Gathering customer feedback is crucial for any business looking to improve its products or services. Fortunately, you don’t need to invest heavily in expensive software to start collecting valuable insights. We’ve thoroughly tested a range of customer feedback tools to bring you our top picks for free options that pack a punch. From simple survey creators to comprehensive analytics platforms, these tools offer impressive features without the price tag. Whether you’re a small startup or an established company, these free customer feedback tools can help you make data-driven decisions and enhance your customer experience.
Google Forms
Google Forms is an incredibly versatile and user-friendly tool for collecting customer feedback. As part of the Google Workspace suite, it seamlessly integrates with other Google applications, making it a go-to choice for businesses already using Google’s ecosystem. The interface is clean and intuitive, allowing even those with minimal technical skills to create professional-looking surveys quickly.
Google Forms excels in its ability to gather responses in real-time and automatically organise data into easy-to-read charts and graphs. This instant visualisation of results makes it simple for teams to analyse feedback and make data-driven decisions promptly.
Key Features
- Customisable templates for quick survey creation
- Real-time response tracking and analysis
- Integration with Google Sheets for advanced data manipulation
- Conditional logic to create dynamic surveys
- Collaboration features for team survey development
- Mobile-friendly design for surveys on any device
Google Forms is entirely free to use with a Google account, with no limitations on the number of surveys you can create or responses you can collect. This makes it an excellent option for businesses of all sizes looking for a cost-effective feedback solution.
SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is a widely recognised name in the world of online surveys and customer feedback. Its popularity stems from its balance of simplicity and sophistication, offering tools that cater to both beginners and survey experts. The platform provides a rich selection of pre-designed templates covering various industries and purposes, which can significantly speed up the survey creation process.
SurveyMonkey’s strength lies in its powerful analytics tools, which help users derive meaningful insights from their collected data. The platform also offers advanced features like question branching and skip logic, allowing for more tailored and engaging survey experiences.
Key Features
- Wide range of customisable survey templates
- Advanced question types including rating scales and multiple choice
- Basic data analysis and reporting tools
- Survey logic for creating dynamic questionnaires
- Mobile app for on-the-go survey management
- Integration capabilities with popular business tools
SurveyMonkey’s free plan allows users to create and send unlimited surveys, but limits responses to 40 per survey and restricts access to some advanced features. For businesses requiring more functionality, paid plans start at £32 per month when billed annually.
Typeform
Typeform has revolutionised the way we think about online forms and surveys with its visually appealing and conversational approach. This platform turns the often mundane task of filling out forms into an engaging, almost interactive experience. Typeform’s unique selling point is its one-question-at-a-time format, which mimics a natural conversation flow and can lead to higher completion rates.
The tool is particularly adept at creating surveys that feel personal and tailored to each respondent. Its design-focused approach means that even the free version produces forms that look professional and on-brand, making it a favourite among businesses that prioritise user experience and aesthetics in their customer interactions.
Key Features
- Conversational, one-question-at-a-time interface
- Attractive, customisable designs and themes
- Logic jumps for personalised survey paths
- Integration with various third-party tools
- Basic reporting and analytics
- Mobile-responsive forms
Typeform’s free plan allows for up to 10 questions per form and 10 responses per month. While this is quite limited, it’s enough to get a feel for the platform’s capabilities. Paid plans, offering more questions, responses, and features, start at £25 per month when billed annually.
Hotjar
Hotjar offers a unique approach to gathering customer feedback by combining traditional survey methods with innovative visual feedback tools. This platform is particularly valuable for businesses looking to understand how users interact with their websites or applications. Hotjar’s heatmaps and session recordings provide invaluable insights into user behaviour, complementing the data gathered through more conventional feedback forms.
The tool excels in helping businesses identify pain points in their digital user experience, allowing for targeted improvements. Hotjar’s strength lies in its ability to provide context to customer feedback, showing not just what users say, but also how they behave on your site.
