Google Forms vs. LimeSurvey

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Forms
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Google Forms is an app for creating forms and surveys, and is part of Google Apps for Work. The product focuses on ease of use; the interface is similar to a document editor, with drop down lists of options and drag and drop question re-ordering. Users can embed images and video into surveys. Users can also program the question flow with custom logic. Google sends users basic summaries of the survey results automatically, or users can export the raw survey results data and analyze it via…N/A
LimeSurvey
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
LimeSurvey, a German company, offers their open source survey software, available with paid hosted and premium editions.
$34
per month
Pricing
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0
per month
Expert
$29
per month (billed annually)
Basic
$34
per month (billed monthly)
Enterprise
$74
per month (billed annually)
Corporate
custom pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFree 25 responses/month 10 MB upload storage 30+ question types 80+ languages Panel integration Question editor Skip logic and branching Piping and micro-tailoring Survey management GDPR compliance Custom survey design Data export Excel, CSV, R, Stata, SPSS, Word, & PDF API access Basic ($34/month, billed monthly) Everything in Free + 1000 responses/month 250 MB upload storage white-label surveys email support Expert ($29/ month, billed annually) ($348 annually) Everything in Free + 10,000 responses/year 1 GB upload storage email support white-label surveys removal of LimeSurvey branding 1 alias domain Enterprise ($74/month, billed annually) ($888 a year) Everything in Free + 100,000 responses/year 3 GB upload storage priority email support white-label surveys removal of LimeSurvey branding 2 alias domains Corporate (custom)
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Top Pros
Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Survey Format & Appearance
Comparison of Survey Format & Appearance features of Product A and Product B
Google Forms
7.6
106 Ratings
3% below category average
LimeSurvey
8.3
1 Ratings
6% above category average
Survey templates7.799 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Themes7.599 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Custom logo/branding7.785 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Survey Content
Comparison of Survey Content features of Product A and Product B
Google Forms
8.1
104 Ratings
6% below category average
LimeSurvey
8.7
1 Ratings
1% above category average
Changes to live survey8.099 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Question design help7.886 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Multiple question types8.5103 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Survey Logic
Comparison of Survey Logic features of Product A and Product B
Google Forms
7.8
94 Ratings
7% below category average
LimeSurvey
9.0
1 Ratings
8% above category average
Survey logic flexibility7.894 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Survey Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Survey Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Google Forms
8.0
105 Ratings
3% below category average
LimeSurvey
7.0
1 Ratings
16% below category average
Response tracking8.2103 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Data export8.599 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Standard reports8.198 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Custom reports7.777 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Analytics7.781 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Survey Administration & Security
Comparison of Survey Administration & Security features of Product A and Product B
Google Forms
8.2
99 Ratings
2% below category average
LimeSurvey
7.5
1 Ratings
11% below category average
Access controls8.397 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Compliance8.176 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Survey Distribution
Comparison of Survey Distribution features of Product A and Product B
Google Forms
7.6
73 Ratings
6% below category average
LimeSurvey
8.0
1 Ratings
1% below category average
Vendor-offered crowdsourcing7.534 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Respondent restrictions7.771 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Small Businesses
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Score 9.7 out of 10
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Score 9.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Qualaroo
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Score 6.7 out of 10
Qualaroo
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Score 6.7 out of 10
Enterprises
DocuWare
DocuWare
Score 9.2 out of 10
DocuWare
DocuWare
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(109 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(49 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(48 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
3.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google FormsLimeSurvey
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Google Forms works really well when you need to quickly gather information and store it in a standardized format. It also works well if your organization is already using other Google products.
If you don't use other Google products, another service may be a better fit for you. Additionally, if you need your forms to be highly customized for marketing purposes, for example, you might have an easier time with other tools.
That being said, Google Forms is well supported and is highly flexible and would likely work well for many companies.
