Why Tally beats Google Forms when it comes to survey tools

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.

Google Forms is the drab frock of survey tools. It’s functional, but since its 2008 launch, its features and design have stagnated. Tally is a terrific new form creation tool that lets you create questions as easily as you’d create a Google Doc. Read on for survey ideas and free templates as well as limitations & alternatives. This is based, as always, on my own experimentation.

How Tally stands out

• Free, easy and fast. No complicated menus, toggles or settings. As the gif below shows, you just start typing on a blank page and hit / to add a question from a drop-down list of options. For non-techies, it’s simpler than Typeform, Survey Monkey, or Qualtrics.
• Flexible for any kind of form. I like Tally for feedback surveys. You can also use it to let people:
  – Sponsor something
  – Buy a digital or physical product
  – Take an online quiz
  – RSVP for a party
• Incorporate visuals and text between questions. You can include video, images, or descriptions to create the feel of a readable page that’s less bureaucratic than traditional forms.
• Share form responses with your other tools. Check a box to easily share whatever data your form collects to a Google Sheet, Slack, Airtable, or wherever else you organize your info. This makes analyzing and using the info easy.

Create a Tally form from a template

• Draft your first form in five minutes by starting with sample questions.
• Newsletter reader feedback. Here’s a quick template I made you can use for newsletter feedback. Customize it by adding additional questions. (As Simon Owens reminded me recently, you should be surveying your audience more often).
• Event registration form Invite people to sign up and choose between offerings. It includes replaceable images, and you can break questions up over multiple pages.
• Simple feedback form This lets anyone provide quick input.
• Job application form. Find someone to help out, so you’re not overtaxed. Come to think of it, want to work with me on a project? Fill out my aforementioned survey to join me on something creative, or just reply to this post.
• Pick from the full collection of templates There’s a nice mix of options. If you’ve never made a form before, you’ll be surprised at how quickly and easily you can create one that looks professional.

1. Pick a template relevant to your project2. Click “Use this template”3. Customize the questions4. Grab the link5. Share it via email, on social or on a site6. Return to Tally later to see results

If you’d prefer, start with a blank slate and build from scratch.

Limitations

• No mid-tier subscription. You can create unlimited forms and questions free, and all of the question types are available for free. So most people won’t need to pay a dime. But the pro price of $29/monthly is a big leap if you want premium features. These include collaborating with unlimited teammates, letting people upload files larger than 10mb, and removing Tally branding.
• Limited analysis options. Typeform provides more useful summary and presentation views of form data. Tally’s view of survey results is simple and clear, and you can easily export data to analyze, organize, or present in other tools. You’ll need another tool, though, if you want to slice and dice the responses or segment responses.

Alternatives

• Typeform presents questions one by one, making it less overwhelming for survey respondents than traditional survey tools. It remains superb for many reasons. It’s expensive, though, and the advanced features are complex. Jotform is another premium alternative.
• Coda is for making docs, tables, and managing projects. Now you can use it for forms, too. The advantage of using Coda for forms is that you can populate existing tables with survey responses. No need to import and export data to multiple places. More flexible than Survey Monkey or Microsoft Forms.
• Airtable, like Coda, lets you create forms where the responses pour directly into powerful tables. That means you can sort, filter, analyze, and share the survey results efficiently and professionally. I’ve written about why Airtable is so useful.
• OpinionX is another specialized survey tool I’ve used and recommend for stack rankings. You can ask people to compare a series of paired options to help set priorities.

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.

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