Collecting data does not have to be expensive. In fact, it shouldn't be worth a dime. There are many great free tools out there that can do the same things as expensive form and survey builders.
Here are some of the best free apps for collecting data in the form of a form or survey.
6 best free form maker apps
Form designers are some of the most flexible applications out there. They can be used to collect data into spreadsheets, pay for purchases at your online store, or to plan a startup. With the help of such constructors, it is easy to create a contact form for a website. They are like digital lego: add the necessary elements, customize and your creation is ready.
1. Google Forms: for integration with Google Sheets.
If you already use Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Gmail, then Google Forms is a great option for creating free forms. This application is built into Google Apps, it is very easy to use, and it also automatically syncs with Google Sheets. These functions are enough to create a simple form.
There are more than 10 types of forms available in Google Forms with convenient text entry. Create any number of forms, add as many answer choices as the spreadsheet can hold - there are no limits. You can also use Google Forms scripts to add notifications, validation, action logic, and more.
There is no way to upload files or accept payment in the app. Form themes are simple enough to tell if it's a Google product. However, it has all the basic features, and it's completely free.
2. Typeform: for modern designs.
Unlimited forms and responses are provided free of charge. Additional features such as payment fields can be accessed by updating the app.
3. Ninja Forms: to create forms for WordPress.
Sometimes form creation applications are cluttered with unnecessary options. If you don't want to upload files or get extended responses, but just want quick responses from your audience, polls are great for this feature.
Form and survey apps are very similar, but the latter are perfect for asking simple questions and getting simple answers.
Is the hefty cost of doing research with marketing agencies always justified, and is there an alternative to agencies in general? Of course, there is a direct road to marketers to conduct in-depth market analysis or tasks comparable in scale, if, of course, the budget allows. But in studies that are less global, online surveys will help - there are services that make it possible to conduct an online survey as simply as possible: you create a survey, distribute it and get already processed results. What service should you choose and how do such services differ?
I propose to evaluate them according to the following parameters:
- Is there a trial version?
- Is there a free version and what does it include?
- Cost and capabilities of the base rate.
- Optimization for mobile devices.
- Opportunities to distribute the survey.
- Design settings.
- Finding the server.
Testograf.ru
Testograf offers custom functionality of the service for free, without limiting the number of surveys created, questions and answers received. The professional version, Testograf PRO, is available at a one-time rate (1 survey, 1 year, 1,390 rubles) and an annual (unlimited number of surveys, 1 year, 12,500 rubles). It is possible to test the PRO version by creating a survey without registering and paying, but if you want to save the survey, you will need to register, and to access the results, you will need to pay.
In addition to collecting answers on your own using direct and additional links, there is the possibility of embedding a survey on the site, a pop-up window (auto-display or click on a button) and a survey widget with auto-display settings and branding. It is also proposed to search for respondents for a given targeting, while respondents are not paid.
The possibilities for customizing the survey design are quite wide: the color and font of the texts, the color of buttons and check-boxes, adding a logo and setting the survey header, changing the background (image, color).
The company's server is located on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Survio.com
On the free version, you can create 5 questionnaires with an unlimited number of questions and collect max. 100 responses per month.
The minimum rate ($ 29 / month for a one-time purchase or $ 14 / month for an annual rate) allows you to create 100 polls, get 1,000 answers and does not limit the number of questions in the questionnaire.
The service is optimized for mobile devices.
In addition to the standard distribution of the survey via a direct link, there is an embedding of the survey on the site and a pop-up window, but both of these options have no additional settings. A paid use of the CINT respondent panel is also proposed for collection.
Design settings include: adding a logo, changing a color theme, or using pre-made backgrounds.
The company's server is located in the Czech Republic.
Surveymonkey.com
Has trial and free versions.
You can create 10 questions for free and collect 100 answers.
The basic tariff (1,790 rubles / month) expands the number of collected responses to 1,000. The service is optimized for mobile devices.
It is proposed to distribute the survey for collecting answers independently, there are several possibilities: direct link and additional links, embedding a survey on the site, a pop-up invitation to the survey (there is a design setting and% auto-display), a pop-up window of the survey itself (with a design setting and% auto-display)
You can customize your survey design with prepared color and background themes, or use a custom theme with customizable text colors and fonts. Of course, you can add a company logo to your survey.
The Surveymonkey server is located in the United States.
Google forms
Google, with a server in the USA, allows you to create a survey for free, without limiting the creator to the number of surveys, questions and answers received, which, however, will have to be collected on your own using a direct link or embedding into the site (without additional settings). There is also a mobile version of the service. When customizing the survey design, you can use the prepared color schemes, as well as add a header and logo.
