Formbricks vs LimeSurvey
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted office suites options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Formbricks
Open-source survey and experience management platform
VS
LimeSurvey
Professional open-source survey software
| Feature | Formbricks | LimeSurvey |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Office Suites | Office Suites |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,012 | ★ 3,733 |
| First released | 2022 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Typeform, Google Forms, SurveyMonkey | SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics |
What are Formbricks and LimeSurvey?
Formbricks
Formbricks is an open-source survey platform for running targeted in-app, website, and link surveys. It offers a no-code editor, audience targeting, response analytics, and webhook integrations, and can be self-hosted with Docker.
- Drag-and-drop form builder
- In-app and link surveys
- Response analytics
- Webhooks and integrations
LimeSurvey
LimeSurvey is a free, open-source online survey tool. It enables users to develop and publish surveys, collect responses, and analyze results without programming knowledge.
- Advanced survey logic
- Many question types
- Statistical analysis
- Multilingual surveys
Formbricks vs LimeSurvey: key differences
Formbricks is written in TypeScript, while LimeSurvey is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Formbricks versus GPL-2.0 for LimeSurvey. LimeSurvey is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Formbricks. LimeSurvey is the more established project (first released 2003), while Formbricks arrived in 2022. Formbricks has the considerably larger community, at 13,012 GitHub stars versus 3,733.
Why pick each one
Choose Formbricks if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 13k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Choose LimeSurvey if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Formbricks or LimeSurvey better?
Neither is universally better. Formbricks has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Formbricks and LimeSurvey free and open-source?
Yes. Formbricks is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and LimeSurvey under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Formbricks and LimeSurvey with Docker?
Formbricks: yes. LimeSurvey: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Formbricks or LimeSurvey?
LimeSurvey has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Formbricks. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.