KoboToolbox vs Refiner

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.

Refiner provides surveys for software companies across in-app and mobile experiences, websites, email, and shareable links. Survey types include NPS, CSAT, CES, product-market fit, user research, onboarding and UX feedback, user profiling, and in-app messages or calls to action. Teams can target respondents by traits, behavior, device, language, or prior responses, then trigger surveys after events or delays. Dashboards include NPS, CSAT, and CES trend charts, response segmentation, filters, and AI-assisted tagging of open-text answers. Listed integrations span analytics, CRM, messaging, and automation tools, as well as a REST API and webhooks. Refiner also offers AI translations and an MCP server through which AI assistants can access survey data. The company states it has SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA compliance frameworks. It says data is hosted in Ireland within the EU by default and encrypted in transit and at rest. The free plan allows 25 responses per month; the 30-day trial allows 100 responses and requires no credit card.