KoboToolbox vs Survey Solutions

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.

Survey Solutions is free survey data collection software developed in the World Bank’s Data group. Its Questionnaire Designer supports multilingual forms, collaboration, online and tablet testing, compiler guidance, and formatted PDF output. Survey questions can include nested rosters, answer piping, linked or cascading questions, barcodes, pictures, audio, and external sensor data. Macros, calculated variables, lookup tables, validation, and paradata monitoring provide ways to control interview flow and check data quality. Survey modes include offline tablet interviews, browser-based surveys, phone interviews, and mixed-mode studies. GIS tools support collecting location, distance, and area data, geofencing, and offline interviewer guidance using satellite images and GPS. REST APIs support custom dashboards, reports, external database connections, and automated quality controls; its R package covers almost all API calls. Server components can be deployed on premises or in the cloud using documented Docker, AWS, Azure, and Windows Server options. The free server and tablet components are available as downloads, with no use restrictions for public or private companies. Users provide their own tablets and server hosting. Self-hosted administrators handle backups, updates, and ongoing maintenance. The software is listed for Android, API, Linux, self-hosted, web, and Windows.