Key Features
- Heatmaps to visualise user clicks, taps, and scrolling behaviour
- Session recordings of real user interactions
- Feedback polls and surveys
- User feedback widgets for gathering opinions
- Conversion funnels to track user journeys
- Form analysis to improve completion rates
Hotjar’s free plan includes basic heatmaps, limited session recordings, and up to 3 surveys or feedback widgets. This plan is limited to 1,050 sessions per day, which can be sufficient for small to medium-sized websites. Paid plans, offering more features and higher usage limits, start at £31 per month.
Qualaroo
Qualaroo specialises in providing targeted, context-sensitive surveys that appear at strategic moments during a user’s journey on a website or app. This approach allows businesses to capture feedback when it’s most relevant, leading to more accurate and actionable insights. The platform is known for its powerful targeting options, enabling surveys to be shown based on user behaviour, demographics, or other custom criteria.
Qualaroo’s strength lies in its ability to ask the right questions at the right time, helping businesses understand the ‘why’ behind user actions and decisions. The tool is particularly effective for gathering qualitative feedback that can inform product development, user experience improvements, and marketing strategies.
Key Features
- Targeted surveys based on user behaviour and characteristics
- Customisable survey triggers and timing
- AI-powered sentiment analysis
- Integration with popular analytics and CRM tools
- Advanced branching and skip logic
- Real-time reporting and analytics
Qualaroo offers a 15-day free trial that provides access to most of its features, allowing businesses to fully explore its capabilities. After the trial, pricing starts at £63 per month for the Essentials plan when billed annually. While there’s no permanent free plan, the trial period is generous enough to gather significant insights.
Survicate
Survicate is a versatile customer feedback platform that caters to businesses looking for a balance between ease of use and advanced functionality. It stands out for its wide range of survey types, including website surveys, email surveys, and in-product surveys, making it suitable for gathering feedback across multiple channels. Survicate’s strength lies in its ability to seamlessly integrate with various business tools and platforms, allowing for efficient data collection and analysis.
The platform offers a user-friendly interface for creating surveys, with a good selection of templates to get started quickly. What sets Survicate apart is its focus on providing actionable insights, with features designed to help businesses not just collect data, but also understand and act upon it effectively.
Key Features
- Multiple survey types (website, email, in-product)
- Customisable survey templates
- Advanced targeting and triggering options
- Integrations with popular business tools (e.g., Slack, HubSpot)
- Real-time reporting and analytics
- NPS (Net Promoter Score) surveys
Survicate offers a free plan that includes up to 100 survey responses per month, access to basic survey types, and limited reporting features. This plan is suitable for small businesses or those just starting with customer feedback collection. Paid plans, offering more responses and advanced features, start at £49 per month when billed annually.
Zoho Survey
Zoho Survey is part of the larger Zoho suite of business applications, offering a solid option for businesses already integrated into the Zoho ecosystem. However, it stands strong on its own as a capable survey tool. The platform provides a good balance of features suitable for both beginners and more experienced users.
Zoho Survey’s interface is clean and intuitive, making it easy to create professional-looking surveys quickly. One of its strengths is the ability to create multi-lingual surveys, which is particularly useful for businesses operating in diverse markets. The platform also offers strong data analysis tools, helping users to derive meaningful insights from their survey responses.
Key Features
- Wide range of question types and customisable templates
- Multi-lingual survey support
- Skip logic and branching for dynamic surveys
- Real-time reporting with customisable charts
- Integration with other Zoho apps and third-party tools
- Offline survey collection capability
Zoho Survey’s free plan allows for unlimited surveys but limits responses to 100 per survey. It also includes basic reporting features and up to 10 questions per survey. This can be sufficient for small businesses or those with limited survey needs. Paid plans, offering more responses, questions, and advanced features, start at £20 per month when billed annually.
