Cipher settings and plans
Choose how deeply Cipher checks a survey, switch individual checks on or off, and see what each plan includes.
Cipher is on for every new survey, at Tier 3 by default. You can change the tier, switch off individual checks, or turn Cipher off for a survey.
Open the Cipher settings
- Open your survey and go to Settings. From the editor, open Quick settings and click All project settings.
- Choose the Cipher tab.
- Make your changes and click Save changes.
Settings apply to responses submitted after you save.
Turn Cipher on or off
Under Enable Cipher, the Enable fraud detection on this survey box controls whether Cipher scores this survey's responses.
When Cipher is off, responses are not scored. Responses can still carry flags from the invisible bot check and from any integrity settings you switched on (see below).
Choose an intelligence level
Under Intelligence level, pick one of five tiers. Each tier includes everything in the tiers below it.
| Tier | What it adds | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 · Basic | Essential fraud detection with behavioral heuristics. | Free |
| Tier 2 · Standard | Adds device fingerprinting and automation detection. | Free |
| Tier 3 · Enhanced | Adds light AI analysis for content quality. | Pro |
| Tier 4 · Advanced | Full behavioral analysis and IP reputation. | Max |
| Tier 5 · Maximum | Every check, with full AI analysis. | Max |
Tiers your plan doesn't include show a lock. If a survey is set to a tier above your plan, it runs at the highest tier your plan allows, and the settings page tells you which one, for example "Your plan runs this survey at Tier 2. Upgrade to use Tier 3."
Credits
Tiers 1 and 2 are free and show Free in the tier list. From Tier 3 up, each response Cipher checks costs credits, shown in the tier list: 0.2 a response at Tier 3, 1 at Tier 4 and 5 at Tier 5. Higher tiers cost more because they run deeper analysis.
The cost comes out of your plan's Cipher credits first (500 a month on Pro, 2,000 on Max), then your general credits. If both run out, responses are still collected and checked with the free tier 1 and 2 checks until your credits refill. See Credits.
What each plan includes
- Free: Cipher tiers 1 and 2 on every response, including bot and automation detection, speeding and timing checks, and the invisible bot check.
- Pro: up to Tier 3, which adds AI-text detection and writing-process checks on written answers.
- Max: all five tiers, which add VPN, proxy and Tor detection, plus checks across responses such as shared devices, shared answers and coordinated timing.
Switch individual checks on or off
Under Individual signals, you can see every check, grouped into Behavioral, Device, Content, Network and AI signals, with a count of how many are active.
- Untick a check to stop it running on this survey.
- Use Select all and Deselect all for everything at once, or the buttons next to each group for that group.
- Checks that your tier doesn't include are greyed out and say which tier they run from, for example "Runs from Tier 4."
You can only switch checks off within your tier. Changing the tier resets your individual choices to that tier's defaults.
Tell Cipher what a question expects
Cipher reads each question and the text around it to decide whether respondents should leave the page or paste their answer there. You can set this yourself when it gets a question wrong.
Select the question in the editor, open the Validation tab and find Cipher:
- Leaving the page. Choose Expected when the question sends people to another site or app. Time away on that question won't count against them.
- Pasting. Choose Expected when people should paste their answer, such as a link or a prompt. The answer is still checked for AI-written text.
Auto lets Cipher decide from the wording. Not expected tells Cipher to judge the question normally even if its wording suggests otherwise.
You can also ask Surbee's AI in the editor's chat, for example "People will leave the page on question 4 to try the app" or "Question 6 asks them to paste a link."
This setting only affects the question it is on. Leaving or pasting elsewhere in the survey is still checked.
Collect behavioral data
In the editor, open Quick settings and the Responses tab. The Collect behavioral data switch (time per question, mouse trails, fraud signals) is on by default.
When you switch it off:
- Surbee stops recording how the form is used in the respondent's browser: timing, mouse, keystroke rhythm and attention.
- Surbee doesn't keep data on people who leave without finishing, so Where people left in the Funnel view has nothing to show.
- Respondents don't see the integrity notice at the bottom of the form.
- Cipher has far less to work with, so its scores are much less informative.
Integrity settings
The Integrity tab in Quick settings has extra controls that sit alongside Cipher:
- Randomize answer options.
- Flag copy and paste. Pasting is allowed but recorded on the response as a flag. The source site cannot be captured.
- Block VPNs and proxies. Refuses submissions from known VPN, proxy, Tor and datacenter connections. If the lookup is unavailable, everyone is let through.
- Flag IP changes. Flags responses whose network changes mid-session.
- Detect collusion. Flags respondents with similar answers and synchronised timing.
- Network restriction. Limits responses to the networks you list, one IP address or range per line, for example a campus network.