Short answer
If your survey tells you what people think and you need to know why, changing survey software will not help much. The alternative to look for is a different method. There are five practical ones:
- conversations you run yourself;
- a group discussion;
- a conversational AI survey;
- watching the work or the journey directly;
- reading what you already have, such as support tickets, reviews and cancellation notes.
Choose by the question you are trying to answer, the number of people involved and the time you have. If you want to try the third option now, ask your own question.
Why people look for an alternative to surveys
Most searches for a survey alternative, or for an alternative to a large platform such as Qualtrics or SurveyMonkey, come from one of four frustrations:
- The score does not explain itself. Satisfaction is 4.1 out of 5 and renewals are falling anyway.
- Response rates keep dropping. People have filled in too many forms and seen too little change.
- The comment box is thin. One line per person, and nobody to ask what they meant.
- The tool is bigger than the need. A platform designed for enterprise research programmes is a lot of set-up for one question to twelve clients.
The first three are limits of the form itself. Any tool that sends fixed questions will meet them. Only the fourth is solved by picking a lighter survey product.
Five alternatives, compared
| Method | Good at | Costs you | Works less well when |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-to-one calls | Depth, trust, delicate subjects | An hour per person plus scheduling and notes | You need more than a handful, or people hold back in front of you |
| Group discussion | Hearing people react to each other | Finding a time, and a good facilitator | One voice dominates, or the subject is personal |
| Conversational AI survey | Reasons and examples from ten to a few dozen people, quickly | Little: writing the question and reading the findings | You need a statistic for a large population |
| Direct observation | What people do, as opposed to what they say | Time on site | The behaviour is rare or happens in private |
| Existing records | Volume, and no extra ask of anyone | Sorting and reading | Records say what happened and seldom why |
A conversational AI survey sits between the form and the call. Each person answers one open question in writing, and the AI asks follow-up questions about what they said. What a conversational AI survey is explains the method in more detail.
Choosing by the question you have
| Your question sounds like | Start with |
|---|---|
| "How many of our customers are satisfied?" | A classic survey |
| "Has engagement moved since last year?" | A classic survey, same questions as last year |
| "Why do people stop after the first order?" | Conversations, by AI or by phone |
| "What do clients value that we do not charge for?" | Conversations |
| "Where does the process slow down?" | Observation, then conversations |
| "What are people complaining about most?" | Existing records, then conversations on the top theme |
A rule of thumb: questions that begin with "how many" or "how much" belong in a survey. Questions that begin with "why", "what happens when" or "what would make" belong in a conversation.
An alternative to the annual engagement survey
Annual and pulse surveys draw the most complaints, so they deserve their own note. They are useful for tracking. Their weakness is what happens next: a team scores 3 out of 5 on workload, a manager is asked for an action plan, and the plan is written from guesses.
A lighter sequence works better:
- Keep a short survey for the trend, a few questions only.
- Take the one or two lowest scores.
- Ask the teams behind them an open question, such as "What makes a normal week harder than it needs to be?"
- Act on what several people describe independently.
You can also skip step one. If you already know the subject that worries you, go straight to the question.
A fictional example: a 4.1 that hid a renewal problem
A fictional design agency surveys its 14 clients every year. Overall satisfaction comes back at 4.1 out of 5, about the same as the year before. Three clients do not renew.
The founder invites nine clients, including two who left, to a short written conversation with one question: "What do you value most about working with us, and what do you put up with?"
- Seven of the nine say the weekly call is where decisions get made.
- Five say the final report is read once and filed.
- Four mention that the person on the call changed during the year, and that they had to explain their business again.
- Both former clients are among those four.
Nothing in the satisfaction score pointed at continuity of the contact person. Nine conversations did, and the agency can test a simple change: one named lead per client for the full year.
The example is invented, and nine people cannot prove a cause. They can show you where to look, which the score could not.
What you give up, and what you keep
Moving from a survey to conversations has a cost. Be clear about it before you choose.
You give up:
- a single figure that fits on a dashboard;
- comparisons between large groups;
- the claim that the result represents everyone.
You keep or gain:
- the reasons behind an answer, in the person's words;
- answers you did not think to offer as options;
- a count of how many people described each point, so the findings are more than anecdotes.
Reporting matters here. "Seven of nine clients described the weekly call as the main value" is accurate. "Most clients prefer calls" stretches it. Reading findings honestly covers the difference.
Where Lontra fits
Lontra is the conversational option on this list. You write your question in a sentence, review the topics it proposes, and send each person a private link. The conversation is in writing, works on a phone and needs no account. Lontra follows up on what people say, then shows you the findings, how many people described each one, where they disagree and the quotes behind them. It is free to try with 10 conversations, and pricing for larger studies is public.
It is a poor fit if you need a tracked metric across thousands of respondents, complex survey logic or a panel of strangers to recruit from. Lontra talks to people you can already reach. Participants are told before they start that you will read their answers.
Try it on one score
Take a result that has not changed for two rounds. Turn it into a question that starts with "why" or "what happens when". Ask it, invite ten people, and compare what you learn with what the last survey gave you.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good alternative to a survey?
- It depends on the question. For how many or how much, keep the survey. For why, use conversations: calls you run yourself, a group discussion, or a conversational AI survey that follows up on each answer.
- What can I use in place of an annual engagement survey?
- Keep a few questions for the trend if you need one, then ask the teams behind the lowest scores an open question about their week. If you already know the subject, go straight to the open question.
- Is Lontra an alternative to Qualtrics or SurveyMonkey?
- Only for part of the job. Lontra holds conversations with people you invite and reports reasons, counts and quotes. It does not do large-scale tracked surveys, complex survey logic or panel recruitment.