JotForm
JotForm is a versatile online form builder that extends well into the realm of customer feedback collection. Known for its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, JotForm makes it easy for anyone to create sophisticated surveys and feedback forms without needing technical expertise. The platform offers a vast library of templates covering various industries and purposes, significantly speeding up the form creation process.
JotForm’s strength lies in its flexibility and customisation options, allowing users to create forms that align perfectly with their brand identity. Additionally, JotForm offers powerful features like conditional logic and calculation fields, enabling the creation of dynamic, interactive surveys that can adapt based on user responses.
Key Features
- Drag-and-drop form builder with extensive customisation options
- Large template library for quick form creation
- Conditional logic for creating dynamic forms
- Integration with numerous third-party apps and payment gateways
- Mobile-responsive forms
- Basic reporting and analytics
JotForm’s free plan is quite generous, allowing up to 5 forms and 100 monthly submissions. It also includes most of the basic features, making it a solid option for small businesses or individual users. However, it does place a JotForm branding on your forms. Paid plans, removing this branding and offering more forms, submissions, and advanced features, start at £24 per month when billed annually.
UserReport
UserReport offers a unique approach to gathering customer feedback by combining traditional survey methods with an innovative widget-based system. This platform is particularly useful for website owners and online businesses looking to understand their audience better. UserReport’s strength lies in its ability to provide continuous feedback through always-on widgets, allowing businesses to collect insights consistently rather than in isolated campaigns.
The platform offers two main tools: a survey widget for in-depth feedback and a feedback button for quick user input. What sets UserReport apart is its focus on providing demographic insights alongside feedback, giving businesses a clearer picture of who their users are and what they think.
Key Features
- Always-on survey widget for continuous feedback collection
- Feedback button for quick user suggestions
- Demographic profiling of survey respondents
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) tracking
- Integration with popular analytics platforms
- Customisable survey design to match brand identity
UserReport offers a free plan that includes unlimited responses and access to most features. This makes it an attractive option for businesses of all sizes looking for a cost-effective way to gather continuous feedback. The free plan does include UserReport branding. For businesses requiring more advanced features or white-labeling, custom pricing is available upon request.
GetFeedback
GetFeedback is a customer experience management platform that focuses on delivering stylish, brand-consistent surveys across multiple channels. It’s particularly well-suited for businesses that prioritise visual appeal and brand alignment in their feedback collection efforts. GetFeedback’s strength lies in its ability to create surveys that look and feel like a natural extension of a company’s brand, whether they’re embedded on a website, sent via email, or displayed on mobile devices.
The platform offers advanced features like skip logic and branching, allowing for the creation of dynamic surveys that adapt to respondent inputs. GetFeedback also stands out for its strong integration capabilities, especially with Salesforce, making it a popular choice among Salesforce users.
Key Features
- Highly customisable, on-brand survey designs
- Multi-channel survey distribution (web, email, SMS, chat)
- Advanced logic and branching for personalised survey flows
- Real-time analytics and reporting
- Strong integration with Salesforce and other CRM systems
- NPS, CSAT, and CES survey options
GetFeedback offers a 14-day free trial that provides access to most of its features, allowing businesses to fully explore its capabilities. After the trial period, pricing is customised based on specific business needs and is available upon request. While there’s no permanent free plan, the trial period offers ample time to assess the platform’s suitability for your feedback collection needs.
How to choose the best customer feedback tool for you
Identify your specific feedback needs
Begin by pinpointing the exact types of customer feedback you wish to gather. Are you looking to measure customer satisfaction, collect product suggestions, or analyse user experience? Different tools excel in various areas, so understanding your priorities will help narrow down your options. Consider the channels you want to use for feedback collection, such as email surveys, website pop-ups, or in-app questionnaires. Also, think about the volume of responses you expect to handle and whether you need features like sentiment analysis or trend reporting.
