# XM for Strategy & Research Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is XM for Strategy & Research the right Survey solution for you? Explore 425 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/72396/Qualtrics-Insight-Platform/reviews --- XM for Strategy & Research 4.7 (425) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/72396/Strategy-and-Research/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 15th, 2026 # Reviews of XM for Strategy & Research Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 4.6 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Ginger S Graduate Student Academic AdvisorEducation Management, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Mostly I and my team used it for collecting basic data, however, when I had the opportunity to use it for research data collection, I was impressed with the flexibility of the settings and logic to deploy a high-level, IRB-approved survey.“ July 9, 2025 CC Connor C Data AnalystNon-Profit Organization Management, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “There are not enough customization options for some of our projects, and when using personalized links, the survey expires a week or so after being opened with no ability to change the duration before it expires“ March 16, 2026 JW Jamie W Onboarding ManagerMarketing and Advertising, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial. “I also love how the survey appears to the survey takers because it has each question come up after the other so the survey takers aren't easily distracted or overwhelmed by the long surveys.“ June 9, 2024 Chandan K DirectorInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The set up takes a lot of cache memory and hijack the speed of the processor. If you are using a lot of multilayered applications at once, you are prone to face some disruptions for sure.“ August 5, 2024 KS Kayla S Campaign ManagerHigher Education, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It also made it possible for visits and events to have students sign themselves up as well as guests with a trigger email going to both of them from our team letting them know who to contact with further questions and attach a map of our campus!“ June 16, 2023 Michael C Director of Survey ResearchHigher Education, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Terrible customer support - I cannot stress this enough“ February 10, 2026 Michael M Data EngineerFinancial Services, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “With Qualtrics AI-powered features, we are generating analytical metrics from both simple and complex survey data.“ April 26, 2023 Renee L HR CoordinatorComputer & Network Security, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The only negative I can really say is the cost for XM.“ August 7, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 425 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Ginger S. Graduate Student Academic Advisor Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Flexible, Powerful Tool with a Learning Curve" July 9, 2025 4.0 Overall, using Qualtrics XM has been a positive experience. Mostly I and my team used it for collecting basic data, however, when I had the opportunity to use it for research data collection, I was impressed with the flexibility of the settings and logic to deploy a high-level, IRB-approved survey. It just took some time to learn it, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Pros Qualtrics XM is a powerful, flexible tool that can perform funtions as basic as a survey on lunch preferences to research surveys with IRB-required anonymity. The variety of question types, delivery methods, collaboration options, and export settings make Qualtrics a versatile tool for a wide variety of settings. Cons Due to its capacity for high-level performance, many of the tools, options, and settings are not intuitive. Significant time and effort along with thorough training are needed to make use of all the features available to Qualtrics XM users. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director of Market Research Market Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "By far the best survey platform out there." April 20, 2026 5.0 Very positive--not major complaints, and the customer service team is also very knowledgable and timely in responding to your resquests. Pros By far the best survey platform out there. A comprehensive suite inclusive of survey design, survey outreach, panel management, and analytics. Cons The biggest pain point is that you cannot tag your panelists to different topics. You can only overwrite existing information. Alternatives considered [Decipher](https://www.capterra.com/p/188720/Decipher/) Reason for choosing XM for Strategy & Research Simply a more comprehensive and a much much easier product to use. