# Open Data Kit review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Open-source mobile and web data collection Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Open Data Kit (ODK) is open-source software for building forms and collecting data online and offline, with an Android app and a web app. The software is free to self-host, and ODK Cloud is a paid, fully hosted version run by its creators. Forms support photos, GPS locations, skip logic, calculations and multiple languages. - **Category:** Forms & Surveys - **Made by:** Get ODK Inc. - **Website:** https://getodk.org - **Runs on:** Web, Android - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you have no one to run a server, as the free route is self-hosted. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Open Data Kit has a free plan, and paid plans start at $199 per month, billed yearly ($249 billed monthly). - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** ODK is open-source software you can self-host and support yourself for free; hosted ODK Cloud is paid. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Self-hosted ODK | $0 | Open-source software you install, host and support yourself; the hosted version is ODK Cloud. | | Standard | $199 per month, billed yearly ($249 billed monthly) | 1 active project, unlimited forms and users, 10K monthly submissions, email support within 3 business days. | | Professional | $499 per month, billed yearly ($599 billed monthly) | 25K monthly submissions, Entities to flow data between forms, API access, email support within 1 business day. | | Enterprise | Custom | 10+ active projects, 100K+ monthly submissions, single sign-on, custom domain, uptime SLA, phone support. | Read from https://getodk.org on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Open Data Kit before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Save up to 20% when paying yearly** (Annual discount): ODK Cloud's page offers up to 20% off when paying yearly: Standard is $199 a month yearly against $249 monthly. Source: https://getodk.org ## Key features - **Forms with rich questions:** Include photos, GPS locations, skip logic, calculations, external datasets and multiple languages. - **Online and offline:** Use the Android app or the web app; data syncs automatically when an internet connection is found. - **Analysis connections:** Download data or connect Excel, Power BI, Python and R to build dashboards and automations. - **Hosted or self-hosted:** Run the open-source software yourself, or pick ODK Cloud with storage in the US, Europe or India. - **Entities:** Entities, on Professional and above, carry data between forms and users for follow-up workflows. ## Good for - Field teams and researchers who need forms that work offline - Technical teams that want to self-host for free - Organizations that want a hosted option from the software's creators ## Worth knowing - ODK Collect is an Android app; the docs list Android 5 or above as the minimum. - ODK Cloud limits active projects and monthly submissions; extra capacity is a Basic add-on at $199 a month yearly or $249 monthly. - API access and Entities need Professional or higher. - ODK Cloud lists a full refund if you are unhappy within 14 days of payment. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Open Data Kit is open source: you can host it yourself for free or pay for ODK Cloud. The mobile app is Android only. ODK Cloud starts at $199 a month, and API access and Entities need Professional. - **Value for money: C.** The software is free only if you host it yourself, which needs a server. ODK Cloud starts at $199 a month on yearly billing. - **Free plan and trial: B.** Self-hosted ODK is free with no response caps, and you support yourself. It needs a server and technical setup. - **Features: C.** Varied question types, offline use, analysis links and Entities. The Collect app is Android only, and API access and Entities need Professional. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record. Self-hosting means installing and running a server, and forms are written in a spreadsheet format. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web app plus an Android app (Android 5 or above), with Excel, Power BI, Python and R links. No iPhone app. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Open Data Kit's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among form and survey tools - Open Data Kit's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 26 of the 148 other form and survey tools we grade, and level with 29. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 111 of 148) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $199 a month, against a middle price of $20 for the category: 103 of the 114 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. 105 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/forms ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** A form at its plainest is questions, a button and a table of answers. You could make the core of Open Data Kit for yourself: forms and surveys. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $2,388 a year. Open Data Kit is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could make: Forms and surveys: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: A real app for Android. Something home-made would be a web page. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Excel, Power BI and Python among them, and has an API. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Excel, Power BI, Python, R **Tags:** Open source, Self-hostable, Works offline, Forms, Surveys, Public API ## Alternatives - [KoboToolbox](https://toolgpa.com/tools/kobotoolbox): Open-source data collection for field surveys, online or offline. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kobotoolbox-vs-open-data-kit) - [Enketo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/enketo): Open-source web forms that work offline. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/enketo-vs-open-data-kit) - [Epicollect5](https://toolgpa.com/tools/epicollect5): Free mobile and web data collection from Oxford University. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/epicollect5-vs-open-data-kit) - [SurveyCTO](https://toolgpa.com/tools/surveycto): Offline-capable data collection for field research. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/open-data-kit-vs-surveycto) - [Ona](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ona): Mobile data collection with forms, maps and charts. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ona-vs-open-data-kit) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://getodk.org - https://docs.getodk.org/collect-intro/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/open-data-kit Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).