Read full review
LimeSurvey
For a cost-effective online survey solution, LimeSurvey is excellent. While it cannot compete with high-end, expensive software like Qualtrics, it does a great job.
Read full review
Pros
Google
  • Live results: When a user completes the form the results are added instantly.
  • Easy to create: Google Forms has a simple interface that allows for a wide range of question types. Google will even try to guess the question type based on the question (but this can be overridden).
  • Answers export to Google Sheets: It is easy to have each response to your form add a row to a Google Sheet, allowing for further analysis or processing.
  • Ability to automatically collect email addresses within a domain: If you have a form that has been shared with users in your domain, you can set it to automatically collect the users' email addresses without them needing to type it in. Makes checking whether all students have completed the form easy.
Read full review
LimeSurvey
  • Ease of use.
  • Customizable.
Read full review
Cons
Google
  • Sometimes finding the output -- a Google Sheet with all responses-- is a little difficult. It's also sometimes confusing to figure out how to get back into the Google Form Survey itself.
  • As always, sharing among an institutional Google account and your personal Google account can be frustrating. You have to make a copy and can't share across the two different accounts very easily.
Read full review
LimeSurvey
  • Limited email handling.
  • Some customizations are difficult.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Google
I will definitely renew my use of Google Forms because I really like the ease of use and the number of tools that Google forms provide. I also love that I can administer a test in real-time and get results in a timely manner
Read full review
LimeSurvey
No answers on this topic
Usability
Google
Google Forms is a very intuitive and easy to use tool, it is not necessary to have a complex knowledge to create advanced forms, it is enough with the functions and aids that the tool offers for the creation of these, even children and students can do it, also the way to export the data is really simple, simply an incredible tool.
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LimeSurvey
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Google
In the years I've used GoogleForms I've never ran into any issues with the reliability or availability. Google is a gigantic company with essentially limitless resources which makes it very easy to trust that I will continue to be able to enjoy the same reliability I've come to know and expect from GoogleForms
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LimeSurvey
No answers on this topic
Performance
Google
One of the things that comes as a benefit of the lack to create complex logic branching and truly custom design is that there isn't lot of room to bog down the software. GoogleForms has always loaded just as fast as my internet service and device would allow it. I'm not sure about front end integrations or integrations into the form itself, as I've never explored it, but on the backend, I've never had any issues with integrations channeling from GoogleForms from the GoogleForms's end of things.
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LimeSurvey
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Google
Google has a support team but it isn't the most helpful with Forms. I find most of my answers by searching online and watching tutorial videos. I would recommend utilizing online resources before contacting their live support team for help. Just make sure that they are recent videos or directions. Google is constantly updating their interfaces so it is easy for things to get out of date
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LimeSurvey
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Google
We have also used FormAssembly, which is far more advanced with security, analytics, and functionality, but is also more expensive and takes a greater resource investment to train others to use. While FormAssembly can provide a lot more features, and is definitely the better choice for more complex surveys, forms, and applications, Google Forms is a very approachable and easy to use platform. We would recommend Google Forms for smaller businesses with simpler processes, and everyday use for any organization.
Read full review
LimeSurvey
LimeSurvey was much cheaper than Qualtrics but certainly less powerful. From a survey standpoint, it has more capabilities than SurveyMonkey and Zoho. LimeSurvey has no reporting or analytic capabilities.
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Scalability
Google
GoogleForms lacks the ability for complex logic branching and the ability to truly design it in a custom manner. It's pretty obvious when you land on a GoogleForm that it is in fact a GoogleForm. This rating solely reflects the lack of flexibility which in turn makes it something that wouldn't usually be scaled. That being said, if needing to scale a simple solution, GoogleForms would be up for the job.
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LimeSurvey
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Google
  • It's difficult to track ROI since Google Forms is used less formally
  • [The] positive impact is the actionable results we receive from surveys
  • [The] impact is highly dependent on how well the questions are asked, and how seriously the survey is taken by employees
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LimeSurvey
  • LimeSurvey costs are extremely low.
  • Some limitations have restricted our potential business.
Read full review
ScreenShots

LimeSurvey Screenshots

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