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Quick answer

To create your first survey, sign up for a free PickFu account and click New survey in the left sidebar to open the survey builder. You’ll add your question, upload your options (text, images, or videos), select your audience, and launch. You can also click Templates in the left sidebar to browse our collection of pre-built surveys for common use cases (this is the fastest way to start surveying!) If you’re new to PickFu, look for the Free daily mini-poll section on your dashboard — many new accounts get a 7-day PickFu+ Lite trial that includes a free 5-person survey every day.

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Ways to create a survey

PickFu offers several paths to build your survey: From a template: Pre-built surveys designed for specific use cases, such as testing product images, book covers, app icons, or ad copy. Templates are typically discounted and get you results faster, but have limited customization options. From scratch with the survey builder: Build a completely custom survey (or a survey asking multiple questions) with full control over question type, audience targeting, and options. This is the best choice if our existing templates don’t fit your needs. With PickFu’s MCP or CLI: Connect PickFu to AI tools like Claude, Cursor, and Notion with our MCP – launch surveys, retrieve results, and more without leaving your existing AI workflows. Or you can run PickFu directly from your terminal with the CLI. See our developer docs for more details and setup instructions. Not sure which to use? Browse the templates first. If you find one that matches your goal, you’ll save time and money. If not, the survey builder gives you complete flexibility.

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How to build a survey from a template

Step 1: Click Templates in the left sidebar to open the template gallery. Step 2: Browse templates by industry, use case, or media type. Select a template that matches your goal. Step 3: Add your options to test (images, text, etc.) and customize your question and audience traits as prompted by the template. Step 4: Preview, pay, and launch your survey. Templates come with preset audience sizes and targeting traits. If you need more control over who sees your survey, use the survey builder instead.

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How to build a survey from scratch

Step 1: Click New survey in the left sidebar to open the survey builder. Step 2: Write your question. Keep it clear and unbiased. Step 3: Choose your question type. You can gather feedback on a single asset or ask respondents to choose between multiple options. Step 4: Add your options (up to 8) – images, videos, URLs, text, or audio files. If you’re uploading images, make sure they have similar aspect ratios so they display well side-by-side. If they don’t match, the survey builder offers to resize them for you. Click Resize all images to normalize the aspect ratios. Step 5: Choose your audience:
  • Basic audience: Get answers from a general population — good for broad surveys.
  • Advanced audience: Define your exact audience with 120+ demographic traits for U.S. audiences (age, gender, income, location, interests, and more) from our verified global panel. Choose between 15-500 respondents.
  • Own audience: Share a link to your survey with your existing customers, email list, or social followers for free.
Step 6: Preview, pay, and launch your survey!

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What happens after you launch your survey?

Once you launch your survey, PickFu starts collecting responses from your chosen audience. Most surveys complete within a few hours. You’ll receive an email notification when results are ready. You can open your results from My surveys in the left sidebar, including written feedback, demographic breakdowns, and AI-powered insights that highlight key themes.

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Frequently asked questions

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Can I edit my survey after launching?

No – you can only edit a survey that’s saved as a draft before you launch (your survey will auto-save as a draft while you’re building it). If you need to edit your survey after it’s been launched, you’ll need to stop the active survey. The credit for any missing responses will be added to your account. You can then duplicate the original survey and edit it before publishing again. (Pro tip: take advantage of our “preview” function to catch mistakes before you launch!)

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What if I can’t find a template that fits?

Click New survey to open the survey builder and create a fully custom survey. You’ll have complete control over the question, options, and audience targeting.

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Where can I find audience targeting options?

In the survey builder, scroll down to the Audience section to see our full list of countries and demographic traits available.

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Do I need to subscribe in order to run a survey?

No – you can create a PickFu account for free (no credit card required) and build and preview your survey for free. You only pay for the surveys you launch to our respondents. You can see the cost of your surveys as you’re building them for full transparency. Learn more how PickFu pricing works.

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Can I create a survey with PickFu’s MCP server or CLI?

Yes. If you want to create surveys from an AI assistant, automation workflow, or terminal, PickFu’s developer tools support programmatic survey creation. See the MCP server docs or CLI docs for setup and usage details.
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