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SurveyMonkey

Overview

SurveyMonkey is a global online survey, form and feedback software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. It enables businesses, researchers, educational institutions, students, non-profits and individuals to design questionnaires, distribute them through web links, email and embedded forms, and analyse the responses through built-in reporting tools. The platform is among the most widely recognised online survey tools in the world and is used in market research, customer experience, employee engagement and academic research.

Key facts

Type Online survey and feedback SaaS platform
Industry Software, market research, customer experience
Founded 1999
Founders Ryan Finley and Chris Finley
Headquarters San Mateo, California, United States
Parent company Momentive Global (later returned to the SurveyMonkey brand under private ownership)
Website surveymonkey.com

Background

SurveyMonkey was created to make survey creation accessible to non-technical users at a time when most survey tools required either statistical software or custom development. The product is offered through a freemium model, with a free tier permitting limited questions and responses, and paid plans aimed at individuals, teams and enterprises. Features include question logic and branching, templates, multilingual surveys, integrations with collaboration and CRM tools, and analytics dashboards.

History

  • 1999: SurveyMonkey is founded by Ryan Finley and his brother Chris Finley in Madison, Wisconsin.
  • 2009: The company is acquired by an investor group, and Dave Goldberg becomes Chief Executive Officer, leading a major expansion of the platform.
  • 2010s: The headquarters is relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, and the company expands internationally with offices in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
  • 2015: Following the death of Dave Goldberg, leadership transitions take place; Zander Lurie is later appointed CEO.
  • 2018: SurveyMonkey's parent, SVMK Inc., lists publicly on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
  • 2021: The company rebrands its corporate identity to Momentive, positioning itself as an experience management platform alongside the consumer-facing SurveyMonkey product.
  • 2023: SVMK is taken private by an investor group led by Symphony Technology Group, and the SurveyMonkey brand is restored as the primary corporate identity.

Products and use

The core SurveyMonkey product allows users to design surveys from templates or build them from scratch, distribute them via multiple channels, and analyse results in real time. Adjacent offerings include:

  • SurveyMonkey Enterprise – team-level administration, single sign-on and compliance features.
  • Audience – a panel service that allows researchers to target respondents by demographic and geographic criteria.
  • Apply – grant, scholarship and application management software, widely used by foundations and universities.
  • Forms – lightweight online forms for registrations, RSVPs and lead capture.
  • Integrations with platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, Slack and Zoom.

Use in India

SurveyMonkey is widely used in India by enterprises, market research firms, academic institutions, public-sector organisations and individual researchers. Indian universities and management schools commonly use the platform for student dissertations, faculty research and feedback collection. Indian businesses use it for customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS) and employee engagement studies. The platform supports surveys in multiple Indian languages through Unicode input, and offers India-specific currency and tax handling for paid plans.

Significance

SurveyMonkey is regarded as one of the pioneering products that democratised online survey research, making professional questionnaire design and analysis accessible without specialised statistical training. Its longevity, scale and brand recognition have made it a reference point in the broader experience-management and online research software industry, alongside competitors such as Qualtrics, Typeform and Google Forms.

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