KoboToolbox vs Qualtrics

KoboToolbox is a survey and data collection platform for gathering information online or offline. Forms can include skip logic, validation, guidance, translations, GPS, and multimedia data. Collection is available through KoboCollect or web forms on iOS and desktop devices. The platform provides response analytics and API access, and teams can own members’ projects with role-based permissions for Owners, Admins, and Members. It works with Excel, Google Sheets, Power BI, Tableau, ArcGIS, and Stata, with direct integrations for TolaData and monday.com. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit using SHA-256 with RSA, alongside project-level key encryption. The platform also offers SSO and GDPR compliance. Data hosting is available in 28 countries or on a customer’s own infrastructure. The Community plan is free for nonprofits and includes 5,000 submissions per month and 1 GB of storage. Starter is $21 a month, Professional is $129 a month, and Teams is $249 a month. The maker says the platform is used by 35,000+ organizations across 220+ countries and territories, with 25M+ surveys collected per month.

Qualtrics provides survey tools and an experience-management platform called XM Data & AI, which combines experience data with human context to support decisions and outcomes. Its free Qualtrics Surveys account is for one user and allows three active surveys, 30 questions per survey and 500 total responses. It includes skip, display and branch logic. The Strategic Research plan costs $420.00 per month, billed as $5,040 annually, for 1,000 responses shared across users; it also supports unlimited users and surveys, and includes 23 question types. A 30-day Strategic Research trial provides access to most premium features, with some restrictions; without an upgrade, it downgrades to the free account. Paid plans include more than 20 guided research solutions and advanced analysis such as crosstabs, statistical tools and generative-AI video summaries. Surveys support more than 70 languages, while dashboards support 24. Data exports include CSV, TSV, Excel and SPSS, among other formats. Qualtrics offers API access. Its Strategic Research Custom plan is for enterprise organizations needing higher response volumes, with pricing based on interactions and 5,000 or more responses.