For a thesis, one criterion outranks every other: can you export the raw responses? A survey tool that shows you pretty summary charts but locks the response file behind a paid plan is useless, because SPSS, JASP and R all need the raw file. That single test eliminates the most heavily advertised option on this list. Everything below was checked against each vendor’s own page on 18 August 2026.
Comparison table
| Tool | Free plan | Raw data export on the free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your university’s licensed tool | Free at point of use | Usually yes | Everyone — check this first |
| Google Forms | Free with a Google account | Yes, via Sheets | Most undergraduate FYP surveys |
| Microsoft Forms | Included with a Microsoft 365 account | Yes, to Excel | Campuses standardised on Microsoft 365 |
| LimeSurvey | Free if self-hosted (open source) | Yes | Complex logic, full control, sensitive data |
| Jotform | Starter plan, free | Yes, with Jotform branding on the form | Forms needing file upload or payment fields |
| SurveyMonkey | Basic plan, free | No — data export starts on the paid plan | Not recommended for a thesis on the free plan |
The criteria used here
- Raw export on the free plan. Can you download a CSV or Excel file of individual responses without paying?
- Real limits. Question count and response count on the free tier, since an FYP questionnaire often runs past 30 items.
- Already covered by your university. A tool your campus already licenses costs you nothing and is supported by IT.
- Language. Whether you can present the questionnaire in Bahasa Melayu, English, or both.
- What it looks like to a respondent. Vendor branding on the form affects response rates and looks unprofessional in an appendix screenshot.
- Where the data sits. Whether responses live in an institutional account or a personal one, which is what your ethics committee will ask about.
Ranking
1. Whatever your university already licenses
Before comparing anything, log in to your student portal and find out which survey platform your campus provides. Malaysian universities commonly issue a Google Workspace for Education or Microsoft 365 account to every student, and some faculties hold an institutional Qualtrics licence for research use. If yours does, that is your answer: it costs nothing, your ethics committee is already familiar with it, the data sits in an institutional account, and IT can help when something breaks two days before your deadline.
We could not verify which specific Malaysian universities hold which licences — that information is behind staff portals we cannot read — so treat this as an instruction to check, not a claim about your campus.
2. Google Forms
The default for most Malaysian undergraduate FYPs, and for good reason. It is free with any Google account, has no question limit that a questionnaire will realistically hit, and its responses feed directly into a Google Sheet that downloads as CSV or XLSX — which is exactly what you need to open in SPSS or JASP.
Weaknesses worth knowing: branching logic is basic compared with dedicated survey platforms, there is no built-in way to stop one person submitting repeatedly unless you require sign-in (which then collects identities), and randomising item order is limited. For a straightforward Likert questionnaire, none of that matters.
3. Microsoft Forms
Functionally comparable to Google Forms for survey purposes and included with a Microsoft 365 account, which many Malaysian campuses issue. Responses export to Excel. Choose it over Google Forms when your university account is Microsoft-based, because your supervisor and faculty will already be working in the same ecosystem.
4. LimeSurvey
The serious option when you need more than a simple form. Its own site describes it as “available as a self-hosted, open source survey tool alternative to Google Forms” and states “support for over 80 languages”; a testimonial on the same page describes it as “100% free (as in GPL) software”.
Self-hosting means the responses sit on a server you or your faculty control, which is the strongest answer you can give an ethics committee about where sensitive data lives. The cost is setup effort — you need somewhere to host it. If your faculty already runs an instance, this jumps up the list.
5. Jotform
Its pricing page states that the Starter plan is free and includes standard features such as templates, payment integrations and widgets, with limits that increase on paid tiers. The page is explicit about one trade-off: forms and signed documents “will include Jotform branding, which can be removed once you have a paid subscription”.
Worth choosing when your data collection needs something Google Forms cannot do — file uploads from respondents, signature capture, or conditional pages. Otherwise the branding is a small but real cost on your response rate.
6. SurveyMonkey
The best known name here, and the one we would not use for a thesis on its free plan. Its individual pricing page lists the free Basic plan as one user, unlimited surveys, 10 questions per survey and “limited responses per survey”, and data exports are listed as a Standard-plan feature, not a Basic-plan feature. A ten-item cap rules out most FYP instruments on its own; no export rules out the rest.
Its paid plans were served to us priced in euro (Standard €39 per month; Advantage Annual €36 per month billed €432 annually; Premier Annual €99 per month billed €1,188 annually; €0.10 per response above the plan limit). SurveyMonkey shows different currencies to different regions, so check what your own browser is quoted before assuming those figures apply in Malaysia.
What about Qualtrics?
Qualtrics is a research-grade platform used widely in academic work, and many universities hold institutional licences that students can request through their faculty. We could reach its site but found no publicly readable student price, so we make no claim about cost. The practical advice is unchanged: ask your faculty whether an institutional account exists before assuming you cannot use it.
