Migrate from SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey

Migrate from SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey: what the move involves

The move is a rebuild plus a data export, not a file copy. SurveyMonkey surveys are not packaged for import into LimeSurvey, so each survey program has to be recreated as a LimeSurvey survey, and the historical responses have to be exported from SurveyMonkey and loaded or archived separately. That distinction matters most for organizations leaving because of a renewal date, a data residency requirement or lock-in pressure, since the export window is tied to the SurveyMonkey plan you hold. Confirm with SurveyMonkey which export formats your current plan includes before you plan the cutover.

Survey owners usually do the rebuilding, because only they know the question logic, skip patterns, quotas and translations their studies depend on. A platform administrator installs and hardens the LimeSurvey server, chooses the database, configures email delivery for invitations and sets up user roles, so that owners can edit their own surveys without access to the server. Many organizations also bring in an outside implementation partner for the server work and for checking that migrated surveys behave the same way as the originals. The effort and risk depend mainly on how many surveys are live, how many have panels or invitation lists attached, and how much translated or quota-controlled content there is.

Plan for two risks. The first is losing results or metadata if the export is left until the plan ends, so export and verify every active survey before cancelling. The second is a survey that looks right but routes respondents differently, which only shows up in a test run with real-looking data. Ask any implementation partner for a written scope that lists each survey to be rebuilt, the export format for each archive, and the test cases used to sign off each one, and treat that document as the basis for the quote.

Which SurveyMonkey capabilities map cleanly to LimeSurvey

This table maps each SurveyMonkey capability used in a survey program to its closest LimeSurvey equivalent and marks it as clean, needs rework or gap. Read the status column first, then confirm each rework or gap item against the LimeSurvey version you plan to run, because plugin and permission behavior varies by release.

Capability	SurveyMonkey	LimeSurvey	Status
Survey builder and question types	Standard question library, matrix and rating questions, and templates	More than 30 question types with a survey editor and group structure	Clean. Rebuild by hand, since no import from SurveyMonkey is assumed
Skip logic and branching	Page-level and question-level logic on the builder	Conditions set per question or group, which control display and routing	Needs rework. Logic must be rewritten and tested path by path
Quotas	Response quotas available on paid team plans	Quota setup in the survey settings of LimeSurvey	Needs rework. Confirm quota behavior in your version against your sampling rules
Multilingual versions	Translated survey versions on paid plans	Multilingual surveys in more than 80 languages, with one language per respondent view	Clean. Translations must be re-entered and checked for each language
Response exports (CSV, XLS)	CSV, XLS, PPT and PDF exports on team plans	Response export to common spreadsheet formats from the responses screen	Needs rework. Check column headers and value codes against your reporting templates
Response exports (SPSS)	SPSS export on team plans	SPSS-oriented export options and the ExportR and ExportSTATAxml plugins	Needs rework. Confirm the SPSS output and value labels with a test export
Panels and invitation lists	Contact lists and panel management on paid plans	Participant tables with token-based invitations and reminders	Needs rework. Contact lists must be imported and mapped to tokens with care
Team roles and admin access	Per-user team seats with roles on paid plans	Admin users with permissions set per survey and per user	Needs rework. Map each SurveyMonkey role to a LimeSurvey permission set and confirm it
Historical results	Stored in SurveyMonkey while the plan is active	Available only after the old results are exported and imported or archived	Gap. Export all results before the plan ends and confirm the archive is complete

What moves cleanly and what does not

The risk in this migration sits in two places: the past results and the survey structure. Results must leave SurveyMonkey before the plan ends, because once access changes, the data you need for reporting or audit may be out of reach. Question wording, answer options, branching logic, quotas and translations do not transfer as a working survey. They usually need to be rebuilt in LimeSurvey and tested question by question. Plan the rebuild as a separate workstream from the export, with its own owner and test cycle.

What you can take out depends on your plan and on the export formats SurveyMonkey offers at the time you export. Plan limits are published per year: the SurveyMonkey pricing page lists Team Advantage at 50,000 responses and Team Premier at 100,000 responses per year. Confirm current export formats, file size limits and which plan tier includes each format directly with SurveyMonkey before you start, because these settings change. Run a test export early, then compare the response count, date range and partial responses against what the dashboard shows. Keep the raw export files together with the question list so later analysis can be traced back to the original wording.

