#1★ TOP PICK
Formbricks
Self-hosted surveys built for privacy-first teams.
90
OPEN SOURCEOpen core (AGPL-3.0 core; enterprise features commercially licensed)SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Formbricks is an open survey and experience platform designed to be self-hosted: link surveys, in-app surveys triggered by user behaviour, and website surveys, with responses resting on your own infrastructure. That last point is the reason to choose it — for GDPR-sensitive work, form responses never leaving your servers turns a compliance conversation into a non-event. Around 12.7k stars, actively developed, with a paid cloud for teams who would rather not host. The licence is an open core with some enterprise features commercially licensed, so check which side of the line the feature you need falls on.
Strengths
- +Responses never leave your infrastructure — the compliance answer
- +In-app and website surveys, not just link forms
- +No per-response pricing; a successful survey costs nothing extra
- +Modern interface and active development
Trade-offs
- −Some enterprise features are commercially licensed
- −You now run a service, with the upgrades and backups that implies
- −Smaller integration catalogue than Typeform
- −Conversational polish is close but not identical
Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud and enterprise tiers. #2
LimeSurvey
Twenty years of serious survey methodology, GPL, self-hosted.
93
OPEN SOURCEGPL-2.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
LimeSurvey is the survey tool academic and research institutions actually use, and it shows: dozens of question types, quotas, randomisation, complex conditional logic, multilingual surveys and statistical export. It is not trying to be beautiful and it is not conversational — it is trying to be methodologically sound, which is a different and sometimes more important thing. GPL-2.0, self-hosted, with two decades of development behind it. Choose it when the survey is research rather than marketing.
Strengths
- +Most methodologically serious tool here — quotas, randomisation, complex logic
- +Excellent multilingual support
- +Twenty years of development; trusted in academic research
- +GPL-2.0 with a complete self-host path
Trade-offs
- −Interface is dated and the learning curve is real
- −Nothing conversational about it
- −PHP and MySQL to operate
- −Overkill for a contact form or a short marketing survey
Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud hosting available. #3
Typebot
The conversational format, open source, with real branching.
91
OPEN SOURCEAGPL-3.0SELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
Typebot is the closest match to what people actually pay Typeform for: conversational forms built on a visual flow canvas, with branching, conditional logic, variables and integrations. Because it is a flow builder rather than a question list, complex branching is easier to construct here than in Typeform. Self-hostable with Docker and available as a paid cloud. It is the pick when the conversational feel is the thing you are buying and you would rather not buy it per response.
Strengths
- +Closest replication of the Typeform conversational experience
- +Flow-canvas builder handles complex branching better than Typeform
- +Variables, conditions and integrations built in
- +Self-hosts on Docker; no per-response charge
Trade-offs
- −AGPL-3.0 strong copyleft — read it before modifying and redistributing
- −Smaller community than Formbricks
- −Fewer templates and prebuilt integrations
- −Self-hosting is your responsibility to run and update
Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud plans available. #4
Tally
Free for unlimited responses — and that is the whole pitch.
40
SOURCE-AVAILABLEProprietary (hosted service)
Tally is a hosted form builder that works like a text document: you type, and form fields appear where you need them. Its distinguishing feature is commercial rather than technical — unlimited forms and unlimited responses on the free tier, with payment only for branding removal and advanced features. For a team whose objection to Typeform is purely the per-response bill, Tally removes it entirely without any self-hosting. It is proprietary and hosted, so the data-residency objection is unaddressed.
Strengths
- +Unlimited responses free — removes Typeform's core cost problem outright
- +Document-style builder is genuinely fast to use
- +Good conditional logic and payment collection on the free tier
- +Nothing to host or maintain
Trade-offs
- −Proprietary and hosted — data residency unchanged
- −Free tier is a business decision that can change
- −Less polished than Typeform on presentation
- −No self-hosting at any price
Free with unlimited forms and responses. Tally Pro around $29/month for branding removal and advanced features. #5
Google Forms
Free, adequate, and the honest answer more often than people admit.
22
SOURCE-AVAILABLEProprietary (free with a Google account)
Google Forms collects responses into a spreadsheet, handles basic logic, and costs nothing. It is not conversational, the design options are thin, and it looks like what it is. Included because a significant share of Typeform subscriptions exist for forms that Google Forms would have handled perfectly — an internal survey, an event signup, a feedback box — and recommending an open alternative for a job that needs no tool at all would be padding this page rather than helping. If your form has fewer than ten questions and no brand requirement, start here.
Strengths
- +Free, unlimited, and already available to nearly everyone
- +Responses land directly in Sheets for analysis
- +Zero learning curve — most people have used it already
- +Fine for internal surveys, signups and feedback
Trade-offs
- −Google holds the responses, which is the objection this page exists for
- −Dated presentation with limited branding
- −Basic conditional logic only
- −Not appropriate for anything customer-facing where design matters
Free with any Google account. Included with Workspace.