Survey tool review

Qualtrics review

Qualtrics Strategic Research, the survey and research tier of the Qualtrics platform (earlier sold as CoreXM), is a cloud tool for building, distributing and analysing online surveys. Universities license it for staff and student research, and in-house research, insights and UX teams use it commercially.

Facts checked: November 2026 · Rank 10 of 18 · How we rank

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Our score: 6.4/10
Best for: Academic survey research and survey experiments
Pricing: Subscription: free account, self-serve Strategic Research plan, or enterprise quote
Vendor: Qualtrics, Provo, Utah and Seattle, USA

Unique feature

Statistical analysis inside the survey tool (paid add-on)

Stats iQ, a paid add-on not included in the standard Qualtrics licence, runs t-tests, ANOVA, chi-squared tests and linear or logistic regression on survey data inside Qualtrics, choosing the appropriate test automatically.

Fit

Who Qualtrics suits

Best for

Academic questionnaire studies where the university already holds a licence
Survey experiments that assign respondents to conditions
Multilingual online surveys needing built-in analysis

Less suited to

Clinical trials needing query management or source data verification
Studies that need CDISC-format exports
Small teams without an institutional licence and with a tight budget

Features

Key features

What the vendor documents publicly, checked against its own pages. “Not stated” means we could not confirm it, not that it is missing.

✓ Yes◐ Partly+ Add-on– No? Not stated

+Vendor builds your databaseResearch Services offer survey design and programming; price not published
✓Build forms yourselfSurvey builder with skip, display and branch logic
?Audit trailNo response-level audit trail documented on pages checked
◐Electronic signaturesSignature question captures drawn or typed signature; no Part 11 claim
✓Edit checks at data entryForce response, content validation and custom validation
?Queries and source data verificationSurvey platform; no query management or SDV documented
◐RandomisationRandomizer assigns survey blocks or conditions; not clinical treatment allocation
✓ePRO and participant self-entrySelf-completion via anonymous links and QR codes; email/SMS on paid licences
◐eConsentConsent page plus Signature question possible; no dedicated eConsent module
✓Offline mobile data collectionOffline Surveys app for iOS and Android; licence permission required
✓Forms in several languages78 predefined languages; respondents can switch; licence-dependent
?CDISC export (ODM / SDTM)No CDISC export documented; exports include CSV and SPSS
✓Built-in reports and dashboardsReal-time results dashboards and customisable reports
+Built-in statistical analysisStats iQ paid add-on: t-test, ANOVA, chi-square, regression
?Numbered tables, figures and listingsNo numbered tables, figures and listings output documented
✓APIJSON API with token; needs 'Access API' permission
◐Free or open-source optionFree account: 3 active surveys, 30 questions, 500 responses

Verdict

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

Built-in statistical analysis (Stats iQ) alongside dashboards
Offline app for iOS and Android devices
Vendor states ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II and FedRAMP authorisation

Limitations

Translations, offline app, API and Stats iQ depend on licence
Survey platform, so no query management or CDISC export documented
Enterprise pricing by quote only

Details

Pricing, hosting and regulation

Pricing

Subscription: free account, self-serve Strategic Research plan, or enterprise quote. Published prices: Free account (1 user, 500 responses). Strategic Research self-serve: $420 a month or $5,040 a year for 1,000 responses shared across users. Enterprise: by quote. Pricing source.

Hosting and security

Hosting regions: Vendor states it runs in AWS regions across the US, Europe (Frankfurt and London), Asia Pacific and Japan. Vendor-hosted cloud only; no self-hosting option stated. Vendor's G-Cloud listing cites AWS London data residency; University of York reports its data in the EU1 datacentre.

Certifications: ISO 27001 (vendor), ISO 27017 (vendor), ISO 27018 (vendor), ISO 27701 (vendor), SOC 2 Type II report (vendor), FedRAMP authorisation (vendor), HITRUST certification (vendor), IRAP assessment report (vendor), ISO 9001 and Cyber Essentials (vendor, per UK G-Cloud listing).

Regulatory support

Vendor will sign HIPAA BAAs with covered entities on request and cites HITRUST; no 21 CFR Part 11 statement found.. Whatever the software offers, your own procedures, validation and training are still needed for a regulated study.

Scale and set-up

Self-serve Strategic Research covers 1,000 responses with unlimited users and surveys; enterprise plans start at 5,000+ responses. Free account allows 500 responses.. Self-service build; 30-day free trial of Strategic Research. Vendor Research Services can design and programme surveys as a paid engagement..

Alternatives

Sources (checked November 2026)