Qualtrics licenses its experience management (XM) platform as hosted subscriptions rather than installed software. Its own contracts FAQ describes the offering as off-the-shelf Cloud Services sold by subscription and hosted in a multi-tenant data center, delivered to all customers on the same code and infrastructure.[1] The commercial unit is therefore not a server, core or installation but a set of Usage Metrics and volumes written into an Order Form, and a software asset manager’s task is to track consumption of those volumes against what was bought.
Contract stack
Qualtrics describes one set of foundational terms, the General Terms and Conditions (GTC), that applies to every Cloud Service, professional service and research service it sells, with product-specific terms layered on top.[2] The GTC defines the Agreement as an Order Form plus the documents incorporated into it, and defines a Cloud Service as a distinct, subscription-based, hosted and operated on-demand solution provided under an Order Form.[3] The Order Form carries the commercial specifics: the product or service bought, the Subscription Term and the Usage Metrics.[1]
The Product Terms are a separate set of documents published on the Qualtrics Legal Hub and referenced from the Order Form, either in a Cloud Services Exhibit or in a service-specific exhibit.[4] They exist for XM Discover, the EX use cases, Research Services, Training and Certification, Frontline Digital and Digital Experience Analytics, XM for Customer Experience, XM for Employee Experience, XM for Market Research, Edge Cloud, the Service Level Agreement, Experience Agents and the Success Packages.[4] Each of these documents states that Qualtrics may modify them by posting a revised version, and that continued use after the effective date binds the customer to the modified terms.[5] The GTC itself carries the same posting mechanism, while a valid negotiated agreement on the same subject takes precedence unless the parties agree otherwise for a specific Order Form.[2] The contract and metrics article covers these mechanics in depth.
Product lines
The Product Terms name the current product lines. The customer experience line is XM for Customer Experience, formerly XM for Customer Frontlines, with Frontline Care, Frontline Digital and Frontline Locations plus premium add-ons.[6] The employee experience line is XM for Employee Experience, formerly XM for People Teams, built around an Employee Experience Suite of People Engage, People Lifecycle and Continuous Employee Listening.[7] The market research line is the XM for Market Research Suite of Strategic Brand and Strategic Research.[8] Qualtrics also publishes terms for a stand-alone XM Discover product,[9] for Edge Cloud (Edge Audiences and Edge Instant Insights)[10] and for Experience Agents.[11] Customers may meet older names, such as CustomerXM, EmployeeXM or Strategy and Research, in existing contracts; the current Product Terms use the names above, and mapping a legacy Order Form line to a current product should be confirmed against the Order Form itself.
| Line | Main units | Article |
|---|---|---|
| XM for Customer Experience | Interaction, Response, Session (DXA) | Customer experience |
| XM for Employee Experience | Employees, Subjects, Interactions | Employee experience |
| XM Discover | Feedback Record, Access and Loading Limits | Customer experience |
| XM for Market Research, Edge, Experience Agents | Response, Credit, Agent Engagement | Edge, research and agents |
Usage Metrics
The GTC defines a Usage Metric as the standard of measurement for determining permitted use and calculating fees for a Cloud Service as set forth in an Order Form.[3] Qualtrics publishes common definitions in its Usage Metric Definitions document, which covers Employees, Page View, Response, SMS Text and User.[5] A Response is a completed or partially completed survey response collected into the Cloud Service, with two exclusions, and video-feedback minutes count as additional Responses.[5] A User is any individual who can access the Cloud Service to edit, view or manage Customer Data, including indirect access through a portal, API or automated process, and an inactive User whose data is retained keeps counting against the User limit.[5] Other units, such as Interactions, Feedback Records, Credits and Agent Engagements, are defined inside the relevant Product Terms.
Usage is limited to the Usage Metrics and volumes in the Order Form, and Qualtrics may monitor use to the extent necessary to verify compliance.[3] The acceptable use policy also forbids using the Cloud Service in a way that circumvents Usage Metrics or Product Terms.[3] The GTC contains no on-site software audit clause of the kind found in installed-software agreements; verification is by monitoring the hosted service, and the audit right in the data processing exhibit is limited to Qualtrics’ control environment and security practices relevant to personal data.[3]
Entitlement limits and overage
Order Forms are non-cancellable and fees are non-refundable except as the Agreement provides, and the customer may not reduce Usage Metrics during the Subscription Term.[3] The FAQ confirms that there is no termination for convenience right.[1] When a customer on a consumption-based pricing model exceeds purchased volumes, the excess is an overage; its unit price comes from the Order Form or from Qualtrics overage pricing at the time, rises in later years with the underlying unit price, and is billed monthly after the end of the calendar month of consumption.[12] Qualtrics states that it will provide functionality for the customer to monitor its own use and view consumption against contracted limits.[12] Some products use hard limits instead of billing: Edge Audiences caps early use of Credits, and XM Discover deletes the oldest data when its Access Limit is reached.[10][6]
Administrators can also set per-user limits in the platform. The Allowed Responses permission specifies the total number of responses a user may gather within the organization’s license year, excluding Preview, Test and Imported responses, and similar limits exist for SMS and WhatsApp credits and outgoing emails.[13] These are administrative controls and not contractual units, but they are the practical way to spread a Response budget across a license year.
Support, service levels and services
The Service Level Agreement commits to 99.93% availability and gives fee credits of 5%, 7.5% or 10% of one twelfth of annual fees depending on monthly downtime.[14] Success Packages (Core, Guided and Advanced) add certifications, enterprise support and success management for up to five program administrators and co-term with the Cloud Service.[15] Research Services are professional services projects with a minimum fee.[16] The success packages and services article details these.
Hosting and data
The FAQ states that customers select a data center region from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, and that Qualtrics deletes remaining data on the hosting servers, including backups, within six months after expiration unless law requires retention.[1] The GTC provides that customers may export Customer Data in a standard format during the Subscription Term.[3] Qualtrics also uses anonymized and aggregated information about use of the Cloud Service to create analyses, which do not include personal data.[3]
Practical points for asset managers
- Inventory the Order Form lines, not product names: each line names its own Usage Metric and volume.
- Distinguish contractual units (Responses, Interactions, Employees) from administrative per-user limits.
- Track the first six months of a term separately: pre-existing survey responses imported then are not counted, and historical data loads in Discover carry their own allowance.[5][6]
- Confirm which Product Terms version applies; the documents are modified by posting and carry their own dates.[4]
- Assignment of the Agreement requires Qualtrics’ prior written consent, which matters in mergers and divestitures.[3]
Out of scope
Qualtrics publishes no price list in the documents cited here, so list prices and part numbers are not recorded. Third-party panel and survey providers, partner resale terms, the data processing exhibit’s technical measures, and support-site feature behavior beyond the permission limits cited above are not covered.