Expect the imported results to need mapping, not just storage. Each question in LimeSurvey has its own identifier and structure, so columns from a SurveyMonkey export must be matched to the rebuilt questions, and any recoded answer options need a documented key. Multilingual surveys are built as separate language versions, so each translation needs review by a native speaker, not only a machine pass. LimeSurvey supports more than 30 question types and more than 80 languages, but you must confirm that each type you need behaves the same way in your chosen version. Use the ExportR plugin or a CSV export to check that the mapped data opens correctly in your analysis tools.

Which data to export, move and reconnect

A SurveyMonkey move has four kinds of data: response results, uploaded files, the people you invited, and the connections that send data elsewhere. Each one follows a different path into LimeSurvey, and each needs a check before the SurveyMonkey plan ends. The cards below cover what to export, what to rebuild, and what to confirm.

Response exports in CSV, XLS or SPSS

Export results from SurveyMonkey in the formats your plan allows, most often CSV or XLS, and SPSS where your team uses it. Check that the export includes question text, answer codes and multi-select columns, since LimeSurvey imports results with its own column naming. Keep a raw export alongside a cleaned copy so you can verify totals after import. Confirm the export options available on your plan in SurveyMonkey's own help documentation before cancelling.

Uploaded files and attachments

File-upload questions store attachments separately from the response table, so a standard results export may contain only file names or links. Download the originals in bulk if your SurveyMonkey plan supports it, and record which response each file belongs to. In LimeSurvey, file upload questions store files on your server, so confirm the upload directory, size limits and storage space before you start. Link files to response IDs in your archive so they stay traceable.

Invitation and contact lists

Contact lists and panels hold names, email addresses and the status of each invitation, such as sent, opened or completed. Export them with consent records and any unsubscribe or opt-out flags, because LimeSurvey does not inherit those rights from SurveyMonkey. Import the lists into LimeSurvey's participant tables and check each record's language and attributes. Confirm the field-level export options with SurveyMonkey and the participant import format with LimeSurvey's documentation.

Integrations rebuilt in LimeSurvey

Integrations that push responses to other tools do not transfer. Inventory every connector, webhook or scheduled export that reads SurveyMonkey data, then decide which ones LimeSurvey can replace through its own options or through plugins such as ExportR and ExportSTATAxml. For analysis exports, these plugins cover R and Stata workflows. Anything without a documented path needs a custom script or a different tool, and that work should be scoped before cutover.

Survey logic, quotas and language versions

Survey structure, skip logic, quotas and translations are not exported as a working survey, so you rebuild them in LimeSurvey and test each path. Record the logic and quota rules from SurveyMonkey before you start, then recreate them and check that the response counts match. For multilingual surveys, confirm that each language version carries the same questions and answer codes so results stay comparable across languages.

The migration sequence from inventory to decommission

This sequence moves survey programs from SurveyMonkey to a self-hosted LimeSurvey instance without losing results or breaking respondent access. Each step closes with a written artifact, so the team can prove what moved, what was tested and what was retired before the SurveyMonkey account is closed.

