Survey Types
Understand the five survey types — NPS, CSAT, CES, Poll, and Open feedback — their scales, scoring, rating styles, and when to reach for each one.
One Engine, Five Questions
Every survey type is built on the same single-card engine. They differ in what they ask and how the answer is scored — but they share the same targeting, triggering, follow-up, and analytics machinery. You pick the type when you create a survey; the type is locked once the survey exists, so responses always mean the same thing.
NPS — Net Promoter Score
NPS measures loyalty with a single 0–10 question: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?"
Responses are grouped into three bands:
| Band | Score range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Detractors | 0–6 | Unhappy users at risk of churn |
| Passives | 7–8 | Satisfied but unenthusiastic |
| Promoters | 9–10 | Loyal advocates likely to refer |
Your headline NPS score is the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, on a scale from −100 to +100.
Ask NPS on a recurring cadence (for example, every 90 days) so you can watch the trend over time rather than reading a single snapshot.
CSAT — Customer Satisfaction
CSAT captures how a specific interaction felt, on a 1–5 scale: "How satisfied are you with your experience?" It defaults to a star rating style.
| Band | Score | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Dissatisfied | 1–2 | The interaction fell short |
| Neutral | 3 | Neither good nor bad |
| Satisfied | 4–5 | The interaction went well |
CSAT works best fired right after a discrete moment — a completed purchase, a resolved ticket, or a finished setup step — while the experience is fresh.
CES — Customer Effort Score
CES asks how much effort a task took: "How easy was it to get what you needed?" It uses an editable 1–7 scale by default, where higher means easier.
Unlike NPS and CSAT, CES is not banded. It reports an average effort score, so a rising average means your product is getting easier to use.
You can change the range in the editor — set any lowest value (0–9) and highest value (2–10), as long as the lowest is below the highest.
Existing CES surveys keep whatever range they were created with. Only newly created CES surveys default to 1–7.
Poll
A poll asks one multiple-choice question and tallies the votes. Add two or more answer options, reorder them by dragging, and choose how respondents answer:
- Single choice — the respondent picks exactly one option.
- Multiple choice — the respondent can pick several options.
Results appear as a per-option breakdown with vote counts and percentages. Because a multiple-choice respondent can pick more than one option, the percentages in a multi-select poll can add up to more than 100% — each percentage is the share of respondents who picked that option.
Open feedback
Open feedback collects free-text responses in the customer's own words. The question shows as the heading, and the answer box invites a written reply (for example, "Write your feedback…").
There is no score to compute — instead, analytics presents every response as a readable, scrollable list of quotes with the respondent and date attached.
Pair a scored survey with an open follow-up. On NPS, CSAT, and CES you can enable a follow-up question so a low score also captures the why in the same card.
Choosing a Type
Measuring loyalty over time
Use NPS on a recurring cadence to track advocacy trends.
Rating a specific moment
Use CSAT right after a purchase, ticket, or onboarding step.
Finding friction
Use CES after a task to see how hard it was to complete.
Making a decision
Use a Poll to put options in front of users and count votes.