The main open source option people compare with Tally is Formbricks. Its Community Edition is released under AGPLv3 and is free to self-host. It is built for product and experience surveys rather than general forms. If you do not need to run your own servers, a free hosted builder is quicker.
What "open source" buys you
- Control of where data lives. You choose the server, the region and the backups.
- Inspectable code. Your security team can read what runs.
- No vendor on your critical path. If a service changes its plans, you keep running what you have.
What it costs you is time. Self-hosting means installing, updating, monitoring and backing up the app yourself, and fixing it when it breaks at an awkward hour.
Formbricks in brief
- Open source Community Edition under AGPLv3, free to self-host.
- Built for product and experience surveys, so it suits product feedback more than an event RSVP.
- Paid licences are quoted rather than listed; check Formbricks' pricing page.
When self-hosting is worth it
- A policy or contract says the data must sit on infrastructure you control.
- You already run servers and someone owns updates and backups.
- Your use is survey-shaped (product and experience feedback), which is where Formbricks is aimed.
When a free hosted builder is better
- Nobody on your team wants to be the person who patches the server.
- You need payments, signatures, file uploads, a custom domain and a branded look, today.
- You need the form live in an afternoon.
That is the case for Qwenvo: no paid plans, a document-style editor like Tally's, and every feature on. It is hosted for you, in the United States, and it is not a self-hosted download. Tally Free is hosted in Europe, but its badge removal, domains and teammates are Pro features at $29 a month.
A middle path: keep your own copy of the data
You can use a hosted builder and still hold your data. Send every submission to a destination you control and set a retention rule so the builder does not keep it forever.
- Open the form's Integrations tab and connect Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion or a webhook to your own endpoint.
- In the Settings drawer, turn on data retention to delete submissions after a chosen number of days.
- Export CSV, JSON or XLSX from the Submissions table whenever you need an archive.
The webhook route is described in webhooks. It does not replace full self-hosting, but it covers many real compliance questions.
Where the honest trade-off sits
A hosted builder can never match the control of your own server. If open source and self-hosting are hard requirements, Formbricks is the better answer. Qwenvo is also brand new and has few reviews.
Questions to ask before you self-host
- Who will install updates, and how quickly?
- Where do backups go, and has anyone tested a restore?
- Who is on call if the form is down on a launch day?
- How will email notifications be sent from your server?
- What is the real cost of the server and the person's time, compared with a free hosted builder?
If you can answer all five confidently, self-hosting is a strong choice. If a question draws a blank, a hosted builder such as the one described in a form builder with no paid plans is the lower-effort path.
A note on licences
AGPLv3 is a strong copyleft licence, and it has conditions if you modify and offer the software over a network. If your company would customise the code, have someone read the licence before you commit. Formbricks also sells paid licences with quoted prices, which suggests the Community Edition is not the only route; ask them what you would get for your case.
Questions people ask
Is there an open source alternative to Tally?
Formbricks has an open source Community Edition under AGPLv3. It is aimed at product and experience surveys.
How is Formbricks different from Tally?
Formbricks is built for product and experience surveys and can be self-hosted. Tally is a general-purpose form builder, built and hosted in Europe.
Is Qwenvo self-hosted?
No. It is a hosted service, with servers in the United States.
See the other options on Tally alternatives. Tally prices and plan details were checked on tally.so on 2026-10-29.
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