Comparing survey tools: examples like surveymonkey as well as Qualtrics pro vs free

When you are planning to use survey research, keep in mind that internet-distributed surveys are the easiest way to complete the task. However, most of the available tools are not free. So, compare survey tools well before you start and make sure you reserve part of your budget to pay for a likely and most-needed upgrade. Also inquire the administration of your institution (university or otherwise) to make sure there is not yet a deal with one of the major providers of software on the market.

To cut a long story short: there are great tools on the market but be prepared that the ones that are user friendly can come at a steep price. Please keep also in mind that not every tool offers you carefree export of data to Excel or SPSS in their free version (or their cheapest price plan). Most offer you enough information, making comparing the different solutions a bit easier. What I found is that there are three major alternatives (and one niche player):

1. SurveyMonkey
2. Qualtrics
3. LimeSurvey (freeware, but very complex - not at all user friendly)
   
4. SoGoSurvey (niche)

What frustrated me is that Qualtrics does not offer a clear overview on their pricing plans. This is why I went at length to make a dummy account (because we have a subscription at our university) to find out what you can and can't do with a free account. My major conclusion: options are really limited and export to SPSS is not possible. However, you can look up the answers of each respondent and hand-code them in SPSS afterwards (which is very time consuming). They also have this price plan if you click "upgrade":