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Free Accounts

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About Free Accounts

Qualtrics offers a free survey account that allows prospective users to get a sense of the Qualtrics platform as they consider purchasing a full license. The purpose of the free survey account is to provide an environment where the point-and-click user interface can be experienced by building a survey, distributing it, collecting a few responses, and experimenting with our reporting tools.

Due to this purpose, there are a number of limitations on free survey accounts.

Free accounts are deleted after 13 months of inactivity. We will email you to remind you as this date approaches, so you can log in and export your Qualtrics data if you need to. So long as you are logging into your account to use it, your account will not be removed. Logging in will reset the 13 month timer.

Qtip: As a result of these limitations, we encourage free account users to evaluate the complexity of research they are attempting and to consider purchasing a Strategic Research license for more rigorous or substantial research. Although a Qualtrics Surveys free account is useful for simple surveys and basic data analysis, you can discover the full power of Qualtrics by signing up for a free 30-day trial of our professional-grade product or request a demo to see advanced features in action.  To get the most out of Qualtrics, we recommend either purchasing a full license or checking to see if you can sign up for a full account with your organization instead, at no cost to you.

Usage Limits in Free Accounts

Free accounts are not designed for high-volume or long-term research projects. The following limits apply to free account usage:

  • Only 3 active surveys at any given time (unlimited inactive surveys allowed)
  • Only 30 questions per survey
  • Only 100 outgoing emails allowed (total sent across all surveys – this includes invites and reminders and thank yous)
  • Only 500 responses per user, including retaken and deleted responses. Responses in progress will not count towards this limit until they become recorded responses. See the Recorded Responses page for more information about what counts as a recorded response.

Features and Restrictions in Free Accounts

Free accounts grant basic access to XM Platform essentials, but many capabilities are restricted to paid plans only. The following table details many of the capabilities and restrictions of free accounts. Premium features that are unique to the Strategy & Research, Customer Experience, or Employee Experience product suites are also restricted in free accounts.

Product Area Features in Free Accounts Restrictions in Free Accounts
Survey builder
  • Create, edit, copy or delete surveys
  • 8 question types:
    • Multiple choice
    • Text entry
    • Text / graphic
    • Matrix table
    • Slider
    • Form field
    • Rank order
    • Side by side
  • Choice randomization
  • Piped text
  • Use survey blocks
  • Access blocks and questions saved to the library
  • Survey flow editor
  • Survey logic:
    • Skip logic
    • Display logic
    • Branch logic
  • Can collaborate on surveys with other users
  • No advanced question types
  • No autocomplete based on supplemental data
  • No custom code (this also means many options in the rich content editor are unavailable):
    • No HTML markup
    • No custom Javascript
  • No iFrame support
  • No redirect links in the survey (this includes both survey options and end of survey elements)
  • No survey translations
Customization and branding
  • Limited Look & Feel:
    • Theme (select from pre-built themes)
    • Layout (simple, flat,modern, or classic)
    • General (button text, progress bar, questions per page)
    • Style (color and contrast, font and font size, spacing)
    • Motion tabs (page transition, autofocus, auto-advance)
    • Background (color and contrast, container)
  • Restricted Look & Feel (including no custom code):
    • General (no header/footer)
    • Style (no custom CSS)
    • No Logo
    • Background (no background image)
  • No branded or vanity URLs
Methodology
  • 50+ expert-built survey templates
  • 1 sample project with example questions and pre-loaded results
  • Only basic ExpertReview (methodology and question quality)
  • No imported data projects
  • No guided projects or programs, including COVID-19 XM Solutions
  • No ExpertReview compliance (Relevant ID, sensitive data policy) or response quality (bot detection, ballot box stuffing)
Survey distribution
  • Distributions:
    • Anonymous link
    • Email distribution
    • Social media
    • QR codes
  • Contact lists
  • No custom email headers
  • No custom “from” domains for sending emails
  • No SMS
  • No offline app
  • Cannot purchase online samples from inside account
  • No XM Directory
Response management View, filter, and edit responses
  • No quotas
  • No screen-outs
  • No response weighting
Reporting & analytics
  • Access to Data & Analysis tab:
    • Real-time collected responses data table
    • Real-time Results dashboard with editable data visualizations
    • Reports that can be customized and shared
  • Data exports (CSV, TSV, Excel, XML, SPSS and more)
  • No basic or advanced analytics (Text iQ, Stats iQ, Crosstabs, etc.)
  • No dashboards
Workflows None No Workflows
Account administration None
  • No admin reports, tools, or brand settings
  • No Home page
Extensions and integrations None No API or third-party integrations
24/7 support
  • Qualtrics Support AI Assistant
  • Self-serve articles on qualtrics.com/support including detailed step-by-step guides
  • Self-serve tutorials and video lessons on XM Basecamp
  • Access to other Qualtrics users and experts through XM Community
  • No email, chat or phone support
  • No direct product or program guidance
Qtip: Note that inserting media and hyperlinks requires the Allow All HTML Markup account permission to be enabled. The Allow JavaScript account permission must be enabled for proper video playback. These permissions cannot be enabled without upgrading your account.
Qtip: You can still create a custom from email address by using one of the three Qualtrics “from” addresses. For example, you can use mycompany@qualtrics-research.com as your from address.

For a more in-depth look at our experience management platform and all of our technology and service capabilities, you can request a demo on our website. The appropriate team will reach out to you in a timely manner to help you with this request.

Free Accounts Made Before November 2019

Free accounts made before November 2019 are being gradually moved to the new free account experience. Your account may have been made before this date if you see a difference in what features you have access to, such as the inability to access survey templates.

The term “trial” no longer refers to all free accounts.

Deactivating Your Free Account

If you’ve made a free account and want to remove it so you can use your email address to sign up under your organization, please contact Qualtrics Support.

Warning: Deactivating your account will make it irretrievable. You will not be able to access it or its contents again. Only deactivate your account if you are absolutely sure that is what you want to do.
Qtip: Remember, you can export surveys and upload them to a new account. These surveys will not retain the same links. If you need to move data from one account to another, see User Moves for other options available to you.

FAQs