Delighted
Delighted was a simple NPS/CSAT survey tool owned by Qualtrics, now shut down entirely.
On the record
Checkpoint: Refugee customers choosing among Simplesat, Retently, Zonka, Survicate, AskNicely, or Wootric
The call
Delighted no longer exists. Its own owner decided a one-question survey tool couldn't survive next to an AI-native platform, and shut it down.
Delighted asked customers one or two quick questions about satisfaction, then reported back the answers. Any company could build the same thing in a weekend, and bigger platforms like Shopify, Zendesk, and HubSpot started throwing free survey tools into their products anyway. Qualtrics, which owned Delighted, decided the business wasn't worth keeping when it could focus on AI-powered survey platforms instead, so it shut Delighted down on June 30, 2026, and deleted all the data. The smaller competitors trying to catch fleeing Delighted customers (Simplesat, Retently, Zonka, Survicate, AskNicely, Wootric) face the same pressure: unless they find a way to lock customers in with proprietary data, regulatory rules, or tight connections to other business software, they will likely face the same fate within a year or two as AI tools make simple surveys even easier to build.
Why
01
AI pressure: Qualtrics' own AI-native Experience Agents platform. Qualtrics built AI-native survey and feedback tools in-house, then killed Delighted rather than upgrade it, deleting all customer data by July 2026. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: Qualtrics (parent company). The giant that owned Delighted decided its own AI platform made the product redundant and shut it down on June 30, 2026. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. None. Delighted had no proprietary data, no regulatory lock-in, and no system-of-record status to protect it.
What would change this call
Whether Simplesat, Retently, or Zonka report large surges in new signups through 2026. Would show which rival actually absorbed Delighted's customer base.
Whether Qualtrics migrates Delighted refugees into its own flagship CX platform. Would show if the shutdown was mainly a forced upsell strategy.
Whether any survey-tool rival announces proprietary benchmark data or regulated-industry features in 2026. Would show a rival building a moat instead of repeating Delighted's commodity model.
Whether Qualtrics migrates Delighted refugees into its own flagship CX platform. Would show if the shutdown was mainly a forced upsell strategy.
Whether any survey-tool rival announces proprietary benchmark data or regulated-industry features in 2026. Would show a rival building a moat instead of repeating Delighted's commodity model.
Key numbers
- Shut down June 30, 2026, data deleted July 1
- 75,000+ brands claimed pre-shutdown
- Qualtrics AI feature use tripled year over year
Named risks
- Product already fully discontinued with all customer data deleted as of July 2026.
- No proprietary data, regulatory lock-in, or system-of-record status to prevent owner-driven shutdown.
- Reported broken migration/export links complicating customer data recovery before shutdown.
- Category-wide consolidation (Medallia restructuring, InMoment absorption) squeezing standalone CX survey vendors.
- Successor 'Delighted alternative' vendors face same AI-commoditization pressure within 12-18 months.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Qualtrics | losing to | Parent shut Delighted down June 30, 2026 in favor of its own AI-native XM Suite |
| Medallia | contesting | Underwent debt-for-equity restructuring April 2026, wiping ~$5.1B Thoma Bravo equity |
| Jotform | gaining on | Offers AI-prompt survey generation positioned as Delighted alternative as of June 30, 2026 |
| Zonka Feedback, Simplesat, Survicate, AskNicely, Wootric, SurveyMonkey | gaining on | All marketing as 'Delighted alternatives' capturing refugee customers, July 2026 |
| Press Ganey Forsta (absorbed InMoment) | gaining on | Being acquired by Qualtrics for $6.75B, announced October 2025 |
Questions people ask
- Is Delighted still running in 2026?
- No. Qualtrics, its owner, fully shut Delighted down on June 30, 2026, cut customer access on July 1, 2026, and deleted all customer data per the official sunset FAQ published 2026-07-07.
- Who owns Delighted?
- Delighted was acquired by Qualtrics in April 2018 with about 1,500 customers. Qualtrics itself was taken private by Silver Lake and CPP Investments for $12.5B, a deal that closed June 28, 2023.
- Why did Qualtrics shut down Delighted?
- Qualtrics said over one-third of its customer base had already upgraded to its AI features by October 2025 and AI usage had more than tripled year over year, making the standalone Delighted survey tool redundant to its AI-native XM Suite.
- Could AI replace a tool like Delighted?
- It already has. Delighted's one-question survey workflow was commoditized by AI-native builders like Jotform and free bundled surveys in Shopify, Zendesk, and HubSpot, and Qualtrics' own Conversational Feedback AI replaced it internally by March 2026.
- What are the best Delighted alternatives after the shutdown?
- Vendors positioning as Delighted alternatives as of July 2026 include Zonka Feedback, Simplesat, Survicate, AskNicely, Wootric, Retently, SurveyMonkey, and Jotform, though none has a proven durable moat over the others.
- Was Delighted profitable before it shut down?
- No independent financials were ever disclosed; Delighted's revenue was folded into parent Qualtrics' results after the April 2018 acquisition and never reported separately, so standalone profitability cannot be verified.
Timeline
- 2026-07-01Customer access terminated, all Delighted data deleted
- 2026-06-30Delighted fully shut down by Qualtrics
- 2026-03-17Qualtrics announces new AI-powered CX capabilities at X4 2026
- 2025-10-06Qualtrics announces $6.75B acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta
- 2025-07-01Delighted annual renewals stopped, customers forced to monthly billing
- 2025-06-02Qualtrics announces Delighted sunset
- 2023-06-28Qualtrics take-private deal with Silver Lake and CPP Investments closes
- 2018-04-11Qualtrics acquires Delighted, then with roughly 1,500 customers
- 2013-07-30Delighted founded by Caleb Elston, Mark Dodwell, Mike Gowen
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Delighted Sunset FAQ (2026-07-07)
- Delighted Sunset Announcement (2025-06-02)
- Qualtrics Acquires Delighted, Extending Its Market Leadership in Customer Experience (2018-04-11)
- Collect customer feedback in minutes with Delighted (2024-09-11)
- Management and Employees List
- Yobongo Co-Founder Caleb Elston Aims To Reinvent Customer Feedback With New Startup Delighted (2013-07-30)
- Customer feedback system pricing and plans (2024-08-01)
- Pricing Plans and Billing FAQs (2025-09-03)
- Qualtrics to be Acquired by Silver Lake and CPP Investments for $12.5 Billion (2023-03-12)
- Qualtrics to buy healthcare tech firm Press Ganey in $6.75 billion deal (2025-10-06)
- Qualtrics Accelerates AI Leadership and Value with Experience Agents (2025-10-06)
- Qualtrics Announces New CX Capabilities at X4 2026 (2026-03-17)