
KoboToolbox
Humanitarian-grade data collection platform for surveys in offline and low-bandwidth settings
Overview
KoboToolbox is a free open-source tool for field data collection built for humanitarian organizations, researchers, and development practitioners. It supports XLSForm standard for form design, offline data collection on Android via KoboCollect, and a web interface for form building and data analysis. Originally developed for use in conflict and disaster zones, it handles unreliable connectivity gracefully and is deployed by organizations like UNHCR and MSF at massive scale.
Where it falls short of SurveyMonkey
- Self-hosted setup requires coordinating multiple Docker services (kobocat, kpi, enketo)
- Less polished UI compared to commercial alternatives
- Limited built-in statistical analysis; data export to external tools is the expected workflow
We list the gaps honestly so you can decide if the trade-off is worth owning your data.
Tags
Claim this listing to keep it accurate, add a deploy template, or feature it on relevant pages.
Embed the KoboToolbox difficulty badge in your README — it links back here.
[](https://openreplace.com/kobotoolbox)Similar open-source projects
Other self-hostable tools in the same space worth comparing.
Open-source survey and experience management platform with in-app and link surveys
Open-source conversational form builder for creating beautiful interactive forms
Open-source form and data management platform with drag-and-drop builder and REST API
Mature open-source survey tool with advanced question types and quotas