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director of Survey Research Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good product held by poor support and reporting options" February 10, 2026 3.0 Good tool for collection data, mediocre (at best) for reporting and analysis of results. Terrible customer support - I cannot stress this enough Pros Advanced survey logic, routing, skip logic. Advanced question types, workflows, survey distribution methods Cons Poor customer service. Poor reliability, changes nad updates are made in a haphazard manner. Reporting (even the Results Dashboard) is lacking in functionality. Alternatives considered [Blue](https://www.capterra.com/p/125028/Blue-Surveys/)[QuestionPro](https://www.capterra.com/p/135455/QuestionPro/)[Zoho Survey](https://www.capterra.com/p/131426/Zoho-Survey/)[SurveyMonkey](https://www.capterra.com/p/253516/SurveyMonkey/) Reason for choosing XM for Strategy & Research It seemed like the best product for our needs at the time and the price was reasonable. Review Source TA Tahir A. Manager Market Research Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "XM for Strategy " March 3, 2025 5.0 it is considered a powerful tool for market research and strategic insights generation across various industries. Pros I like the was we can see how the research is communicated Cons There could be more indepth information given on the research Alternatives considered [UrbanBound](https://www.capterra.com/p/222664/UrbanBound/) Reason for choosing XM for Strategy & Research allowing researchers to transform complex data into easily Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "XM- an ultimate choice for all of your research automation works " August 5, 2024 5.0 Overall it was great and value for money for all R&D activities Pros Extremely liner backend language used which makes it a great tool that never breaks down. The advanced AI which helps to bridge between Logical and numerical worlds. It helps a novice or end user to make sense of the effect of the extraneous variable which is been tested under. Cons The set up takes a lot of cache memory and hijack the speed of the processor. If you are using a lot of multilayered applications at once, you are prone to face some disruptions for sure. Another what I feel is the dashboard. It needs to be more advance at least the vertical limit options should be more enriched. Alternatives considered [Pendo](https://www.capterra.com/p/151951/Pendo-Platform/) Reason for choosing XM for Strategy & Research The other option was not proving us the required customization Switched from [Jotform](https://www.capterra.com/p/158456/JotForm-4-0/) Cost management and multi country application requirement Review Source Andrew P. Project Manager Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Designed to Advance your metrics" September 3, 2019 5.0 This tools is fantastic for working with our Faculty and Researchers. They expect in-depth analysis and appreciate the power of Qualtrics. Our staff and administrative personnel have all learned to use Qualtrics and most of my co-workers find it easy to use and can adapt it to their various needs. This is a great option for anyone looking for a variety of analytics for surveying, and can be adapted to simpler projects as well. Pros The most useful part of Qualtrics is the depth of analytics you receive on your surveys, questionnaires, and other tools. In real time, as you develop your surveys you are given insights into how your data can be analyzed. It is designed to help you get the data you need back without asking unnecessary questions. The menu for building out surveys is very easy to use and the number of options and variety in types of questions gives you the ability to develop them exactly how you want. Conditional formatting is easy to implement, and there are many ways to incorporate other media into your survey/questionnaire. The surveys are built to be compatible in mobile without any additional design input as well. Cons At times Qualtrics is a more powerful tool than you need. I find that there are some users who adapt to Qualtrics quickly, but others simply do not need it. If you are asking straight-forward surveys and only need basic analysis, you can find easier and lower cost tools. Some people can be overwhelmed by the options and the "analysis" that come with the variety of question-types. That being said, this can be a one-size-fits-all solution, but there will be some training and trial and error involved. Switched from [Google Forms](https://www.capterra.com/p/176571/Google-Forms/) Conditional logic and analysis was not as simple, required additional add-ins, and did not provide us the flexibility we needed. Review Source Nadir S. College House Dean Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Data Collection and Analysis Made Easy" April 21, 2021 5.0 We have used Qualtrics and SurveyMonkey for larger surveys (50-100 questions) about students' experiences and Qualtrics makes manipulating the date very simple. It's easy to filter and export the data if you want to use Excel to do a bit more digging. Pros I primarily use SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, and Qualtrics for surveying my students. Qualtrics is adopted by our University on a wider scale and we have access to all features. Qualtrics is a very capable, easy to use tool. There are a lot of helpful resources online that can be used to make the most of the features. Cons If you are looking for a short and quick form to collect simple data, like signups, that don't require any data analysis, it is often easier to set it up in Google Forms or O365 than in Qualtrics. Qualtrics needs many more clicks for a simple survey than other (free) options. Switched from [SurveyMonkey](https://www.capterra.com/p/253516/SurveyMonkey/) SurveyMonkey was an individual license and in some ways it was not as feature-rich as Qualtrics. When other departments switched to Qualtrics, we did too, so we could save money on licensing. Review Source CC Connor C. Data Analyst Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Has most of what you need, missing a lot of extensive options for customization" March 16, 2026 4.0 Overall we like Qualtrics and it gives us everything we need to draft and send out surveys for our company Pros I like how it is optimized for creating