Inventory surveys and response volumes
Start by listing every survey in the SurveyMonkey account, with its owner, status, language versions, collector types (email, link, web), open dates and response count. Confirm the response count per survey against the results view, since it sets the export effort and the hosting capacity you need. Ask your SurveyMonkey plan administrator to confirm which team features and exports your current plan includes. The output is a survey register, a single spreadsheet that assigns each survey to keep, rebuild, archive or retire.
Export and archive results before the plan ends
Export raw responses for each surveyed program in the formats your plan allows, such as CSV or XLS, and SPSS where your team uses it. Export the question text, answer codes and any metadata you rely on for analysis, and store the files with the survey register on storage you control. Check that each export opens and that row counts match the register. The output is an exported archive with a checksum or record count per file, kept as the reference copy for audits and reanalysis.
Stand up LimeSurvey on your own server
Install LimeSurvey Community Edition on the infrastructure you have chosen, checking the PHP, database and extension requirements in the project repository before you begin. Confirm the database engine and version you will run, and set up backups, TLS and access restrictions for the administration panel. Decide between your own servers and a provider-hosted deployment, and ask any provider where data is stored. The output is a tested installation with a documented build, backup and restore procedure.
Pilot rebuild of one representative survey
Choose one survey that uses the features you depend on most, such as skip logic, piped answers, quotas, multiple languages and a panel invitation list. Rebuild it in LimeSurvey, translate it into each language you use, and configure quotas with the same cut-off rules as the original. Run test responses through each language and each quota branch, comparing the stored data with the SurveyMonkey export. The output is signed-off test results listing each question, branch and language, with any differences recorded and resolved.
Rebuild the remaining surveys and run in parallel
Rebuild the surveys marked for migration using the pilot's checklist, then run LimeSurvey alongside SurveyMonkey for a period agreed by the survey owners. Compare response counts and sample records daily between the two systems, and log any question or translation discrepancies in the survey register. Keep SurveyMonkey collecting responses until the owners accept the parallel results. The output is a parallel-run log with a sign-off from each survey owner for every program.
Cut over invitations, links and panels
Import the invitation and panel lists into LimeSurvey, checking that personal fields, language codes and consent flags map correctly. Replace published SurveyMonkey links in emails, intranet pages, QR codes and partner sites with the new LimeSurvey addresses, and confirm that email delivery from your domain works. Close the SurveyMonkey collectors only after the new links are confirmed live. The output is a cutover checklist with each link, invitation batch and panel marked as moved, plus a test response received from every channel.
Decommission SurveyMonkey after archiving
Confirm that the exported archive is complete, that the register shows every survey as migrated, archived or retired, and that the owners have signed off. Remove respondent personal data from SurveyMonkey where your retention rules allow, then cancel the subscription and ask the vendor to confirm the account closure in writing. Keep the archive and the register under your records policy. The output is a decommission record that names the archive location, the retention period set by your policy and the date the subscription ended.

How the move differs by team size and starting point

Teams running many surveys across several languages carry the heaviest rebuild. The work is less about the first survey than about keeping dozens of instruments consistent: shared question banks, translated wording, skip logic that differs by language and quotas that gate who sees which version. LimeSurvey supports multilingual surveys in more than 80 languages, so the decision is whether to rebuild each language version as a separate survey or to consolidate them. Consolidating reduces maintenance but changes how exports look, so test that early.

Inventory before rebuilding: List every active survey, its languages, quotas, panels and invitation lists, and mark which ones are still in use.
Export with the codebook in hand: Pull results in CSV, XLS or SPSS format and keep the question wording and answer codes alongside them, because statistical exports depend on them.
Plan the hosting around data volume: A self-hosted server with a managed database and regular backups fits a program that collects large response volumes without per-response limits.
Validate translations and logic per language: Run each version through test responses and compare branching against the original, not just the default language.
Confirm export plugins: Check that the statistical exports your analysts need, such as those supplied by the ExportR or ExportSTATAxml plugins, produce the variable names your scripts expect.

Before cutover, ask whether your analysts can reproduce a published result from the migrated data.

What drives the cost and duration of the move

This table lists the factors that change how long a SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey move takes and what it costs, with the cost component each one affects. Read it as a checklist: the drivers at the top of your list usually set the scope and the quote.

Driver	Why it changes cost or effort	How to keep it down
Number of surveys and versions	Each live survey needs its structure, logic, piping and branching rebuilt in LimeSurvey, so effort scales with the count of active programs.	Retire inactive surveys before the move and rebuild only what is still in use. Ask for the work to be priced per survey in the quote.
Translations and multilingual versions	Each language needs its own text, validation messages and checks, and LimeSurvey supports more than 80 languages, so every added language adds review work.	Limit the move to languages still used. Have native-speaking reviewers sign off on each version once.
Quota logic	Quotas, screen-outs and sample targets are often rebuilt by hand because they do not map one to one, and errors here can distort results.	Document each quota rule from SurveyMonkey before rebuilding. Test quota behavior with a small pilot run before fieldwork.
Response volume and archive size	Large result sets take longer to export, check and import, and the archive needs storage on the new server.	Export historical results in full before the plan ends. Confirm the file formats you need (CSV, XLS or SPSS) before exporting.
Invitation and panel list size	Contact lists need cleaning, deduplication and consent records carried over, and bounces or unsubscribes must be respected.	Clean the list before import. Keep consent and unsubscribe records with the contacts.
Hosting and database choice	LimeSurvey needs PHP 8.1.29 or later with mbstring and PDO drivers, plus MySQL 8.0, PostgreSQL 14, MariaDB 10.3.38 or MSSQL 2019 or later. Choosing an unsupported combination adds setup work.	Pick one supported database that your team already operates. Confirm the versions with the LimeSurvey GitHub repository before provisioning.
Email delivery setup	Invitations and reminders need an SMTP service with correct domain authentication, and misconfiguration causes low delivery rates that look like survey problems.	Configure sending domain records and a dedicated SMTP service early. Send test invitations to several mailbox providers before launch.
Backup and recovery	Survey data and uploaded files need scheduled backups and a tested restore, which is a recurring operational task after go-live.	Set backups for the database and upload directory together. Test a restore on a separate system before cancelling SurveyMonkey.
Cost components	One-time: export, rebuild, data migration, testing and hardening. Recurring: server hosting, database operation, patching, backups, email service and support.	Ask any quote to split one-time and recurring costs and to state who pays for each server, license and service.

