Research solutions to get an improved product to market much faster. For example, users can make use of their Product Concept Analysis offering, whereby they can run side-by-side tests of different product designs to see which will resonate better with the desired target audience. 

Although only available in the higher priced packages, SurveyMonkey ensures that these market resource options are very easy to use, often with an account manager to guide users. 

Accessibility of features in tiered plans

Typeform makes almost all features accessible on any plan, whereas SurveyMonkey locks off some pretty standard features like file uploads.

Typeform’s take on making everything accessible to everyone is refreshing, the main difference in their paid plans is the number of responses per month and some advanced functionality like submission caps, close dates and automatic redirects.  

Search functionality in SurveyMonkey

The keyword search feature on SurveyMonkey that enables users to search through their responses for a particular keyword is definitely one feature that Typeform is missing. It is the perfect solution for a quick analysis, and helps to save a considerable amount of time from having to export your content into a spreadsheet and do the analysis from there.

Video upgrade in Typeform

The popularity of Typeform and the increase in video usage amongst smartphone users has resulted in the production of Videoask, a web app that also works on Android and iPhone, that lets users ask their audience questions, and receive answers all via video.

Form creators simply have to record a video of themselves asking a question with the VideoAsk app, they then share the link or embed it into any webpage and await responses - this is such a brilliant addition to the already engaging and interactive features within the Typeform platform. Not only does it allow the survey creator to ASK via video, but respondents can respond via video too for a super personal feel.

Which has the better integrations?

Both Typeform and SurveyMonkey have an abundance of integrations - 79 for Typeform (to be precise) and 80+ for SurveyMonkey.

These integrations allow businesses to collect responses, track interactions and manage data across multiple platforms, meaning it’s possible to pull information into the platforms your company already uses.

A glimpse into Typeform's integrations
A glimpse into some of Typeform's integrations

Here are a few of the most common integrations that businesses use with Typeform: 

  • Google Sheets
  • Zapier
  • Google Analytics
  • Mailchimp
  • HubSpot
  • Facebook pixel
  • Airtable
  • Canva
A glimpse into SurveyMonkey’s integrations
A glimpse into SurveyMonkey’s integrations

And the same for SurveyMonkey:

  • Salesforce
  • Marketo
  • Eloqua
  • HubSpot
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Google Drive

Typeform vs SurveyMonkey for usability

Form building couldn't be easier with Typeform, and it’s just a bonus that it is so much fun to use! Many existing users have expressed that creating a survey in Typeform is super easy and won’t require any prior experience in form building. 

Typeform makes surveys easy on the eye, making it fun to use for your survey respondents. 

Showing just one question at a time, it takes the respondent seamlessly from one question to the next makes it so aesthetically pleasing and will likely increase form completion rates.

Typeform user interface displaying one question at a time
Typeform user interface displaying one question at a time

Typeform puts a huge emphasis on usability, and by constantly focusing on usability they have managed to integrate human touch within beautiful design.

From an end-user perspective, it’s even easier. One question displays at a time, presented beautifully, taking respondents on a journey. There’s no overwhelmingly long form to fill in where users see an endless list of questions requiring essay answers. It’s simple. It’s streamlined. 

Surveymonkey’s ease of use is also remarkably simple to navigate. The dashboard guides users through a five-step process for creating, distributing, and analysing a survey. This level of organisation makes the editing process much easier thanks to all of the design options being located in a single place in the software. 

From a respondent perspective, unlike Typeform, SurveyMonkey follows a very traditional layout of a questionnaire - posing all questions to the respondent at the same time. The general design and ease of use could do with a good shake up to take it up to the next level, which would potentially encourage users to spend a little more money on their paid plans. 

Pricing - Typeform or SurveyMonkey?

Typeform works on a tiered pricing structure, starting with their free plan and progressing up through £21.00 per month for ‘Basic', £41.00 per month for ‘Plus’ and £66 per month for ‘Business’ (as of Oct 2022!)