normal surveys. For most of your projects, you don’t need to spend extra time on things that should be easy because they made it easy to do those things. Cons There are not enough customization options for some of our projects, and when using personalized links, the survey expires a week or so after being opened with no ability to change the duration before it expires Review Source SH Shir H. Social Media Manager Pharmaceuticals Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Simplify data collection from target groups directly" December 29, 2024 5.0 Qualtrics XM made setting up and publishing surveys easier and faster, enabling us to expand our marketing research deployment and continuously feed the database. Pros Qualtrics XM provides us with excellent services. We can create any survey, I loved the ease of integrating it into social media ads or promotional messages across all communication channels. I loved how Qualtrics XM makes the questions within the form clear and organized and enables respondents to navigate and record answers easily. I loved its ability to screen respondents and ensure they are real and from within the target group. Cons There are no negatives at all. With Qualtrics XM everything is easy and data collection is straightforward. Review Source Renee L. HR Coordinator Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Fantastic tool" August 7, 2025 5.0 Overall XM makes collecting and visualizing data super easy. The interface makes it easy to construct complex questions that have many layers to them; with all the features and options they provide users, surveys are far easier to execute than with other products. Pros XM has a great offering of features with their tool, I think they lead the industry with this. The data visualization options and the survey builder makes composing complex surveys and sharing the data a breeze. Cons The only negative I can really say is the cost for XM. It's a fantastic tool and I understand that the subscription price is a reflection of that. Review Source AA Amr A. Senior Lecturer in Marketing Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent survey tool" March 24, 2025 5.0 Pros It's user friendly and very easy to set up surveys Cons The expert review score can sometime be confusing Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Research Associate Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "It's the best - but the future is concerning" October 5, 2019 5.0 Qualtrics is excellent all around, and has been the standard survey software among academic researchers for years for a reason. However, while the base platform is great, the organization is far from perfect. I had numerous issues deploying the offline app. After months of contacting support -- and getting zero explanation as to why my account, which was enabled for the offline app, could not access the app. After months of bothering them, they did something -- didn't tell me what -- and it worked. Their support team, while friendly, wasn't knowledgeable about their survey app and couldn't connect me with someone who was. Their best information regarding app crashes was that "the development team says it's buggy." Not super helpful considering the additional fee for the app. The timing of these experiences with support -- the same time that the Qualtrics company was sold, and immediately refocused toward the "customer experience" and CRM products they make -- has me concerned about the future of Qualtrics for academic research. Pros Building and deploying a basic survey in Qualtrics is very easy. Every step of the process, from writing questions to survey launch and distribution will be simple as long as you allow it to be. For advanced users, Qualtrics offers a number of methods for building in complex survey logic (such as skip patterns, display patterns, and survey flow mapping). Additionally, the built-in question types can be modified using JavaScript, allowing advanced users to ensure that the question "works" exactly as designed, without compromise. Sending the survey is exceedingly easy as long as you've got someone to send it to. Followups with those who haven't respond can be automated through their email system as well. Exporting data to a variety of formats upon survey completion is simple. As long as you've done everything right within Qualtrics, the quality of the data you export should be pretty high. Cons The data analysis options offered within Qualtrics are weak, as are the data cleaning options. This is a non-issue for smaller, or non-scientific surveys. However, for most of its existence Qualtrics has been licensed by universities worldwide specifically for use in scientific studies. Less experienced researchers may be misled by these lacking tools and produce inaccurate analyses based on them. The Qualtrics survey platform also offers an offline application -- for an additional fee -- which is extremely weak. It does not work with many functions that a survey used primarily online may include, such as the "request response" option. It's also prone to crashing for no clear reason. Users dealing with protected health information (i.e. those who need to be HIPAA compliant) should consider other options. While Qualtrics does consider themselves "self-assessed" to be HIPAA compliant, they do not enter business associate agreements with clients (so, they do not take liability for the protection of the data); other platforms, such as SurveyMonkey, offer full HIPAA compliance with a BAA. Review Source ES Eshwar S. UX Researcher Research Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Best