Best survey tools for startups

The short answer: Start with Tally if you want free forms without a response cap to plan around, or Fillout if you want 1,000 free responses a month and more integrations. Google Forms is fine if your team already works in Google Sheets. Pick Enform only if most of your questions are open-ended and nobody has time to read the replies. Typeform has the most polished forms, but its free plan stops at 10 responses a month.

A startup survey tool has to stay free or cheap, get a form live fast, and not leave you alone with a spreadsheet of written answers. Most tools here handle the first two well. They differ most on the third, and that help often sits on a higher plan.

The shortlist

Ordered by fit for an early startup: a free plan you can run a real survey on comes first, then how fast you get a live link, then help reading written answers.

Checked on against each tool's own pricing and help pages, linked under each tool. Enform is our product.

  1. TallyFree form builder with unlimited forms and submissions under a fair-use policy. You type questions like a doc, the way Notion works, and conditional logic is free.Open-ended replies: Nothing inside Tally summarizes answers. Its MCP server lets an outside AI assistant read your responses, free on every plan.Watch out for: Removing Tally branding needs Pro ($24/month). Very heavy use, like 50,000 submissions a month, can move you to a custom plan.Sources: Tally, Tally pricing, Tally fair use, Tally MCP server
  2. FilloutFree plan with unlimited forms, 1,000 responses a month and conditional logic, plus integrations like Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion and HubSpot. Starter is $15/month billed monthly for 2,000 responses.Open-ended replies: Fillout's pricing page lists no AI summary of answers, so you read them yourself or in a connected tool.Watch out for: Free forms show a Fillout badge, and Salesforce needs the Team or Enterprise plan.Sources: Fillout pricing
  3. Google FormsWorks with a Google account and can store every response in a Google Sheet. Best when you just need answers somewhere you can sort them.Open-ended replies: Gemini can summarize open-text answers once a question has 3 to 200 responses, but only on an eligible paid Google Workspace or Google AI plan.Watch out for: Branching to a section based on an answer only works from multiple-choice and dropdown questions.Sources: Google Forms responses in Sheets, Google Forms branching, Gemini in Google Forms
  4. EnformDescribe what you want to ask and Enform writes the survey. You share one link, and it reads the replies, counts what people said and drafts slides from them.Open-ended replies: This is the main job. Enform reads the replies and counts what people said, and every count opens the replies behind it. Free reads your latest 25 replies per form. Pro reads all of them.Watch out for: Enform is newer and connects to fewer apps than the older builders here. It has no payments inside forms, no HIPAA option and no paid panel of respondents, so you bring your own people. Free reads only your latest 25 replies per form and shows Enform branding. Pro is $10 a month.Sources: Enform plans
  5. TypeformPolished, conversational forms with AI form creation. Best when the form faces people outside your team and the feel matters.Open-ended replies: Typeform's AI analysis reads and groups written answers on Growth plans and Enterprise, and works best on English forms.Watch out for: The free plan allows 10 responses a month and Basic ($39/month billed monthly) allows 100, so cost climbs as replies grow.Sources: Typeform, Typeform free plan, Typeform pricing, Typeform AI analysis

FAQ

What's the best free survey tool for a startup?

Tally is the safest free pick: unlimited forms and submissions under its fair-use policy. Fillout's free plan allows 1,000 responses a month, and Google Forms works with any Google account. Enform also has a free plan, but it reads only your latest replies on each form.
Usually not. At early-stage volumes, the free plans of Tally, Fillout or Google Forms are enough. People tend to upgrade to remove branding from forms that strangers see, or to get more responses a month.
Typeform's AI analysis does it on Growth plans. Google Forms can summarize with Gemini on eligible paid plans. Tally lets an outside AI assistant read responses through its MCP server. Enform reads the replies and counts what people said, and each count opens the replies behind it.

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