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Create surveys

When authoring forms, you can use the Survey123 component that suits your needs. You can author surveys in any of the following:

  • Survey123 Studio

  • The web designer

  • Survey123 Connect

Survey123 Studio and Survey123 Connect are desktop apps for Windows. These apps give you direct access to the underlying XLSForm technology upon which Survey123 is built, providing you the greatest flexibility and control over your survey design. They are ideal if you need to build highly complex surveys, manage multiple versions of a survey, or reuse surveys for different clients by making small adjustments. Managing surveys as XLSForm files can help you stay organized, especially if you work with many projects.

Survey123 Connect is the long-standing desktop app with the most comprehensive set of features. Survey123 Studio is the next generation desktop app, offering a modern experience but does not yet include all the same functionality as Survey123 Connect. For more information, see the functionality matrix.

Survey123 Connect is still available and can be installed side by side with Survey123 Studio. There may be scenarios in which a survey author may need to use Survey123 Connect or the web designer alongside Survey123 Studio.

The web designer is ideal for creating surveys when the primary audience will use those forms in the web app. Drag-and-drop form design and wizard-style condition and calculation settings provide guidance to authors in creating the most common types of survey questions and behavior. The web designer's tight integration with the other elements of the Survey123 website can provide a single location for form creation and management.

The table of contents to the side of this page groups information that is common to all survey authoring apps as well as information specific to each app.

  • The Question types and XLSForm content describes functionality that is common to all surveys. Use this information to learn the details about the questions that can be added to a survey and how they can be configured.

  • The Survey123 Studio, the web designer, and Survey123 Connect content describes how to use each of the apps to create surveys.