In-app surveys that fire on user actions
Formbricks is a survey platform written in TypeScript on Next.js and published by Formbricks GmbH. One no-code editor builds link surveys, surveys embedded in an email, and surveys that an SDK opens on a website or inside a web, iOS or Android app. Those in-app surveys fire on something the user does: a page view, a click, the pointer leaving the window, scrolling halfway down, time on a page, or an event sent from your code.
The README calls it "the open source Qualtrics alternative". Version 5 (May 2026) added a directory that pools responses from several surveys, plus dashboards that combine NPS, CSAT and CES across them.
The comparison of open source form and survey tools puts side by side what each tool keeps for its paid tier.
Unlimited responses and surveys when self-hosted
- No-code triggers: actions are set up in the UI, and
formbricks.track()covers events specific to your app. - MIT-licensed SDKs: the code you ship inside your app (the JavaScript, Android and iOS SDKs) is outside the AGPL, which covers the server.
- No response cap when self-hosted: unlimited responses, surveys and users, and the full API.
- Complete questionnaires without a license: conditional logic, multi-language surveys, hidden fields, single-use links, PIN protection, file uploads.
- Free integrations: Slack, Notion, Zapier, n8n, webhooks and email follow-ups.
Proprietary enterprise code ships inside the Docker images
Two licenses share the repository. The core is AGPLv3, the SDKs are MIT, and the apps/web/modules/ee folder is under a proprietary enterprise license. That code ships in the Docker images and unlocks with a key: you may modify it, but not run it in production without a subscription. Keeping your changes to the core private is also a paid right.
Without a license: one workspace, anonymous respondents. Since v6.0 (September 2026), the free edition creates only one workspace per organization, down from three. User identification, contacts and segments are paid, so a free in-app survey reaches whoever triggers the action and never ties an answer to a person. OIDC and SAML SSO, two-factor authentication, teams and access roles, audit logs, spam protection and removing "Powered by Formbricks" are paid too. Self-hosted license pricing is on request. The cloud version, hosted in Frankfurt, is free up to 250 responses a month; the Pro plan costs $74 a month for 2,000 responses.
A Docker install runs seven services. The production Compose file starts the app, PostgreSQL 18 with pgvector, Valkey, SpiceDB, Cube, and the Formbricks Hub API and worker. Cube and Hub have been mandatory since v5 and SpiceDB since v6; when SpiceDB is down, protected operations fail. The docs ask for 4 GB of RAM to evaluate, calling it a floor, and 8 GB for a low-traffic server. LimeSurvey needs only a PHP web server and a SQL database, while the OpnForm Compose file pairs a Laravel API and a Nuxt client with PostgreSQL and Redis.
Eleven minor releases since January, each supported for three months. The run goes from 4.5.0 (January 5, 2026) to 6.0.0 (September 21). Each minor gets fixes for three months, and only the newest one receives non-security fixes, so 6.0 is covered until December 21, 2026; its 6.0.2 patch shipped on October 1. Upgrading to v6 takes a maintenance window, yet the production Compose file pulls the latest image.
Outside code is the exception. The README warns that, for the time being, code contributions are accepted only as an exception, and points people to issues and upvotes instead.