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Should I self-host SurveyMonkey?
SurveyMonkey's $30/mo Advantage plan is the same job Formbricks does for a database's rent — and LimeSurvey exists when you need academic-grade question logic. Response caps stop being a pricing lever.
The math (nothing hidden, including your time)
| SurveyMonkey (Team Advantage, per seat) | $30.00/mo |
| VPS share + storage | −$0.50/mo |
| Your maintenance: 20 min/mo at $20/h | −$6.67/mo |
| Net saving | $22.83/mo |
| Setup: 40 min measured (one-time) | $13.33 |
| Break-even | 0.6 months |
| Markup Index (price ÷ real self-host cost) | 4.2× |
Price: source, checked 2026-08-06. Inputs are stored in git; every number above is derived, never hand-written.
What you lose
- Benchmark datasets and SurveyMonkey's audience-buying panel
- Brand familiarity for external respondents
What you're paying SurveyMonkey for
- surveys
- question logic
- response analysis
- panels & sharing
Ranked alternatives
Research-grade questionnaires on a hostname you own, with branching logic, quotas and no monthly response meter.
Link surveys and in-product feedback on your own domain, with no monthly response cap deciding your bill.
Hardware
Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).
The tested compose file (our evidence, CI-booted)
# Formbricks — surveys; node app + postgres. Sidecar probe, generous first-boot window (migrations).
services:
formbricks:
image: formbricks/formbricks:latest
container_name: formbricks
restart: unless-stopped
depends_on:
formbricks-db:
condition: service_healthy
environment:
WEBAPP_URL: http://localhost:3005
DATABASE_URL: postgresql://formbricks:formbricks@formbricks-db:5432/formbricks
NEXTAUTH_URL: http://localhost:3005
NEXTAUTH_SECRET: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
ENCRYPTION_KEY: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
CRON_SECRET: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
ports:
- "3005:3000"
probe:
image: busybox:stable
network_mode: "service:formbricks"
depends_on:
- formbricks
command: sh -c 'while true; do sleep 30; done'
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "nc -z localhost 3000 || exit 1"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 90
start_period: 60s
formbricks-db:
image: postgres:16-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: formbricks
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: formbricks
POSTGRES_DB: formbricks
volumes:
- formbricks-db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U formbricks"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 12
volumes:
formbricks-db:
Want a guided install instead? caniselfhostit.com/surveymonkey has AI-agent prompts that assume a bare machine — that's their half of the stool, and it's good.
Verification
Protocol v1 · verified by zernonia on 2026-08-10 · setup measured at 40 min · AI assistant: claude-code (allowed & stated)
Full timed log
# SurveyMonkey — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** YES — worth it - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Setup evidence (shared) - This verdict rides on the same replacement verified for `typeform-formbricks` — see `compose/typeform-formbricks.yml` and its log. ## The call SurveyMonkey's $30/mo Advantage plan is the same job Formbricks does for a database's rent — and LimeSurvey exists when you need academic-grade question logic. Response caps stop being a pricing lever.
Verdict history
- 2026-08-10: unscored → YES — Initial verdict: SurveyMonkey's $30/mo Advantage plan is the same job Formbricks does for a database's rent — and LimeSurvey ex.