Sovereign alternative to SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey made online surveys mainstream, as a proprietary SaaS published in the United States. LimeSurvey covers the same use cases as free software, hosted in Europe by Bunker on your dedicated instance: unlimited surveys, targeted reminders to non-respondents and open export.
SurveyMonkey is still a consumer-survey reference. It is a proprietary service, published in the United States; by default, answers (often personal data) are processed on US infrastructure subject to the CLOUD Act, even though EU data residency exists on enterprise plans. The number of collected responses, advanced export and API access all depend on the plan you buy.
LimeSurvey answers the same need as open source. Bunker hosts it in Europe on a dedicated instance, with a replicated PostgreSQL database and your organization's SSO. Your answers stay in Europe, exportable whenever you want, and the instance moves back onto your own infrastructure when you decide.
Point-by-point comparison
| Criterion | LimeSurvey (Bunker) | SurveyMonkey |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Open source (GPLv2+), auditable | Proprietary, closed source |
| Answer hosting | Europe | United States by default |
| CLOUD Act exposure | Out of reach | Subject (US publisher) |
| Surveys and responses | Unlimited | Plan-based quotas |
| Targeted reminders to non-respondents | Yes, via tokens | Partial |
| Question types | 28 | Plan-dependent |
| Open export (CSV, Excel, SPSS, R) | Yes, no quota | Plan-dependent |
| Integration API | RemoteControl2, included | Plan-dependent |
| Dedicated instance | Yes | No, shared SaaS |
| On-premise reversibility | Yes, re-internalizable | No |
Where your answers end up
With SurveyMonkey, by default, answers flow through US infrastructure. For an employee pulse survey, a customer study or an HR collection, that puts personal data under a foreign jurisdiction, with the CLOUD Act exposure that implies.
Bunker hosts LimeSurvey in Europe, on an instance reserved for you. The survey pages load no advertising tracker on the client side, and your respondents are not profiled. If data sovereignty matters to your organization, the difference is structural.
The real cost of a plan
The SurveyMonkey model bills by subscription and caps by tier: response volume, advanced export, conditional logic and API access unlock as you climb the plans. A campaign that takes off can force a tier change at the worst possible moment.
Managed LimeSurvey does not bill per respondent. You collect without a quota, you export in open formats, and the RemoteControl2 API is available from the start. The instance price does not track how well your surveys perform.
When SurveyMonkey still fits
SurveyMonkey keeps real strengths: instant onboarding, ready-made templates and a panel marketplace to buy audience when you have no mailing list of your own.
LimeSurvey becomes the better choice as soon as you want to keep control of your data, a stable dedicated instance, token-based targeted reminders and the option to take everything back. For an internal or customer survey on your own list, it covers the need without locking you in.
Frequently asked questions
Is LimeSurvey a real alternative to SurveyMonkey?
Yes. LimeSurvey handles the whole survey lifecycle: questionnaire design with 28 question types, distribution through unique links, collection, analysis and export. Bunker hosts it in Europe on a dedicated instance, with unlimited surveys and responses.
Do my answers stay in Europe?
Yes, the LimeSurvey instance is hosted in Europe by Bunker, on a replicated PostgreSQL database. Answers do not leave for US servers and stay out of CLOUD Act reach. You export them anytime in open formats.
Can I take my surveys back if I leave Bunker?
Yes, anytime, because LimeSurvey is open source under the GPLv2+ license. You export your surveys in .lss format and your answers in CSV, Excel, SPSS or R, then you reinstall the instance on your own infrastructure. No proprietary format, no lock-in.
Your surveys, hosted in Europe
A dedicated LimeSurvey instance, open source, with no lock-in. Let us talk about your case.
Other comparisons
Bunker is not affiliated with SurveyMonkey. "SurveyMonkey" is a trademark of its publisher, referenced here for comparison to designate the competing service.