What Is the Difference Between a Poll and a Survey

Ella Levenbach By Ella Levenbach Updated: November 8, 2023 Updated: Nov 8, 2023

We often get asked by customers what is the difference between a poll and a survey. So we thought it’s worth writing a post on the main differences.

A poll is used to ask one multiple choice question. The voters can choose one or more of the predefined answers. You can also allow voters to suggest their own answers. Polls have dozens of features related to voting such as blocking repeat voting based on different mechanisms, automatically closing the poll at a predefined time, and many more. Polls can be configured to show or hide the result after voting (showing the results is the default, but you can change it).

Here is an example of a poll:

For more information, refer to the poll product page.

For more examples, refer to the poll example & template page.

Ready to start? Create a Poll

A Survey on the other hand, lets you ask multiple questions of different types. You can ask both open-ended questions (e.g. requesting a text reply) and close-ended questions (e.g. multiple-choice questions). Surveys are often used for getting feedback & insights but can be used in many other ways as well. With surveys, only the survey creator can see the results. The survey includes a lot of advanced features such as skip /branch logic that lets you determine what is asked next based on the previous answer, email notifications on submissions, and many more.

Here is an example of a survey:

For more information, refer to the survey product page.

For more examples, refer to the survey example & template page.

Ready to start? Create a Survey

Both polls and surveys can be used for gathering contact information, as you can integrate a lead form in both.