LimeSurvey vs Tally
Both are alternatives to Typeform. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Tally vs LimeSurvey — same comparison, one verdict.
LimeSurvey is open source (GPL-2.0) and Tally is not (Proprietary (hosted service)) — so the real question is whether you want to own the forms & surveys stack or rent it.
LimeSurvey
Twenty years of serious survey methodology, GPL, self-hosted.
LimeSurvey is the survey tool academic and research institutions actually use, and it shows: dozens of question types, quotas, randomisation, complex conditional logic, multilingual surveys and statistical export. It is not trying to be beautiful and it is not conversational — it is trying to be methodologically sound, which is a different and sometimes more important thing. GPL-2.0, self-hosted, with two decades of development behind it. Choose it when the survey is research rather than marketing.
Tally
Free for unlimited responses — and that is the whole pitch.
Tally is a hosted form builder that works like a text document: you type, and form fields appear where you need them. Its distinguishing feature is commercial rather than technical — unlimited forms and unlimited responses on the free tier, with payment only for branding removal and advanced features. For a team whose objection to Typeform is purely the per-response bill, Tally removes it entirely without any self-hosting. It is proprietary and hosted, so the data-residency objection is unaddressed.
Side by side
6 points of comparison, every one read from a verified field. Green marks the side that wins a row outright. A dash means we do not hold that fact — never that it is zero.
| LimeSurvey | Tally | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty ScoreOur transparent 0–100 composite for data ownership and exit cost. | 93 | 40 |
| Open source | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Local-first data | Yes | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary (hosted service) |
| Pricing | Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud hosting available. | Free with unlimited forms and responses. Tally Pro around $29/month for branding removal and advanced features. |
LimeSurvey edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Weighing both against staying on Typeform? Is Typeform free? What it actually costs →
LimeSurvey
Strengths
- +Most methodologically serious tool here — quotas, randomisation, complex logic
- +Excellent multilingual support
- +Twenty years of development; trusted in academic research
- +GPL-2.0 with a complete self-host path
Trade-offs
- −Interface is dated and the learning curve is real
- −Nothing conversational about it
- −PHP and MySQL to operate
- −Overkill for a contact form or a short marketing survey
Tally
Strengths
- +Unlimited responses free — removes Typeform's core cost problem outright
- +Document-style builder is genuinely fast to use
- +Good conditional logic and payment collection on the free tier
- +Nothing to host or maintain
Trade-offs
- −Proprietary and hosted — data residency unchanged
- −Free tier is a business decision that can change
- −Less polished than Typeform on presentation
- −No self-hosting at any price
Which one fits you
The trade-offs above, turned into a decision. Find the line that describes your team.
Choose LimeSurvey
if you want the source and the option to fork it, and you would rather run it on your own hardware, and your data should stay on machines you control.
Choose Tally
if unlimited responses free — removes Typeform's core cost problem outright.
Neither, yet
if both carry a real cost you should weigh first — interface is dated and the learning curve is real, and proprietary and hosted — data residency unchanged. If either of those is a dealbreaker for your team, the shortlist is wrong rather than the choice.
LimeSurvey vs Tally — common questions
Is LimeSurvey a better fit than Tally for forms & surveys?
It depends on what you are optimising for, and the honest split is this: LimeSurvey scores 93 to Tally's 40 on data ownership and exit cost, so it is the safer choice if you care about being able to leave. Tally earns its place on a different axis — unlimited responses free — removes Typeform's core cost problem outright. Neither is a wrong answer for every team; the table above is the actual comparison.
What happens if we want to switch later?
LimeSurvey keeps its data local or in open formats, so leaving is an export rather than a negotiation. Tally keeps your data on its own infrastructure, which is the part to plan for: confirm the export path before you commit, not when you are already trying to leave.
Can I self-host LimeSurvey?
LimeSurvey can be self-hosted; Tally cannot, so it stays on the vendor's infrastructure whatever you do.
Are LimeSurvey and Tally both alternatives to Typeform?
Yes — both appear in our Typeform comparison, which is why they are worth putting side by side. People usually arrive here already having decided to move off Typeform and now choosing between the two replacements, which is a narrower and much easier question.
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Facts verified 2026-08-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.