of the best but super pricey" January 5, 2023 5.0 Superb tool for conducting market, academic, behavioural, or business research. Very feature rich and easy to learn. Overall great experience but just super pricey for all but the bigger companies. Pros Feature-rich and easy to learn. Integrates with lots of software given it's the industry standard. UI is really nice to use and offers tools for analysis too. Cons Extremely pricey. They offer discounts if you ask, especially for smaller companies. But the plans shut out a lot of people. Free trial is pretty good giving you all features but time limited; so maybe do this to start with.Also the plans are odd; all plans except the top (very pricey custom quote plan) limit you to 1000 responses per year, so even with a really nice plan you are quite limited response wise. Particularly bad if you run frequent surveys. Review Source SC Sriram C. Associate Professor Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Qualtrics is a Fantastic Product " March 3, 2022 5.0 It is a fantastic product that is continuing to evolve over time. Pros Qualtrics is the tool I depend on for collecting data from target sample groups. The Qualitrics app is easy to use for building surveys, collecting data, and interpreting results using automatically generated reports, with graphs and tables. Cons I have zero complaints about Qualtrics. The app is great for maintaining privacy and security of user data and for managing personal identifying information. Review Source KS Kayla S. Campaign Manager Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great tool for staff, students, etc.!" June 16, 2023 5.0 I've used qualtrics in many ways. For simple things like a door decorating contest among staff, a chili cook off registration, sign up for skydiving club, gathering information for students i advised, event registration and more. The trigger email is my favorite thing qualtrics has so follow up can be automated! Being able to copy qualtrics or edit ones you use frequently to fit your current needs are amazing, so you dont always have to start from scratch! Pros Qualtrics made it easy for me to gather information on students I advised. I could ask them questions related to their testing and if it was completed, what courses they were interested in taking, etc. and it made it so I didn't have to manually look all this info up (although I'd check their answers when we met!). It also made it possible for visits and events to have students sign themselves up as well as guests with a trigger email going to both of them from our team letting them know who to contact with further questions and attach a map of our campus! Cons No cons, this system is one of the best that our institution has spent money on! It helps save time and make things efficient when we need to gather info! Review Source Ryan O. Software Architect Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Qualtrics Gets It" January 18, 2019 5.0 We leverage the Qualtrics Research Platform to drive key decisions for the overall direction of our organization, assess the needs and well being of those associated to our organization and on and on. We truly cover the full spectrum of use with this product and it has been absolutely critical in the decision making process and in helping us drive forward in our work. Qualtrics simply has it together. Pros Qualtrics is well run from top to bottom. Their products are excellent, intuitive and are capable of supporting customers of all variations. Unlike so many companies that get one thing right and then drop the ball in another area, Qualtrics excels at every level. Their software is excellent, their integration support and API is excellent and their support is hands down the absolute best in the tech industry. There's really no question in my mind why they were gobbled up before they could complete their IPO. Cons Because I typically have to deal with low level interaction with Qualtrics (APIs etc.) my ONLY complaint is that they have a lot of undocumented features. However, their support is THE BEST and they always help me through finding those features when I need them. Review Source Chad Ian P. Personnel Psychologist Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent Platform" April 26, 2018 5.0 In this day and age, having mobile-friendly administration of data is key. This massive organization uses many data collection products/vendors, but Qualtrics is the only that I know of which works mobile administration into processes so easily Pros The analytics options for performing certain data manipulations in the system before exporting data makes developing reports a very quick process. I love the chat-based support function as well. Cons I find it odd that when removing (decrementing) cases from data sets, as I always do to remove preview data, that the time that the system takes to update numbers is rather long. I chatted with product support one day and was given a work-around (i.e., add an embedded data survey block in survey flows), but is still odd. Review Source Debbie L. Professor Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great survey software!" December 28, 2020 5.0 Overall, I found that Qualtrics is a solid survey program. It can do just about anything that you would want in a survey program. It has plenty of features and it is easy to use. If you get stuck on something, their customer service will walk you through it. They also have a lot of great literature for you to find the answer yourself. Pros This is probably the most popular survey program on the market and for good