A SurveyMonkey alternative for the answers people type.
SurveyMonkey is a survey research platform. chatform is a conversational form: better at getting a real answer to an open question, and nowhere near SurveyMonkey's analysis tools.
Unlimited responses on the free plan · No card
When SurveyMonkey is still the right answer.
We would rather you found this out here than after switching.
Stay on SurveyMonkey if you run survey research in the proper sense: statistical significance, crosstabs, benchmarks, A/B tests, multilingual surveys, or buying respondents through SurveyMonkey Audience. chatform has none of that. Stay too if your organisation has standardised on it and your analysts depend on its reports. Come here when the survey is short, the open-ended answers are the point, and you are tired of paying to see responses you already collected.
- Real survey analysis: statistical significance, crosstabs, multi-survey analysis and AI-assisted thematic analysis.
- SurveyMonkey Audience, for buying responses from a panel when you have no list of your own.
- Benchmarks, multilingual surveys and block randomisation on higher tiers.
- Decades of brand trust — people recognise the link.
chatform and SurveyMonkey, line by line.
Read from the same table the pricing page uses, so it can only be wrong once.
| chatform | SurveyMonkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Answered as a conversationAn AI that asks, listens and adapts — not one static field per screen. | Yes | No |
| Answers the respondent's questionsFrom documents and notes you give it, mid-form, without losing its place. | Yes | No |
| Follow-ups when someone abandonsTimed reminders to the respondent, linking back to the question they stopped on. | Up to 3, widening gaps | PartlyOne automatic reminder, email invitations only |
| Documented headless conversation APIDrive the interview from your own backend, not just read submissions. | Yes | No |
| Respondent identity verificationGoogle sign-in or an SMS code, gating who may answer. | Google + SMS | Not listed |
| Free responses per month | Unlimited* | PartlyLimited per survey; 10 questions per survey |
| Free AI conversations per month | 200 | No |
| Most affordable planBilled yearly, per month, in USD. | $16 | Priced by region |
| Statistical analysis and crosstabs | No | Yes |
| Buy respondents from a panel | No | SurveyMonkey Audience |
| Questions per survey on the free plan | 100 | 10 |
Competitor facts were read from SurveyMonkey’s own public pages in August 2026 unless a later date is given under Updates below. “Partly” and the grey notes mean exactly what they say — see the sources at the foot of this page.
What you get here instead.
Four differences that are worth switching a form for — and only four.
Ten times the questions, no hidden responses
SurveyMonkey's free Basic plan allows 10 questions per survey and shows a limited number of responses per survey. chatform's free plan allows up to 100 questions per form and has no response quota, subject to a fair-use ceiling of 10,000 responses a month, and you can read every answer you collect.
Open questions get a follow-up
A survey text box takes whatever is typed. chatform reads each open answer and asks again when it is too thin — the approach Xiao and colleagues found produced significantly more informative, specific answers than a standard web survey.
Respondents can ask what a question means
On Pro, give it up to 50 knowledge sources and it answers mid-survey, then carries on from the same question. Letting people clarify a question is one of the oldest findings in survey research for reducing error.
Reminders for anyone who leaves, not just email lists
SurveyMonkey reminds people invited through an email-invitation collector: one automated reminder per collector, plus any you send by hand. chatform reminds anyone who gave an email before leaving, whichever link they arrived from — up to three, worded differently, on Pro and above, with partial answers kept so the link returns them to where they stopped.
What each one costs.
Annual figures where both vendors print one, read on the dates listed below.
- Free plan
- chatform100 questions per form, unlimited responses, 200 AI conversations
- SurveyMonkey10 questions per survey, limited responses viewable
- Most affordable plan, billed yearly
- chatform$16/mo
- SurveyMonkeyPriced in local currency by region
- Going over your response limit
- chatformNo per-plan quota
- SurveyMonkeyCharged per additional responseSurveyMonkey's pricing page lists a per-response overage charge on paid plans.
The questions people actually type.
Answered in full, rather than folded behind a click.
Is there a free SurveyMonkey alternative without the 10-question limit?
Yes. chatform's free plan allows up to 100 questions per form and has no response quota (fair-use ceiling of 10,000 responses a month), plus 200 AI conversations a month. SurveyMonkey's free Basic plan allows 10 questions per survey and shows a limited number of responses per survey.
Can chatform replace SurveyMonkey for research?
For collecting good open-ended answers, often yes. For analysis, no: chatform has no significance testing, crosstabs, benchmarks or respondent panel. If your work depends on those, SurveyMonkey is the better tool, and chatform's exports can still feed a spreadsheet or your own analysis.
How does chatform get better survey answers?
It asks each question in a conversation and reads the free-text reply. When an answer is too thin to use, it asks a follow-up; when a respondent asks what a question means, it explains. Peer-reviewed studies (Kim, Lee and Gweon, CHI 2019; Xiao et al., 2020) found chat-style surveys reduce satisficing and that probing thin answers makes them more informative.
Does SurveyMonkey send reminders to people who did not finish?
For surveys sent through its email-invitation collector, yes: one automated reminder per collector, plus as many one-off reminders as you send by hand, targeted at partial or no responses. chatform sends reminders to anyone who left an email before leaving, whichever link they used.
Sources
- SurveyMonkey individual pricing — read September 2026
- SurveyMonkey reminder emails — read September 2026
Updates
- September 2026 — SurveyMonkey's pricing page is served in the visitor's local currency, so this page does not print a USD price. Its Basic plan allows 10 questions per survey; reminders are one automated reminder per email-invitation collector plus manual one-offs.
Comparing something else? Every comparison we have written, or read the research behind the format.