Online surveys are a go-to method for businesses to gather valuable feedback from customers, with ~90% of companies employing them for better insights. Among the survey tools used for data collection, Qualtrics Core XM is a popular choice, as the tool is used by more than 13,000 companies. However, some users find Qualtrics to be on the pricier side, and its complex interface can be a problem for those non tech savvy1.
In this article, we list the top 4 Qualtrics competitors to help businesses find the right survey tool to create surveys, collect customer feedback, or conduct market research.
Top 4 Qualtrics competitors
Here is a comparison of the companies discussed in this article:
Vendors | Free trial | Audience size | AI powered analytics | Computer Vision | Audio & NLP | Real-time results | Quality assurance | Data compliance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qualtrics Core XM | ✅ | Not provided | ✅ | ✖️ | Text iQ | ✖️ | AI-powered bot & fraud detection | GDPR ISO270001 Privacy Shield |
resonio by Clickworker | ✅ | 5M+ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | AI-powered bot & fraud detection | ISO 27001 100% GDPR compliant |
Netigate | ✅ | 6.5M+ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✅ | Emphasizes authentic understanding | GDPR ISO 27001 |
Pollfish | ✖️ | 250M+ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | Comprehensive checks | GDPR | |
SurveyMonkey Audience | ✖️ | 175M+ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✅ | AI-powered bot & fraud detection | GDPR |
What is Qualtrics Core XM?
Qualtrics Core XM is a customer experience management platform used by companies to gather, analyze, and act on feedback to improve their customer, employee, brand, and product experiences. It facilitates the creation and distribution of surveys to a specified audience, who can provide their responses through the platform.
Reasons why you should look for Qualtrics alternatives
1- It can be an expensive tool for small or medium companies
While Qualtrics Core XM is a popular choice among corporations, its pricing structure is viewed as restrictive due to the absence of monthly or pay-per-use plans. Particularly, representatives from small to mid-sized businesses express concerns that the costs are too steep for them to feasibly conduct surveys2.
2- The tool does not provide real-time report of the results
While conducting surveys, companies often require timely insights to make informed decisions. However, a notable limitation with Qualtrics is its inability to provide real-time reporting of the results, which can pose significant challenges3. This delay in data delivery may hamper the decision-making process, especially in time-sensitive situations, necessitating a look towards alternatives that offer immediate access to survey outcomes.
3- The tool has a steep learning curve
The tool has a steep learning curve, which can be a serious impediment, especially for those unfamiliar with advanced survey software4. This level of complexity necessitates not only a large initial investment, but may also entail additional training costs. Furthermore, small to medium-sized companies, which frequently operate with limited resources, may find this learning curve particularly difficult to negotiate.
4- The tool provides limited data analytics and reporting
The tool, while robust in survey creation and distribution, falls short in its data analytics and reporting capabilities5. Users often find that the data analytics and reporting functions provided are somewhat basic, lacking the depth and breadth required for a more nuanced understanding of the collected data.
5- Exporting data can be complicated and time-consuming
The available format options offered by Qualtrics might not align well with other software standards, necessitating additional effort in data conversion6. Besides, the lack of strong automation features for data export further hinders seamless data transfer, making it a notable concern for those requiring efficient data exportation for further analysis or reporting.
> Qualtrics competitors’ evaluation
In this section, we put all the competitors under a microscope for a more comprehensive evaluation.
Resonio by Clickworker
Resonio is a brand of Clickworker, which has a global network of over 5 million crowd size. It provides a survey tool, complementing Clickworker’s existing services with new capabilities. The platform aims to make it easier for businesses to acquire insights through surveys.
Pros
- Their intelligent crowd which consists of over 5 million Clickworkers provides high quality data (see Figure below).
Source: Capterra7.
- Respondents can take the surveys using Clickworker’s mobile app which works efficiently and easy-to-navigate8.
- Their customer support team is responsive and solves any issues on time (see Figure below).
Source: Capterra9.
Cons
- Some users state that there can be bugs on the platform at times10.
Netigate
Netigate is a survey tool that helps businesses create, send out, and analyze surveys to collect customer feedback data, offering customizable templates and analysis features to aid in better decision-making.
Pros
- The customer support team is responsive11.
- They provide various onboarding materials which helps new users to get used to the tool12.
Cons
- Using the reporting function may require expertise13.
- As the platform does not prohibit taking the same survey more than once, some respondents can take advantage of this procedure (see Figure below).
