The best customer survey software for a local shop is the one whose free plan doesn't cap what you'll actually use: responses per month, a vendor badge on your form, and photo uploads. Google Forms, Tally, Fillout, and Qwenvo all start free, but they stop in different places. Here is what each one limits and which limits matter at a counter.
What a shop needs from a survey tool
You need a short form customers can fill out on their phone, puls an easy way to read what comes back. A salon in Jaipur asking "How was your visit?" and a plumber in Ohio asking "Did we fix it?" need the same thing.
That rules out most of what's on a pricing page. Branching logic, dozens of question types, and team seat counts rarely decide it for a shop. A handful of caps do.
If you have no website, that's fine. A survey is just a link, and you can send it on WhatsApp, post it on Instagram, or put it on your Google Business Profile.
Use the free customer feedback form
What the free plans cap
Here is where each free plan stops, based on each vendor's own pricing page in late October 2026. Plans change, so check before you commit.
| Tool | What you get free | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Google Forms | Free with a Google account, quiz grading | No built-in payments, limited design and branding, respondents must sign in with Google to upload files |
| Tally | Unlimited forms and submissions, logic, payments, signatures | Uploads capped at 10 MB per file. Removing branding, custom domains, partial submissions, and visit analytics need Pro at $29/month |
| Fillout | Unlimited forms and seats, 1,000 responses a month | Removing branding needs Pro at $49/month ($40 yearly). Custom domain and partial submissions need Business at $89/month |
| Typeform | A free plan with limited responses (no number stated) | Basic is $39/month with 100 responses a month and one user. Removing branding starts at Plus, $79/month |
| Jotform | Starter plan with form and submission limits | Jotform branding stays until you pay |
| Qwenvo | Everything, $0 | Fair use policy at around 50,000 submissions a month |
Which limits matter for a shop
Response caps matter less than the marketing suggests. A cake shop collecting a few dozen reviews a week is far from Fillout's 1,000 a month. But 100 a month on Typeform's Basic plan is easy to hit if you hand out a QR code to every customer.
The badge matters more. When customer scans a code at your counter and sees another company's logo on the form, it feels like a stranger's survey. Tally, Typeform, and Jotform remove branding only on paid plans, and on Fillout it takes Pro.
A custom domain is a nice touch. A link like forms.yourshop.com looks lie yours and is easier to trust. It costs extra on Tally and Fillout.
Partial submissions tell you who started your form and quit at question three. That helps you decide whether the form is too long. Tally and Fillout both put it behind a paid plan.
File uploads matter if you ask for photos. A home baker in Pune who wants reference pictures for custom cakes should check Tally's 10 MB per file limit against what her customers actually send. On Google Forms, every customer needs a Google account to upload at all, and many won't bother.
Some limits you can ignore. Seat counts don't matter if you run the shop alone, and a cap on question types won't bite when your survey has four questions.
Where Qwenvo fits
Qwenvo is a completely free form builder that our team builds. Every feature is on for every account, with no card and no trial. Things that sit behind paid plans elsewhere are free here:
- No badge (a toggle in form Settings)
- A custom domain on a subdomin you own
- Teammates, so your manager or cousin can help
- Partial submissions
- Visit and drop-off analytics
- AI triage that tags each response with a category, priority, and suggested reply
- Custom design and CSS
- 180+ templates, including a customer feedback form and a CSAT survey
Now the caveats. Qwenvo launched in October 2026, so there are few independent reviews yet. It is hosted in the United States, while Tally is hosted in Europe, which may matter if your customers care about that. If two people edit the same form at the same moment, the last save wins. There is also no mobile app, though the forms themselves work fine in a phone browser.
Tally is a strong pick if you want a tool with a big community behind it, and its free plan has no cap on submissions. If you ever sell through your survey, say deposits or pre-orders, Tally is the cheaper option, because it adds no fee on top of Stripe. Qwenvo takes payments through PayPal only and keeps 1% on top of PayPal's own fee. For a deeper comparison, see our roundup of free survey tools.
Set up a customer survey in 15 minutes
- Start from the customer feedback form template, or the CSAT survey if you want a single satisfaction score.
- Cut it to four or five questions. A rating, one open question ("What could we do better?"), and an optional phone number are plenty.
- Open Settings and switch off the Qwenvo branding. Turn on email notifications so each response lands in your inbox.
- Add a custom domain if you want one. Add a subdomain on the Domains page, create the CNAME and TXT records, and click Verify.
- Share the link on WhatsApp and Instagram, or turn it into a QR code for the counter. Qwenvo has no built-in QR generator, so paste the lnk into any free QR tool.
- Check responses once a week and answer the unhappy ones yourself.
Use the local business review template
A weekly routine that takes ten minutes
A survey only pays off if someone reads it. Pick one slot a week and stick to it.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Monday morning | Read last week's responses and reply to anyone who left a phone number |
| Midweek | Check the drop-off view and cut the question where people quit |
| Friday | Send the link to the customers you served that week |
Questions owners ask
Is Google Forms enough for a small shop?
Often, yes. It's free, familiar, and quiz grading works well. The weak spots are design, branding, and uploads, since customers have to sign in with Google to send a file. If you only want ratings and comments, it does the job.
Can I get alerted when a customer is unhappy?
With Qwenvo's AI triage, every response gets a priority (low, normal, high, or urgent) and a sentiment. You can set routing rules that email up to five addresses, so an urgent complaint reaches you or your manager right away. A monthly AI usage allowance applies per account.
Can I run the survey in Hindi or another language?
Qwenvo supports 45+ languages, including right-to-left ones. One limit to know about: the per-submission PDF export cannot draw some scripts such as Devanagari and Arabic, or emoji. CSV and XLSX exports handle them fine.
How long should a customer survey be?
Four or five questions is a good ceiling for a shop. People answer at the counter or on the bus home, so every extra question costs you responses. Use the drop-off analytics to see where people quit, then cut that question.
Your next step
Open the customer feedback template, delete everything beyond four questions, and send the link to your next five customers on WhatsApp.