Survey Solutions vs SurveyMars

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.

SurveyMars has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.