Simpoll.ru
The service has both trial and free versions.
The free version allows you to create 3 surveys, limits the number of questions in one survey (max. 10) and the number of responses to a survey (max. 100).
The minimum rate (150 rubles / month) offers 5 surveys with 25 questions in one questionnaire and 1,500 answers.
The disadvantage is the lack of optimization for mobile devices.
It is also suggested to search for respondents on their own. In addition to the direct link, there is an embedding on the site and a pop-up window (no settings).
Design settings include changing the color / font of the texts and changing the poll background (color).
The service server is located in Estonia.
Each of these services is constantly working on expanding the functionality, striving to offer its users something unique. However, to conduct a high-quality online research, many of these problems turn out to be simply superfluous, and a standard set of functions is sufficient, which is available on all of the above services.
The important thing is that often the creator of the questionnaire, in addition to the base of his clients, also needs to interview random respondents who are not easy to find. And then you will need help in finding respondents, which is provided only by some services, and those who provide this service adhere to different approaches to collecting answers. Of course, the possibilities of self-distribution of the survey are also important, where technical settings, as well as design settings, may not be superfluous.
And yet, today the offer on the online research market is quite wide, which allows you to choose a service that meets all your needs and wishes.
Surely every teacher at least once in his life took part in a survey or questionnaire or suggested that schoolchildren and their parents do it. For a long time, creating and posting surveys and questionnaires on the network was a complex technical process involving system administrators, web designers and programmers. At that time, no one expected that soon any Internet user would be able to independently create an online questionnaire or survey.
And now Web 2.0 network services make it possible in a few minutes:
- independently create surveys and questionnaires on the Internet;
- publish a link to the created poll or questionnaire on the website, forum, blog;
- send a link by e-mail to survey participants
Today, there are free services on the Internet that allow you to create a questionnaire or survey, as well as a large number of paid services.
Things to look out for if you are a beginner:
- Explore the possibilities of various Online services for creating questionnaires and surveys and choose a service that meets your needs
- Determine for what purpose you need to conduct a survey or questionnaire
- Identify survey or test participants
- Choose the questions to create a survey or questionnaire
- Conduct a survey or survey in any way convenient for you (for example, parents who were absent from the parent meeting, a link to the survey or survey can be sent by e-mail)
When using Online services of surveys and questionnaires, not only the speed of collecting and analyzing information increases, but also it becomes possible to obtain the statistics necessary for the user.
Experiment! And for sure you will open up a lot of new opportunities for your teaching activity!
EXAMPLES OF SERVICESGoogle forms- one of the types of documents available on Google Doсs. You can create an unlimited number of surveys, questionnaires, tests for free and invite an unlimited number of respondents. To create polls, the user must have a Google account.
Allows you to create a form with different elements or types of questions (there are seven types in total). Any question can be made obligatory for an answer. As you create your form, you can easily change the order of the questions. For each created form, you can choose a design for its design. The link to the form is generated automatically after its creation.
Invitation to participate in the survey:
- Email your mailing list including a link to the survey or the form itself
- By placing the form (link to the form) on the website or blog
The big disadvantage is that the same respondent working with a questionnaire or survey can give answers an unlimited number of times and it is impossible to track it.
For each survey, an Excel results table is automatically generated in Google Docs. All received answers are immediately displayed in it. The table can be exported in various formats: pdf, xls, txt, but the results cannot be filtered in the answer table. A survey summary with diagrams for each question is available to the user who created the survey or questionnaire at any time.
Service Questionnaire - designed to create all kinds of polls of any configuration. To create a survey, the user must register on the service.
A survey created by a user can be conditionally divided into two parts:
- The main- divided into three sections:
- Create a survey - in this section it is necessary to indicate the topic of the survey and give its description, set an inscription on the button to complete the survey
- Poll settings - here you must specify the restrictions for respondents (for example, limit respondents by IP-address), select the end date of the survey, set the number of respondents.
- Poll protection - here you can specify access to the survey results (for example, the survey results can be available not only to the user who creates the survey, but also to the respondents taking part in the survey), in addition, you can specify a password to access the survey, in this case, only respondents who know the password.
- Posting questions- after creating the main part, you can add questions. You can add four types of questions to the survey: single choice (one of many), multiple choice (several of many), text input, single choice - menu (one of many). Also, you can invite respondents to enter their answer, and this can be either plain text or a template - an integer, a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY or an e-mail address. For each question, you can select settings: importance (for example, a mandatory question), the location of the answer options (for example, horizontal), the size of the input field. At this stage, you can also choose a theme for the design of the survey.