What usually goes wrong and how to prevent it

Most failed survey migrations lose something quietly: a result set, a branching rule, a translation or a contact list. The cards below cover the failure points we see most often when moving a SurveyMonkey program to LimeSurvey, with a prevention step for each so the cutover can be checked before the old account closes.

Exports taken after cancellation

Once a SurveyMonkey plan lapses, the results you have not exported may be out of reach, so the export is the first gate in the project. Export every survey's responses in the formats you need, including the SPSS file if your analysts use it, and store them with the question wording and response codes. Confirm the export contains all waves and all partial responses, then check row counts against the source before you cancel.

Lost skip logic and piped values

Branching, display logic and piped text from earlier questions are often rebuilt by hand and silently dropped or simplified. A respondent may then see questions that should be hidden or a placeholder where a name should appear. Document each logic rule from the source survey, rebuild it in LimeSurvey's condition editor, and run test responses through every path that the original survey allowed.

Quota errors that skew samples

Quotas define how many respondents must fall into each segment, and a wrong limit or a misplaced rule will close a group too early or let it overfill. For research and HR programs, this distorts the sample without any visible error. Rebuild each quota from the written sampling plan, set the matching rules and counts, and test that a full group is actually closed for new entries.

Broken multilingual versions

Translated surveys often carry over the wrong text, missing options or mismatched codes when they are recreated. Respondents in one language may then answer a different question from the one in the source language, which corrupts comparisons across languages. Confirm each language version against the source, keep a shared question code across languages, and review the exported data by language before analysis.

Invitation lists exposed or mishandled

Contact lists contain personal data and often carry consent and opt-out status that must move with them. Copying a CSV into a shared folder, or importing it without the unsubscribe records, can expose people and send invitations to those who opted out. Restrict who can access the participant table, import only lists with a documented legal basis, and carry over the opt-out records before any invitation is sent.

Unsupported LimeSurvey versions

Installing an older LimeSurvey release leaves the server on a line that no longer receives fixes. The 6.17.19 line reached end of support on August 31, 2026, while 7.6.0 is the latest stable release on the community downloads page. Check the version before installation, confirm the PHP and database versions meet the stated requirements, and plan a dated upgrade path for security updates.

Questions buyers ask before moving from SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey

What drives the cost of moving from SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey?

The main cost is the work of rebuilding survey programs, plus the server and database you run them on. LimeSurvey Community Edition is free to download and self-host, so there is no license fee to the software project itself. The recurring costs are hosting, backups, patching, email delivery for invitations and staff time. The one-time costs are rebuilding questions, quotas and translations, migrating invitation lists and testing. The size of the work depends on how many surveys you run, how many questions each has, how many languages are in use and how much branching or quota logic must be recreated. Ask any provider for a quote that separates these components and names who performs each one.

How long does a SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey migration usually take?

No researched timeline for this migration is available, so treat any duration as something to confirm in a written scope. The pace is set by the number of active survey programs, the complexity of their logic, the number of language versions, the state of your invitation lists and the time needed for data protection review and server provisioning. Export of results should happen early, before your SurveyMonkey plan ends, so that a deadline does not compress the rebuild. Ask for milestones tied to specific surveys rather than one overall date.

What must our team supply before a migration starts?

Three groups of inputs keep the work moving. First, named survey owners who can confirm question wording, skip logic, quotas and which surveys are still live. Second, a data protection sign-off covering where responses, invitation lists and any personal data will be stored and for how long. Third, hosting access, meaning a server or cloud account, a database, a domain or subdomain, an outbound email service and administrator credentials. Without these, the rebuild stalls at the points where decisions are needed. Confirm each item in writing before the scope is agreed.