Recommendation by situation
| Your situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Standard Likert questionnaire, undergraduate FYP | Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, whichever your campus account uses |
| Your campus has an institutional licence | That tool — free, supported, institutionally hosted |
| Sensitive data, or an ethics committee asking where responses are stored | LimeSurvey self-hosted, or the institutional tool |
| Respondents must upload a file or sign something | Jotform |
| Complex branching, quotas or randomisation | LimeSurvey, or an institutional Qualtrics account |
| Paper questionnaires being keyed in later | Any spreadsheet — you do not need a survey platform at all |
Five things to set up before you send the link
- Put the consent statement on the first page with a required acknowledgement, not in the invitation message where it is not recorded.
- Add one screening question that filters out people outside your sampling frame, so you are not deleting rows later.
- Decide about identifiers before launch. Collecting matric numbers or emails makes follow-up possible but changes what your ethics application must say. Do not collect them “just in case”.
- Test the export path once, with three fake responses. Download the file and open it in the software you will actually analyse in. Discovering an export problem after 200 responses is the worst possible time.
- Code your Likert items numerically at the source where the tool allows it, so you are not recoding text labels by hand.
On the legal side, we are deliberately not stating what Malaysian data protection law requires of a student researcher. We could not open the primary statute text through the official portal, and reciting a duty from memory is exactly the error that gets students into trouble. Your research ethics committee is the authority here — ask them, and follow what they put in writing.
The tool does not fix the questionnaire
A well-built form full of badly written items still produces unusable data. Item wording, scale choice, pilot testing and the validity checks your examiner will look for are covered in how to design a questionnaire for your FYP. Decide which analysis each item feeds before you write it, using the decision table in which statistical test should I use for my FYP data, and make sure every construct on your diagram is measured — see theoretical framework vs conceptual framework.
Once the responses are in, the analysis software matters more than the collection tool; the honest comparison is in best statistical software for a Malaysian FYP or thesis. And whichever platform you use, the methodology chapter has to name it, along with the collection period and response rate — see how to write the methodology chapter.
Where Tesify sits, and where it does not
Tesify does not collect data. It has no survey builder, it will not host your responses, and it cannot run your statistics — for those you need the tools above. What it does is keep the written thesis coherent while the data work goes on: your instrument description, sampling plan and results stay in one place, chapter by chapter, so a change to the questionnaire does not leave three chapters disagreeing with each other. You remain the author and are responsible for every sentence, and your faculty handbook outranks any tool on this page.
Start building your thesis in Tesify while your survey is out collecting responses.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Forms acceptable for an academic thesis?
Yes. It is widely used for Malaysian FYP data collection and produces an exportable response file, which is what matters methodologically. Name it in your methodology chapter as the collection instrument platform, exactly as you would name paper questionnaires.
Can I use the free SurveyMonkey plan for my FYP?
We would not. Its published free plan caps you at 10 questions per survey and lists data export as a paid-plan feature. Without raw export you cannot analyse your own responses in SPSS, JASP or R.
Which survey tool supports Bahasa Melayu?
All of the tools listed will display any text you type, including Bahasa Melayu, so a single-language questionnaire is never a problem. If you need one form that switches between languages for the respondent, LimeSurvey advertises support for over 80 languages and is the strongest option here.
How do I get survey responses into SPSS?
Export to CSV or XLSX, open the file in a spreadsheet, check that your Likert items are numeric and your variable names are short and consistent, then open or import that file in SPSS. Do the test run with three fake responses before real collection starts.
Does my university provide a survey tool?
Many Malaysian universities issue students a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 account, and some faculties hold research platform licences. We cannot confirm this for any specific campus, so check your student portal or ask your faculty’s IT helpdesk.
Should I collect respondents’ names or matric numbers?
Only if you genuinely need them, for example to link two waves of data. Collecting identifiers changes what your ethics application must cover and what you must do to keep responses confidential, so decide before launch and state the decision in your methodology.
How do I stop the same person answering twice?
The reliable methods all trade anonymity for control: requiring a sign-in, issuing unique invitation links, or including a screening question you can check afterwards. Choose the mildest one that satisfies your supervisor, and describe it in your methodology.
Is a paid plan ever worth it for a student?
Rarely. If a free tool already exports raw data, paying buys design polish and advanced logic rather than better data. Spend the money on incentives for respondents instead — that improves your response rate, which is what examiners actually ask about.
What response rate should I expect from an online survey?
It varies far too much by population and distribution method for any number here to be useful. Plan for it by oversending relative to your target sample and by reporting the actual rate honestly in your methodology chapter.
Can I switch survey tools halfway through collection?
You can, but you should not. Two platforms mean two response files with different column structures and two versions of the instrument to reconcile. If you must switch, keep the item wording identical and document the change.
Do I need to keep the raw response file after submission?
Yes. Faculties commonly ask to see raw data during examination, and being unable to produce it is a serious problem. Keep the exported file, unedited, alongside a separate cleaned copy.