The survey results are displayed on the user control panel in a very convenient format.
Webanketa service - helps to create and conduct private and public polls, questionnaires and polls. Working on the service, it is desirable to register. Unregistered users can also create polls. But it's important to remember! If the profile is created without registration, then it may simply be lost, because will not be tied to any user.
Main advantages:
- simple interface with the ability to control every word in your profile;
- simplified display of voting results;
- support for multilingual surveys;
- support for private (password and unique link protection) and public profiles;
- the ability to download the resulting data (a complete list of respondents, each respondent or general statistics) for a more detailed analysis in a program convenient for you.
Vorbeo service- allows you to create a poll for a blog or website in a few minutes. To do this, you need to go to the service, enter your question in the field for placing the text, then specify the answer options, write a word that will be displayed on the voting button, then select the color and width of the poll, and copy the proposed code. The resulting code can be inserted into a website or blog. The service does not provide registration.
Service Poll! IPoll.ru is an online service that allows users to create polls and polls for free and post them on their website, blog, e-mail newsletter, social network accounts. The service allows you to create full-fledged polls with an unlimited number of questions and answer options.
SmallPolls service - online service for creating free polls. A user can create his own survey in just 2 clicks. After creating a survey, the resulting code can be posted on your blog, website, or on your personal page. Any user can leave comments on polls on this site.
Urtak.com service - allows you to create online surveys and questionnaires very quickly and easily. To create a survey, just enter your e-mail. After registering, you can edit your profile and change your password. Created polls are displayed in the table, here the number of those who took part in the poll is automatically displayed. The service does not provide an opportunity to take part in the survey several times. A very convenient solution is that it is possible to attach an image to both the question and the answers.
To create a survey you need:
- give the poll a name
- write an instruction or explanation
- in the right window add (ADD) questions one by one to which you need to answer "Yes", "No", "I do not know"
- press the ready button (DONE)
Service 99 polls- designed to create polls. To create a survey, a user must register on the service. After registration, you can edit the user profile, change the password and choose the color scheme for the survey. All polls created by the user are displayed in a table where you can see the number of respondents who took part in the poll. The service does not provide an opportunity to re-answer the proposed questions. When creating a poll, it is possible to attach an image, both to the question and to the answers.
Service Pollservice.ru - used for polling and voting. Registration is required on the service, after completing it, a personal account is created for the user, in which you can create polls (votes) and manage them. Created polls can be stored in the pollservice.ru poll catalog, or you can post a link to them on your website, web page, blog, forum, or send an e-mail to respondents. There is no limit to the number of polls created for the user. Polls can be single or multiple choice of answer options (up to 25 answer options are provided), it is possible to edit polls after they have been created. For polls, you can apply design settings (colors, sizes, type and size of fonts).
WebPollMe service - service of intelligent surveys for sites; you specify the question that you want to ask your visitors, and the options for the answers - as a result, you get a short code that remains to be placed in the desired section of the site. To create a survey, you need to register on the service; there is a free tariff ("Entry Point").
Polls are implemented through two possible functions:
- ExitIntent (implemented in CallbackHunter) - a pop-up window with a survey that appears in front of a visitor when he tries to leave the site (for example, when he hovers over the “Close” button of a browser or bookmark).
- HelloBar is a pop-up window with a request to take a survey that appears at the top of the page when a visitor enters the site.
Main advantages:
- Basic use, user-friendly interface;
- Anti-cheat protection - the poll cannot be completed several times from the same IP;
- Optimization for mobile devices and user account, and the survey itself for visitors;
- Detailed analytics not only by answers, but also by sources of answers;
- Availability of a free plan.
- Determination of the degree and level of mastering concepts, topics, sections on various academic subjects (Google forms, Questionnaire)
- Simplifying the process of checking results
- Differentiated work with schoolchildren (polls of different difficulty levels)
- Preparation for the final, summarizing work (online training surveys that students can perform at any time convenient for them)
- Dealing with underperforming students (for example, surveys on confusing topics)
- During forced holidays (quarantine), work with online surveys suggested by the teacher and posted on the website or blog
- Voting by schoolchildren for the best research work or project (for example, within the framework of the subject Basics of project activities)
- After conducting school-wide or intra-class events, students can express their opinion about it using an online questionnaire or survey
- Interviewing parents in various areas of school activity (for example, a survey on the quality of food in the school cafeteria)
- On-line questionnaires for schoolchildren on various topics (for example, How do you plan to spend the summer or a thematic survey Choose the books you read this summer)