reasons. It has the ability to design surveys with a ton of options for questions -- multiple choice, short answer, longer answer. You can randomize questions, organize the survey by blocks, use decision trees. It is easy to use and the customer service is amazing. They will also recruit panels of participants for you. It is easy to download the data into excel or other usable formats. Cons I haven't found much yet. I am still learning how to use it, but most things are pretty intuitive. The one thing I would say that I don't like is that even though they will recruit panels of participants for you that match particular characteristics, they are relatively pricey. Review Source MN Mark N. Analytics Manager Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A powerful survey tool with useful bolt-ons" May 11, 2023 4.0 Performed admirably as a survey tool but reporting and analysis didn't meet our needs and cost ultimately led us to switch platform again. Pros Comprehensive survey build and management tool Cons Reporting and analysis tools not as easy to use / powerful Reason for choosing XM for Strategy & Research cost/feature comparison Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Mechanical Engineer Semiconductors Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Qualtrics surveys offer a good experience." March 1, 2023 5.0 Pros It’s easy to take surveys on this site. There is a large variety of options. Cons I don’t have any issues with this software. It rarely, if ever, crashes. Review Source BM Brigitte M. Clinical Trainee Mental Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Qualtrics CoreXM " July 27, 2023 4.0 I used Qualtircs for over one year now. Coming from a REDCap background, I miss some of the program's features compared to QUaltircs. Qualtrics is not as intuitive for the new user and takes twice as long to build and test surveys. The reports feature of Qualitrics has multiple glitches and is not as viewer-friendly when trying to look at data within the platform. Pros I do not like this program. I do not have anything about it. Cons I do not like the survey creation format of this product. It is not intuitive, and there is no easy way to make mass changes. It takes multiple steps to update the values of the multiple-choice options manually. Switched from [RedCap](https://www.capterra.com/p/234600/RedCap/) I switched employers. Review Source Nate C. Assistant Accounting Professor Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Essential Tool in the Research Arsenal" October 3, 2018 5.0 Pros I am a research-active academic who frequently conducts research via both survey and experimental methods. Qualtrics is an essential tool in this process. I found the learning curve to be gentle, allowing me--without prior experience or time spent reading detailed instruction--to quickly assemble surveys with various if/then branches and other formatting needs without much time or trouble. The same is true of my experimental work, with the Qualtrics platform allowing me to easily randomly assign participants to different versions of my surveys. Despite the ease of use, the platform also allows some pretty powerful customization using custom coding and formatting. I've taken advantage of these additional advanced features in the past and have been impressed. As opposed to some other competitors in this space, I also like the Qualtrics branding stays in the background when participants follow the link. Custom branding is allowed so that your own branding can appear on the landing pages. Cons I know it may not be particularly helpful, but in my experience using this platform I have yet to find something that I dislike. Review Source HA Henri A. Analytics Market Manager Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Research at it's best" December 26, 2023 4.0 Analysis of user adoption of software applications in a variety of fields Pros Easy way to insights and good quality of graphical visualization and wealth of statistical constructs Cons Missing graphical représentations in dashboards Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Program Specialist Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Must have software for research questionnaires and more" September 9, 2019 5.0 I use this software for a variety of purposes, online questionnaires, registration for events, and submitting applications are a few examples. I've found it really useful and helps me get my job done more effectively. Pros Qualtrics is intuitive, organizes results for you, and helps with data analysis. You can export data in many different formats, and create just about any type of questionnaire imaginable. I embed videos, use skip and display logic, and you can email people their surveys from the software. Cons There are only a few things that we have found the software incapable of doing, and they have been rather minor. We did request that the company add them to their "to-do" list. Customer support is really helpful when you run into problems. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Assistant Professor of Food Marketing Higher Education Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best in Class survey software" August 14, 2018 5.0 My overall experience has been positive. Pros This software is very user-friendly and powerful. It can do almost anything you like. In addition, the support is very helpful in terms of letting you know how to get some of the advanced features working. Cons Working collaboratively at the same time with a colleague is not possible. 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