Typeform’s pricing feels very reasonable given its functionality, with most features available on the free plan (except advanced features like redirects, submission limits and closing dates). 

On the other hand, pricing for SurveyMonkey appears to be one of the most common flaws of the software. SurveyMonkey does offer a free account, but it is extremely limited in its offerings. 

Across both platforms, one of the most frustrating aspects of the free version is that it allows you to send out a survey to a high number of respondents, but you will be limited in what you can receive back.

In SuveyMonkey, you will get access to the first 40 responses - anything beyond that and you have to pay to unlock the extra responses. Whilst Typeform will not register submissions past the limit.

Which platform is best for your business?

If it’s not already obvious, both platforms boast a variety of benefits and unique features making them two top choices for your survey builder. But you’re clearly still reading this for a solution so let’s see how we can differentiate the two to suit your business best:

Why Typeform?

Tyepform is a brilliant all-round survey building tool but it will work specifically well for small to medium sized businesses. 

This is because SMEs often aren’t looking to spend a small fortune on a platform but still need something solid and reliable. Typeform outdoes itself in being just that, with the bonus features of superb style and seamless usability. 

Businesses with a product or service offering that serves a niche market are often attracted to Typeform for building their surveys as the platform will enable them to approach their target market in a fun and engaging way that collects the right information quickly and easily. 

In Typeform, users can see who has viewed and submitted the form, as well as the completion rate vs the viewing rate. There are features within the platform that allows users to see the average completion time, collect data for each question and see where people dropped off - all crucial information to analyse to make effective improvements. 

For SMEs these factors are important as it will help to make their target market abundantly clear, and also helps to reinforce their brand through customisable templates and layouts of the forms.

Read to start? Create a FREE Tyepform account here.

Why SurveyMonkey?

Surveymonkey on the other hand is a great tool for bigger companies to use to gain competitive advantage. 

One of Surveymonkey’s biggest downfalls compared to other platforms is their pricing structure, so corporate companies with bigger budgets are more likely to succeed with the platform than smaller companies as they can afford the annual pricing plan with all of the additional features readily available.

There is no denying that Typeform can match SurveyMonkey on almost all of their features including templates, integration, and ease of use - and that it has better and more options for payment. So, even though Typeform may appeal to SMEs, this isn’t to say that larger companies wouldn’t also thrive from using the platform.

Ready to get going with SurveyMonkey? Create an account here.

Mentioned tools

Other resources

View all
Webflow vs Framer: Battle of the Website Platforms (AI Insight)
Webflow vs Framer: Battle of the Website Platforms (AI Insight)
Webflow vs Framer: Battle of the Website Platforms (AI Insight)
Delve into website building platforms, Webflow and Framer, to help you determine which one suits your business needs best. AI, usability, integrations and more.
Delve into website building platforms, Webflow and Framer, to help you determine which one suits your business needs best. AI, usability, integrations and more.
Read now
Ramp VS Salesforce - Which All-in-One Marketing Platform?
Ramp VS Salesforce - Which All-in-One Marketing Platform?
Ramp VS Salesforce - Which All-in-One Marketing Platform?
Looking for an all-in-one marketing platform? This comparison of Ramp and Salesforce covers usability, pricing, features, customer reviews and integrations.
Looking for an all-in-one marketing platform? This comparison of Ramp and Salesforce covers usability, pricing, features, customer reviews and integrations.
Read now
7 Best CRM platforms for Small Businesses in 2023
7 Best CRM platforms for Small Businesses in 2023
7 Best CRM platforms for Small Businesses in 2023
Looking for the best CRM platforms for your small business in 2023? Check out our top 7 with features, pros and cons, to help you make an informed decision.
Looking for the best CRM platforms for your small business in 2023? Check out our top 7 with features, pros and cons, to help you make an informed decision.
Read now

The Key to Boost Your Creative Confidence

Free Guide Download
Thank you! Your email has been received!
Download Report
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Unloc best tools for 2023 downloadable guide cover
Unloc gradient background