Source: G214
Pollfish
Pollfish is a market research service that emphasizes a mobile-first strategy and provides real-time responses from more than 250 million respondents worldwide to help companies collect feedback and get actionable customer insights.
Pros
- The tool is cheaper compared to other available survey software on the market15.
- The platform provides many question types and templates to embed in surveys16.
Cons
- Respondents cannot answer surveys using media sources (i.e., picture of a product)17.
- Some users answer the same surveys using different user ID’s, which decreases the reliability of survey results (see Figure below).
Source: Capterra18.
SurveyMonkey Audience
SurveyMonkey Audience is a platform that provides businesses with the tools necessary for conducting market research. It allows access to a large global panel of respondents, enabling the collection of varied insights. The platform facilitates the design, distribution, and analysis of surveys, simplifying the process of gathering and understanding market feedback.
Pros
- Users appreciate the capability of the tool to collect and display responses in real-time19.
- The customizability of the tool provides users flexibility while creating surveys (see Figure below).

Source: Capterra20
Cons
- The platform does not have the option of generating unique links for respondents, which limits the ability to make changes after the survey responses have been sent21.
- Customizing the surveys by additional features may accelerate the costs, making the tool very expensive.22.
Essential features to look for in a survey software
Here we compiled the essential features to look for in a survey software so that you can check which features are most-to-have for your business.
1- Audience size
Access to a diverse audience is paramount for obtaining reliable and representative feedback. A software that provides access to a specific demographic, such as young adults in the US, can yield focused feedback relevant to your products. It’s beneficial if the software can either provide access to an intelligent crowd and/or allow targeting specific demographics. This ensures the relevancy and applicability of the feedback to your business objectives.
2- Automated reporting and analytics
Incorporating AI-powered analytics in survey software can drastically upgrade the analytical depth of your survey data. Such a feature can automate the detection of specific trends or anomalies in responses, provide predictive analysis based on historical data, and even segment responses into meaningful categories without manual intervention.
You can also take a look at our comprehensive guide to survey analytics.
3- Computer vision
In businesses where visual feedback is crucial, like fashion or design, a survey tool with computer vision can analyze image responses for color trends, design preferences or even brand logo recognition, providing a richer dimension of feedback.
If you are interested, you can take a look at our comprehensive guide on computer vision.
4- Audio & Natural Language Processing (NLP)
A survey software with audio and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities is invaluable for businesses seeking insights through verbal feedback or textual responses. It can analyze audio inputs for sentiment, keyword spotting, or even dialect recognition, providing a deeper understanding of respondent feedback. Similarly, NLP can parse text responses to identify key themes, sentiments, or trends, making the analysis of open-ended questions more structured and insightful.
For those interested, here is our article explaining the most used methods for audio sentiment analysis.
5- Real-time results
Real-time results feature in survey software provides immediate access to the collected data as soon as responses are received. This is crucial for businesses operating in fast-paced environments or those needing to make quick decisions based on fresh insights.
6- Quality assurance
A robust quality assurance system in survey software emphasizes authentic understanding through comprehensive checks on the data collected. This includes AI-powered bot and fraud detection mechanisms to identify and filter out misleading or fraudulent responses, ensuring that the insights gathered are genuine and reliable. This thorough validation process is essential for obtaining accurate and actionable feedback, forming a solid foundation for data-driven decision-making within your business.
7- Data compliance
Certifications like GDPR or ISO 27001 ensure that the survey software adheres to international standards of data security and privacy, safeguarding your business against legal infringements and ensuring the trust of your respondents.
Further Reading
Transparency statement:
AIMultiple serves numerous emerging tech companies, including resonio by Clickworker.
If interested, here is our data-driven list of survey participant recruitment services.
If you need help in vendor selection process, don’t hesitate to reach us:
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External Links
- “Qualtrics Core XM Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Qualtrics Core XM Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Qualtrics Core XM Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Qualtrics Core XM Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Qualtrics Core XM Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Qualtrics Core XM Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Clickworker Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Clickworker Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Clickworker Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Clickworker Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Netigate Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Netigate Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Netigate Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Netigate Reviews 2023“. G2. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Pollfish Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Pollfish Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Pollfish Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “Pollfish Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “SurveyMonkey Audience Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “SurveyMonkey Audience Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “SurveyMonkey Audience Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.
- “SurveyMonkey Audience Reviews 2023“. Capterra. Retrieved October 5,2023.