Form.io vs SurveyJS (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Form.io if

• Fits if your developers need forms inside your own application and its data
• Makes sense if you must host data in your own infrastructure

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a free plan, because none exists
• Pricey if you only need a few forms: the lowest hosted plan is $300 a month
• Tight if you need several environments, since each needs its own server license
• Watch out: the hosted project may not collect personal or sensitive data
• Not for you if you want a no-code builder without developers

Pick SurveyJS if

• Fits if you are a developer who wants forms inside your own product and your data on your own servers
• Works for teams that can pay once per developer and renew updates yearly

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want a ready-made form page to send out, as there isn't one
• Skip it if nobody on your team writes code
• Pricey if you need the builder: $559 per developer, and updates after the first 12 months cost $229 a year
• Watch out: the dashboard and PDF generator need the $1,019 plan
• Watch out: licences are per developer, and the top plan is sold through sales

Form.io

• There is no free plan; the hosted SaaS project is $300 a month after the 30-day trial, and the self-hosted options start higher.
• Self-hosted minimum is one project plus one API server environment, $660 a month; each extra environment needs its own server license.
• The SaaS project must not hold personal or sensitive data, per the pricing page, and lacks some security features.
• Add-ons per month: Reporting UI $660, accessibility $495, multi-tenancy $330, embedded builder $660. Five developer licenses are $2,640 a year.

SurveyJS

• This is a developer toolkit, not a hosted form service: there is no ready-made form-sharing site, so someone has to build and host the app around it.
• The Survey Creator, Dashboard and PDF Generator are paid; the free Essential plan covers only the Form Library.
• Licenses are per developer, with a volume discount of up to 35% when buying 2 or more of the same product, and renewals are for updates and support only.
• A 90-day money-back guarantee applies to developer licenses, which are perpetual.

Form.io

JSON-driven forms

Forms are defined in JSON, rendered by the open-source formio.js library and stored through the platform's API.

Self-hosted containers

The platform ships as Docker containers that run in the customer's own environments and databases.

PDF forms

Optional PDF servers display PDF forms and export submissions to PDF.

Multi-tenancy and embedded builder

Paid add-ons support tenant-separated forms and data, and an embedded form builder inside your own application.

Security options

API Plus adds audit logging, field-level encryption and data separation for compliance needs.

SurveyJS

JSON-driven form library

Forms are defined as JSON and rendered with native support for React, Angular and Vue 3, or with plain JavaScript.

Survey Creator

A self-hosted, white-labeled drag-and-drop builder with a graphical interface for conditional logic and branching, embedded in the buyer's own app.

Dashboard

Charts and interactive reports over collected data, with export to Excel, CSV and PDF.

PDF Generator

Creates editable PDF forms and exports submissions to PDF, with a company logo in the header or footer.

Data on your servers

The vendor says all data stays on the customer's own servers and works with any server and database.

Quizzes and multi-user filling

Scored quizzes, multi-page forms and multi-user form filling in the Form Library; multi-user editing is offered to Enterprise customers.

Form.io

• SaaS Enterprise Project$300

  per month, hosted on portal.form.io

  One project with unlimited forms and developers, 1M submissions a month, 25 PDF-first forms and 1,000 PDF downloads. No PII; some security features missing.

• Enterprise Level Project$330

  per month per project; at least one required

  Unlimited forms, resources, developers, form builders and submissions, with a self-hosted developer portal.

• API Server$330

  per month per environment

  One server environment with unlimited API calls and submissions. An API Server or API Plus Server is required for each environment.

• API Plus Server$660

  per month per environment

  Adds audit logging, submission data separation, field-level encryption and container security scanning.

• PDF Server$330

  per month per environment

  Optional. Unlimited PDF submission downloads. The PDF Plus Server is $660 per month and adds uploads and a template designer.

SurveyJS

• Essential$0

  Open-source Form Library for React, Angular, Vue 3 or plain JavaScript, with multi-page forms, quizzes and unlimited forms and submissions.

• Basic$559

  once per developer, first 12 months of updates included

  Adds Survey Creator: self-hosted, white-labeled drag-and-drop builder with unlimited creators and a conditional logic GUI. Renewal: $229 per 12 months.

• Pro$1019

  once per developer, first 12 months of updates included

  Everything in Basic plus the Dashboard (charts, interactive reports, Excel, CSV and PDF export), PDF Generator and the UI Preset Editor. Renewal: $409 per 12 months.

• EnterpriseStarts at $2259

  once per developer; renewal starts at $899

  Developer licenses plus priority support, a technical account manager, priority bug fixes and review sessions. Sold through sales.

Form.io

No public discounts listed.

SurveyJS

• Other savings

  Volume discount on developer licenses

  The pricing page says a volume discount of up to 35% applies when purchasing 2 or more licenses of the same product title.