Quick Comparison
| Alternative | Best for | Price (Oct 2026) | Encryption and privacy | Based in | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tally | Sign-ups, feedback, everyday surveys | Free (unlimited, fair use); Pro about $24/month | Data stored in the EU | Belgium | No |
| CryptPad Forms | Sensitive answers | Free on public instances; cryptpad.fr plans €5–€100/month | End-to-end encrypted | France | Yes (AGPL) |
| Framaforms | Free, non-profit option | Free | Run by a non-profit | France | Yes |
| Nextcloud Forms | Organizations already on Nextcloud | Free (self-hosted) | Your own server | Wherever your server is | Yes (AGPL) |
| LimeSurvey / Formbricks | Large or research surveys | Free to self-host; paid cloud plans | Self-hosting possible | Self-host anywhere | Yes |
Which One Fits Your Form
Forms do very different jobs, so match the tool to what you’re collecting.
- Event sign-ups, RSVPs, contact forms, customer feedback. Tally. It’s quick to build and feels the most like Google Forms.
- Health details, HR complaints, anonymous staff surveys, anything about children. CryptPad Forms. If the data would hurt someone if it leaked, it should be encrypted so only you can read it.
- A school, club or association with no budget. Framaforms, or CryptPad Forms on its free plan.
- A company or nonprofit that already runs Nextcloud. Nextcloud Forms keeps responses on your own server next to your files.
- Academic research or long, complex surveys. LimeSurvey or Formbricks. Both can be self-hosted.
Before you rebuild, list the question types you rely on, such as file uploads, grids, quizzes with automatic grading, response limits and a closing date. Then try them in your chosen tool with a test form. That five-minute check avoids surprises after you’ve sent the new link out.
The Alternatives, One by One
Tally
A form builder from a Belgian company, with data stored in the EU. It’s the most Google-Forms-like option we found, and the fastest to learn.
- Pick it for a generous free plan with unlimited forms and submissions (fair use), and an editor anyone can learn in minutes.
- A possible deal-breaker is that it’s closed source and not end-to-end encrypted, so Tally can read your responses. The free plan’s “unlimited” comes with a fair-use policy.
- Prices (Oct 2026) start at free, with Pro about $24/month and Business about $74/month.
CryptPad Forms
Part of CryptPad, the end-to-end encrypted office suite made by XWiki SAS in France. Forms sit next to CryptPad’s documents, spreadsheets and slides.
- Pick it because responses are encrypted, so even the people running the server can’t read them. It’s open source (AGPL), and an organization can host its own copy.
- Possible deal-breakers are that it’s one app inside a wider suite and that CryptPad can feel slow with big files. You can try it without an account, but create one so you don’t lose access to your forms.
- It’s free on cryptpad.fr and other public instances. Paid cryptpad.fr plans run from €5 to €100/month for more storage (Oct 2026).
Framaforms
A free form service from Framasoft, the French non-profit behind the “Dégooglisons Internet” campaign. It’s built on the open-source Drupal platform, and it was still up and running in October 2026.
- Pick it because it’s free, has no business model built on your data, and is run by people who have campaigned against Google’s dominance for over a decade.
- Possible deal-breakers are that responses aren’t end-to-end encrypted and that a donation-funded non-profit can’t promise any service forever. Framasoft has cut back the number of services it runs over the years, so keep your own CSV exports and don’t treat it as permanent storage.
- It costs nothing, and Framasoft is funded mostly by donations.
Nextcloud Forms
A forms app for Nextcloud, the self-hosted file and collaboration platform. It’s free and open source (AGPL).
- Pick it because responses never leave your server, and your team already knows the Nextcloud login.
- A possible deal-breaker is that it only makes sense if you already run Nextcloud, or plan to for other reasons (see Google Drive alternatives).
LimeSurvey and Formbricks
Open-source survey platforms for heavy-duty work. Both can be self-hosted for free, and both sell hosted cloud plans.
- Pick them because they’re built for serious surveys, the kind researchers and larger organizations run.
- Possible deal-breakers are more setup and more to learn than a simple form. They’re overkill for a bake-sale sign-up.
Privacy, GDPR and Encryption in Plain Words
People often mix up three different things when they compare form tools.
- Where the data is stored. Tally stores data in the EU, and CryptPad and Framaforms are French. If you collect answers from people in Europe, EU storage takes one question off your GDPR checklist. It doesn’t make the provider unable to read the data.
- Who can read the responses. With CryptPad Forms, responses are end-to-end encrypted, so only you can read them. With Tally, Framaforms and Google Forms, the service itself can.
- What you collect. Whatever tool you use, you’re responsible for the answers. Ask only for what you need, tell people what it’s for, and delete responses when you’re done with them.
Google Forms fails the first two tests for many people. Responses sit in the owner’s Google account, and nothing is end-to-end encrypted.
How to Switch From Google Forms
Google Takeout won’t help here. Forms don’t convert into anything another tool can import, so you save the responses and rebuild the questions.
Save Your Responses
- Open your form in Google Forms and click Responses at the top.
- Click the More icon (three dots), then Download responses (.csv).
- Open the CSV and check it. Sort by the timestamp column if you need the responses in order.
- Repeat for every form you want to keep, and store the files somewhere you control.
If your form already sends responses to a spreadsheet through Link to Sheets, the same data is in that Sheet. You can download it from Sheets too, and our Google Sheets alternatives page covers where to take the spreadsheet next. If you shared the form with collaborators, they may also have access to that spreadsheet.
Rebuild the Form
- Open the form in edit mode and copy every question, its answer options and any help text into a plain text file. Note which questions are required.
- Create a new form in your chosen tool and paste the questions in. In Tally, paste the whole list, then turn each line into the field type you need.
- Recreate the details people forget, such as the confirmation message, email notifications, a response limit or closing date, and any branching.
- Submit a test response yourself and check that it arrives the way you expect.
- Replace the old link everywhere it appears, including your website, email signatures, newsletters and printed QR codes. If the form is embedded in a Google Sites page, our Google Sites alternatives page covers moving the site as well.
- Stop the old Google Form from accepting responses (the toggle is on its Responses tab), and add a note pointing to the new form.
If you build the new form into your own website, you can keep spam out without Google’s reCAPTCHA. Our reCAPTCHA alternatives page compares privacy-friendly options such as ALTCHA.
Forms are often a small piece of a bigger Google footprint. To see what else depends on your Google account, run our free scan. It works on files you download, and nothing is uploaded.
What You Lose
Partial is fine. Many people switch new forms to Tally or CryptPad straight away and let the old Google Forms run until their current round of responses is in.