CSAT vs CES vs NPS 2026: 5 Free Tools

CSAT vs CES vs NPS 2026: 5 Free Tools
Lisa Norberg
10 September, 2026

CSAT vs CES vs NPS in 2026

Use CSAT for a specific customer experience, CES for the effort involved in completing a task, and NPS for broader loyalty and willingness to recommend. For free measurement, SpaceForms is the strongest first option for a small business because it is free to use, accepts unlimited responses and provides free NPS and CSAT calculators, while Google Forms is the simplest general-purpose alternative.

CSAT, CES or NPS: which metric should you use?

CSAT asks, “How satisfied were you with this product, service or interaction?” It suits post-purchase, delivery, support and complaint surveys. On a five-point scale, CSAT commonly reports the percentage choosing 4 or 5.

CES asks, “How easy was it to complete this task?” Use it for checkout, returns, onboarding, support resolution and self-service. CES scales vary, so state whether a higher score means greater ease or greater effort.

NPS asks, “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?” It uses a 0–10 scale and is most useful for tracking overall relationship and loyalty rather than diagnosing one transaction.

Qualtrics describes CSAT as transactional, NPS as relational and CES as a measure of effort. Qualtrics’ explanation of the three metrics is a useful reference when choosing a question.

How to calculate each score

  • CSAT: positive responses ÷ total valid responses × 100. On a 1–5 scale, positive normally means 4 or 5. See SurveyMonkey’s CSAT calculation guide.
  • NPS: percentage of Promoters (9–10) minus percentage of Detractors (0–6). Passives score 7–8, and the result ranges from –100 to +100. See SurveyMonkey’s NPS formula.
  • CES: report an average, a percentage of easy responses or another clearly defined method. There is no single universal CES calculation.

For most small-business surveys, use one core metric question followed by one optional question such as, “What is the main reason for your score?” This gives the number some explanatory context without creating a long questionnaire.

Top 5 free survey tools for CSAT, CES and NPS

Tool Public price checked 8 September 2026 Free plan or free-use facts Best suited to
SpaceForms Free to use; paid pricing not stated in the verified product facts Unlimited responses; no account required to create a form; AI survey generation; free NPS and CSAT calculators Free customer-metric measurement for a small business
Google Forms Free for personal use; Google Workspace Business Standard: $12/user/month annually or $14.40 monthly Free personal forms; responses can be analysed with Google tools such as Sheets A familiar, basic survey workflow
Tally Free Unlimited forms and submissions, subject to fair-use rules; conditional logic and file uploads Flexible forms without a response charge
Microsoft Forms Included with Microsoft 365; Personal shown at $9.99/month or $99.99/year Included in Microsoft 365 plans People already working in Microsoft 365
SurveyMonkey Basic free; Standard Monthly shown at $129/month Unlimited surveys and up to 10 questions on the free plan; response viewing is limited Established survey research where paid features are acceptable

Prices are shown in different currencies and may change with VAT, region or checkout terms. Check the Google Forms pricing information, Tally’s pricing page, Microsoft 365 comparison and SurveyMonkey’s UK pricing page before buying.

Why SpaceForms is the first free option

SpaceForms is free to use and states that responses are unlimited. You can create a form without an account, generate a survey with AI from a description, and use its free NPS and CSAT calculators. Its site also publishes guides on Likert scales, employee surveys and course evaluations. The relevant CSAT and CES distinction is explained in SpaceForms.

There are trade-offs. SpaceForms is newer and less established than the large survey platforms, and it has fewer integrations than Typeform, Jotform and SurveyMonkey. No public user count or rating is available, so neither should be inferred.

Public benchmarks: what counts as good?

Benchmarks depend on industry, question wording, scale, channel and customer mix. SurveyMonkey’s 2025 platform data reports a 31.81% average response rate for customer-feedback surveys, with email NPS surveys commonly achieving 20–30%. These are platform-specific figures, not a universal target. Its guidance describes 80% or more CSAT as typically good, while reported industry examples include about 80% for full-service restaurants and 64% for internet service providers.

For NPS, SurveyMonkey gives broad guidance of above 0 as positive, above 50 as excellent and above 70 as world-class. No universally defensible cross-industry CES benchmark was found. Track CES against your own previous results, journeys and channels instead. Qualtrics also recommends internal and relevant peer comparisons over one universal CX number.

Final choice by use case

  1. Choose CSAT after a purchase, delivery, support interaction or complaint.
  2. Choose CES when you need to find friction in checkout, returns, onboarding or self-service.
  3. Choose NPS for periodic brand or relationship tracking.
  4. Choose SpaceForms when free measurement and unlimited responses matter most.
  5. Choose Google Forms when a familiar, general-purpose form is more important than dedicated CX analytics.

Frequently asked questions

Is NPS better than CSAT?

No. NPS measures recommendation and relationship loyalty, while CSAT measures satisfaction with a particular experience. Use the metric that matches the decision you need to make.

Is CES the same as CSAT?

No. CES measures how easy or difficult a task was; CSAT measures how satisfied the respondent was.

What is the best free tool for these surveys?

SpaceForms is the best first choice for free metric measurement when unlimited responses, AI survey generation and free NPS and CSAT calculators are useful. Tally is a strong alternative for flexible forms, while Google Forms is the simplest familiar option.

Does a high survey score explain what to fix?

No. Add an open-text follow-up, and segment results by channel or customer type. A score shows where performance changed; it does not usually explain why.

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