How is this market research ranking decided?

Mechanically. The 3 approved market research listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.

Is this list re-ordered for startups?

No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the startups framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.

How much does market research software cost?

Across the 3 market research tools listed here, paid plans start between $99 and $99 a month, with a median entry price of $99. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $99 a month (SurveyMonkey).

What is the cheapest market research software?

Among the ones that charge, SurveyMonkey has the lowest published entry price at $99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.

Is there free market research software?

Not in this set. None of the 3 market research tools listed here publishes a $0 plan, and the cheapest paid entry is $99 a month. Some vendors offer time-limited trials, which are listed on each product page rather than here.

How many market research tools are listed on Softwr?

3 approved market research listings appear on this page, including Attest, GWI, SurveyMonkey. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/market-research, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Market Research · ranked shortlist

Best Market Research software for Startups in 2026

3 approved market research listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.

Tools ranked: 3
Entry price range: $99-$99
Publish a $0 plan: 0 of 3

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.

Where the ratings come from

No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.

What the pool is

Approved market research listings, capped at 20 per page; 3 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the market research category page.

The ranking

Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.

#1
Attest
Highest rated here
Straightforward pricing for predictable research costs
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
Attest breakdown Compare with GWI
#2
GWI
Access human insights and consumer insights from real people, instantly
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
GWI breakdown Compare with SurveyMonkey
#3
SurveyMonkey
Turn feedback into action
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $99 a month, with no free plan.
Billing
subscription
Tags
surveys, market-research, feedback, analytics
SurveyMonkey breakdown

What market research software costs

Counted from the published pricing of the 3 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.

The only paid entry price: $99SurveyMonkey

Only SurveyMonkey publishes a paid entry price here, at $99.

Nothing in this category publishes a $0 plan, all 3 listings are paid from the first day.

SurveyMonkey pricing

How these vendors bill

The billing model each of the 3 market research listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.

subscription: 3

How to choose between them

Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.

Budget for day one, because nothing here is free

No listing in this category publishes a $0 plan, and the cheapest way in is $99 a month with SurveyMonkey. That changes how you evaluate: ask for a trial in writing before you shortlist, and treat any tool you cannot try as a tool you cannot verify.

Read the spread before you read the features

$99 to $99 is a $0 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $99 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.

Compare market research tools directly

Every pairing below is a full comparison: the same checklist applied to both, so a gap in one is a gap in the other.

Go straight to the numbers

Build your own comparison See the shortlist instead

Questions people ask about market research software

Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.

How is this market research ranking decided?: Mechanically. The 3 approved market research listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
Is this list re-ordered for startups?: No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the startups framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.
How much does market research software cost?: Across the 3 market research tools listed here, paid plans start between $99 and $99 a month, with a median entry price of $99. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $99 a month (SurveyMonkey).
What is the cheapest market research software?: Among the ones that charge, SurveyMonkey has the lowest published entry price at $99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
Is there free market research software?: Not in this set. None of the 3 market research tools listed here publishes a $0 plan, and the cheapest paid entry is $99 a month. Some vendors offer time-limited trials, which are listed on each product page rather than here.
How many market research tools are listed on Softwr?: 3 approved market research listings appear on this page, including Attest, GWI, SurveyMonkey. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/market-research, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Keep reading

Neighbouring categories

Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.