Formbricks vs Google Forms

Formbricks is an open-source survey and experience management platform from a Germany-based team, positioned as a privacy-friendly alternative to Qualtrics and Typeform for product feedback. Its focus is in-app and website surveys that appear to the right users at the right moment, plus classic link surveys, available either as a managed cloud or self-hosted on your own infrastructure.

Developers install a JavaScript, React Native or mobile SDK, then product teams define who sees a survey using user attributes, actions and page events, with controls for display frequency and recontact. Question types cover NPS, CSAT, ratings, open text, multiple choice, matrices and file uploads, with logic and hidden fields. Responses flow to a dashboard with filters and summaries and can be sent to Slack, Notion, Airtable, webhooks or Zapier. The community edition is free to self-host; cloud plans add response volume, team features and enterprise options such as SSO.

Formbricks fits product and UX teams that need targeted in-app feedback and care about data residency, including European companies working under GDPR. It is younger than its commercial rivals, the template library and analytics are lighter, and self-hosting means maintaining updates and a database. Typeform is stronger for polished marketing forms and quizzes, Sprig and Hotjar Surveys offer hosted in-app research, and Qualtrics remains the enterprise standard for large experience programs.

Google Forms is the free form, survey and quiz builder included with every Google account and with Google Workspace. Anyone can create a form in minutes, choose question types such as short answer, multiple choice, checkboxes, dropdowns, linear scales, grids, dates and file uploads, and share it by link, email or embed code.

Responses appear in a built-in summary with charts and can be sent in real time to Google Sheets for analysis with filters and formulas. Quiz mode assigns points and answer keys, grades automatically and returns feedback, which is why it is used so widely in schools alongside Google Classroom. Section-based branching sends respondents to different pages depending on their answers, and Workspace accounts can restrict forms to people in the organisation, collect verified email addresses and apply data protection controls. On eligible Workspace plans, Gemini can help draft forms and summarise responses. Forms itself has no paid tier; Workspace plans are priced per user.

Google Forms fits internal surveys, classrooms, event sign-ups, quick polls and any situation where free and familiar beats polished. It offers little branding, no native payments, limited logic and no conversational layout, and file upload questions require respondents to sign in with a Google account. Typeform and Tally offer better-looking forms and richer logic, Jotform covers payments, signatures and compliance, and Microsoft Forms is the equivalent for Microsoft 365 organisations.