Evaluate integration capabilities
The effectiveness of a customer feedback tool often depends on how well it integrates with your existing systems. Check if the tool can seamlessly connect with your CRM, help desk software, or marketing platforms. This integration can streamline your workflow and provide a more comprehensive view of customer interactions. Look for tools that offer API access or pre-built integrations with popular business software. Consider how easily the feedback data can be exported or shared across your organisation to ensure that insights reach the right teams promptly.
Consider scalability and support
While you’re exploring free options, it’s wise to think ahead about potential growth. Assess whether the free plan offers enough features to meet your current needs and if there’s a clear upgrade path as your requirements expand. Look into the limitations of the free version, such as the number of responses you can collect or the level of customisation available. Additionally, investigate the quality of customer support provided, even for free users. Good documentation, responsive help channels, and an active user community can be invaluable when you’re getting started or troubleshooting issues.
Which Customer Feedback Tool Is Best?
Google Forms is an excellent choice if you’re after a straightforward, no-cost solution. It’s user-friendly, integrates seamlessly with other Google services, and offers unlimited surveys and responses. While it may lack some advanced features, it’s great for small businesses or those just starting to collect customer feedback. We recommend Google Forms for startups and small teams looking for a simple, efficient feedback solution.
If you need more advanced functionality, Typeform offers a visually appealing and interactive survey experience. Its free plan, though limited, provides enough features for basic feedback collection and can significantly boost response rates due to its engaging design. It’s particularly suitable if you prioritise user experience in your feedback process. We recommend Typeform for creative industries and companies focused on brand image.
Hotjar might be the way to go for organisations requiring deeper insights. Its free plan includes heatmaps, session recordings, and surveys, offering a thorough view of your behaviour alongside direct feedback. This combination of quantitative and qualitative data can be invaluable if you’re looking to understand your customers’ journey in depth. We recommend Hotjar for e-commerce websites and SaaS companies seeking to optimise their user experience.
Frequently Asked Questions about Free Customer Feedback Tools
What are customer feedback tools?
Customer feedback tools are software applications that help businesses collect, analyse, and act on customer opinions and experiences. They typically include features like surveys, polls, and analytics to gather insights directly from customers.
Why should I use free customer feedback tools?
Free customer feedback tools offer a cost-effective way to start gathering valuable customer insights. They allow you to understand customer needs, improve products or services, and enhance overall customer satisfaction without a significant financial investment.
Are free customer feedback tools as effective as paid versions?
While free tools may have some limitations compared to paid versions, many offer robust features that are sufficient for small to medium-sized businesses. They can be very effective for basic feedback collection and analysis, though you may need to upgrade for more advanced features as your needs grow.
What types of feedback can I collect with these tools?
You can collect various types of feedback, including customer satisfaction scores, Net Promoter Score (NPS), product feedback, website usability feedback, and open-ended comments. The specific types may vary depending on the tool you choose.
How do I choose the right free customer feedback tool for my business?
Consider factors such as the types of surveys you want to create, the number of responses you expect, integration capabilities with your existing systems, and the level of analytics you need. Also, look at the limitations of each free plan to ensure it meets your requirements.
Can I upgrade to a paid plan if I need more features?
Yes, most free customer feedback tools offer paid plans with additional features. You can usually upgrade easily when you need more advanced functionality or higher response limits.
Are there any limitations to free customer feedback tools?
Common limitations include restrictions on the number of surveys you can create, the number of responses you can collect, limited customisation options, and basic analytics. Some tools may also include their branding on your surveys.
Do these tools integrate with other business software?
Many free customer feedback tools offer some level of integration with other business software, such as CRM systems or email marketing platforms. However, more extensive integration options are often available in paid versions.
How secure is the data collected through these free tools?
Reputable customer feedback tools typically have security measures in place to protect your data. However, it’s important to review each tool’s privacy policy and security features, especially when dealing with sensitive customer information.
Can I use multiple free customer feedback tools simultaneously?
Yes, you can use multiple tools to leverage different features and overcome individual limitations. However, be mindful of creating a cohesive experience for your customers and ensuring you can effectively manage the data from multiple sources.
