If you need to conduct an online survey, I highly recommend taking advantage of one of two tools: Survey Monkey or SurveyGizmo. Both provide FREE survey creation and data collection, but more importantly they do not require a programmer or knowledge of how to create web pages.
Anyone can easily & quickly create a survey regardless of their technical knowledge! So whether you are a web developer, or someone with no knowledge of HTML, these services will save you time and money, while also helping to keep you sane!
IMPORTANT: If you require a 508 accessible survey, either of these options will work for you.
Survey Monkey & 508 | Survey Gizmo & 508
Comparison of Free Offerings
| Features | Survey Gizmo | Survey Monkey |
| Requires Ads On Site | No | No |
| Unlimited Surveys/Polls | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited Questions | Yes | 10 |
| Unlimited Responses | 250 per month | 100 per survey |
| Generate Link for Website or Email Distribution |
Yes | Yes |
| Survey Completion Bar | Yes | Yes |
| Require Responses | Yes | Yes |
| Survey Logic (Branching) | No, requires upgrade | No, requires upgrade |
| Custom Thank You Page | Yes | No, requires upgrade |
| Color/Font Customization | Yes | Yes |
| Brand with Logo | Yes | No, requires upgrade |
| Edit CSS/Template | Yes | No, requires upgrade |
| Embed in Website | Yes | Yes |
| Export Data (csv/excel) | Yes | No, requires upgrade |
| View Live Results As They Are Recorded |
Yes | Yes |
| View Results As Graphs etc. | Yes | Yes |
| Embed/Download Results | No, requires upgrade | No, requires upgrade |
Tip!
Be sure to consult with the content creator of the survey and/or the person who will be analyzing the data collected. They likely have some concrete opinions about how and what they want collected. Having this information in advance will likely save you some headaches down the line
Recommendation
Based on personal use, and the table comparison listed above, I recommend SurveyGizmo. It has the most free offerings including the ability to download responses, and it provides for a much higher level of customization and branding. Additionally, I found the user interface more comfortable than that of Survey Monkey, but in the end this is really a matter of opinion.
When you start looking at paid features it’s my opinion that Survey Monkey is the better option, but I highly recommend you experiment with both services, and choose the option that feels the best to you. Both sites offer excellent lists which detail their pricing plans and features.
Survey Monkey Features | Survey Gizmo Features
Conclusion
Both tools are excellent as they offer simple and quick (508 compliant) survey solutions, that do not require the expertise of HTML or other programming/markup language. To choose the tool that is best for you, talk with the person responsible for the content and analysis of the survey, and then compare the tool features list with their survey requirements.
Both are also great tools to add to your cloud toolbox.
Hi There!
Thanks for the great review. If you or your readers have any questions about SurveyGizmo, feel free to send me an email at brittany (at) sgizmo (dot) com.
Thanks again,
Brittany Heidtke
SurveyGizmo