Yakforms Review, Pricing & Features

Learn about Yakforms, a free, self-hostable open-source form and survey builder that grew out of Framasoft's Framaforms project, plus its features and license.

Category
Forms
Pricing
open-source, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2016
Web AppOpen SourceSelf-Hosted

What Is Yakforms

Yakforms is a free, open-source form and survey builder that grew out of Framaforms, a tool released in 2016 by the French non-profit Framasoft as part of its campaign to offer alternatives to mainstream tech services like Google Forms.

After maintaining Framaforms for about five years, Framasoft returned stewardship of the software to its community, renaming it Yakforms to separate the open-source project from the framaforms.org hosted service it continued to run.

Built on Drupal 7 and licensed under GPL 2.0, Yakforms can be self-hosted by any organization that wants full ownership of its form and survey data instead of relying on a third-party SaaS provider.

Key Features

Users can build forms with common field types such as text fields, text areas, checkboxes, and radio buttons, then publish them through a shareable web link or by embedding the form directly on a website.

Collected responses can be reviewed through built-in analytics with basic graphs and visualizations, and exported as CSV or spreadsheet files for deeper analysis elsewhere.

Because Yakforms is self-hostable, organizations can install their own private instance to keep full control of respondent data, which has made it popular with public institutions and privacy-focused nonprofits.

Pricing

Yakforms is entirely free software with no paid tiers, subscriptions, or licensing fees, since it is released under the GPL 2.0 open-source license.

Any cost associated with using Yakforms comes from self-hosting infrastructure, such as server and maintenance costs, rather than from the software itself.

Community-run public instances are also available for organizations that prefer not to self-host, though data control is stronger when running a private installation.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Completely free with no subscription or usage fees
  • Self-hostable, giving organizations full control over respondent data
  • Simple, no-code form-building interface suited to non-technical users
  • Open-source and community-maintained, reducing vendor lock-in risk
  • Proven track record through public institution and nonprofit adoption

Cons

  • Built on Drupal 7, an aging technology stack compared to modern form builders
  • No dedicated company behind it, so support depends on community responsiveness
  • Interface and feature set are more basic than commercial tools like Typeform
  • Self-hosting requires server administration knowledge

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Yakforms free?

Yes, Yakforms is completely free and open-source under the GPL 2.0 license.

What is the relationship between Yakforms and Framaforms?

Yakforms is the renamed continuation of the Framaforms software, originally released by Framasoft in 2016 and handed back to the community around 2020 to 2021.

Can I self-host Yakforms?

Yes, organizations can install their own private Yakforms instance on their own server for full control over data.

What technology is Yakforms built on?

Yakforms is built on Drupal 7, using the Webform and Form Builder Drupal modules.

Can I export form responses?

Yes, responses can be exported as CSV or spreadsheet files.

Who maintains Yakforms?

Yakforms is maintained by a volunteer community rather than a single company, after Framasoft handed the project over.

Is Yakforms available in English?

Yes, while the project originated in the French-speaking Framasoft community, Yakforms is available in English as well.

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