Can our own team migrate from SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey without help?

Yes, a capable internal team can install LimeSurvey and rebuild surveys, because the software is free to self-host and its administration interface covers question types, quotas and multilingual surveys. The questions to answer honestly are whether you have staff who can run a PHP and database application, apply updates and secure the server, and whether they have time to rebuild every survey while keeping results intact. Many teams split the work: they rebuild simple surveys in-house and bring in outside help for hosting hardening, complex quota logic or the data protection documentation. Ask a provider to confirm which parts it would take on and which would stay with your staff.

How does LimeSurvey Community Edition differ from LimeSurvey Cloud?

Community Edition is software you install and run on your own server, or have a provider run in your infrastructure, so you control the database, backups, updates and data location. LimeSurvey Cloud is a hosted subscription with plans that set monthly or yearly response limits and numbers of administrators, and it offers hosting regions including Germany, Finland, the UK, the USA, Canada and Australia, with Germany or Finland recommended for EU customers. Community Edition has no response cap of its own, but your server capacity and operating costs become your responsibility. Choose based on who must operate the system, where the data must reside and how you want costs to recur.

What happens to our results if a LimeSurvey Cloud subscription ends?

According to LimeSurvey's pricing page FAQ, when a Cloud subscription expires the account falls back to the Free package and keeps access to the responses already collected. That means you do not lose stored results by default, but the Free package has its own limits, so you should confirm those limits before relying on it. Whatever hosting you choose, export complete datasets to your own storage on a regular schedule, keep copies of question structures and confirm how long your provider retains data after cancellation. Put these retention and export steps in the written scope.

Which LimeSurvey version should we deploy?

Deploy the current stable release, which is LimeSurvey Community Edition 7.6.0 according to the community downloads page. The 6.17.19 line reached end of support on August 31, 2026, so a new installation should not start on it. Confirm the current version on the download page on the day you start, because releases change. LimeSurvey requires PHP 8.1.29 or later with mbstring and PDO drivers, and supports MySQL 8.0, PostgreSQL 14, MariaDB 10.3.38 or MSSQL 2019 or later. Check the requirements for your chosen version against your server image before provisioning.

Does DeployOpen handle the migration and what does the engagement cover?

DeployOpen plans, implements, customizes, integrates, hardens, backs up, upgrades, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own infrastructure, including cloud accounts, data centers and air-gapped networks. Most engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts. Ongoing support and upgrades are available as retainers. DeployOpen prepares systems and evidence for compliance assessments but does not issue audit reports or certifications. DeployOpen does not publish a price list, so a quote follows from the written scope.

How DeployOpen scopes, runs and supports the migration

DeployOpen plans, implements, integrates, hardens, backs up, documents and supports self-hosted open-source platforms inside your own infrastructure, so the LimeSurvey server, its database and exported survey data stay where your governance requires. Engagements are fixed-scope, with scope, deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts.

How we scope

Inventory of SurveyMonkey programs, active collectors, panels and invitation lists to decide what is migrated, archived or retired.
Agreed list of hosting target, PHP and database choice, and whether the server sits in your cloud account or data center.
Written scope stating which question types, quotas, multilingual versions and export formats are in and out for this migration.

How we build

Installation of LimeSurvey on your chosen server with the supported PHP, database and mbstring and PDO configuration confirmed before any data moves.
Rebuild of priority surveys, quotas and language versions, tested against the original SurveyMonkey questions and skip logic.
Import of exported results and invitation data, with a reconciliation check of response counts and field mappings against the exports.

How we hand over

Written runbook covering installation, configuration, backups, upgrades and the steps to rebuild a survey from its source.
Archive of SurveyMonkey exports in CSV, XLS or SPSS format, kept under your retention policy, with a record of what was exported and when.
Admin training for your team and documentation of access roles, data locations and the evidence your compliance reviewers may request.

How we support

Ongoing support, upgrades and patching of LimeSurvey are available as a retainer after handover, scoped separately in writing.
Upgrade planning that tracks LimeSurvey release and end-of-support dates, so your server stays on a supported version.
Confirmation with your team of who owns email delivery, backups and access reviews once the migration is complete.

Migrate from SurveyMonkey to LimeSurvey