Heyform — Open-Source Conversational Form Builder

Introduction

Heyform is an open-source conversational form builder that presents questions one at a time in an engaging flow, similar to Typeform. It supports conditional logic, custom themes, payment collection, and integrations, all self-hosted so your form data stays on your own infrastructure.

What Heyform Does

• Creates conversational forms that display one question per screen for higher completion rates
• Supports 40+ field types including ratings, file uploads, signatures, and payment fields
• Provides conditional logic to branch forms based on previous answers
• Offers a visual form designer with custom themes, fonts, and branding
• Collects submissions in a built-in analytics dashboard with export options

Architecture Overview

Heyform is built with a Node.js/NestJS backend and React frontend. Forms are stored as JSON schemas in MongoDB, with submissions persisted alongside analytics metadata. The rendering engine dynamically interprets form schemas to produce the conversational UI, supporting real-time validation and conditional branching on the client side.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy via Docker Compose with MongoDB and Redis included in the stack
• Configure SMTP for email notifications and form submission alerts
• Set up custom domains and SSL via your reverse proxy (nginx/Caddy)
• Integrate Stripe for payment-enabled forms
• Configure SSO via OIDC for team workspaces

Key Features

• Conversational one-question-per-page UX for higher engagement and completion
• 40+ input types: text, choice, rating, date, file upload, signature, payment
• Conditional logic and answer piping for personalized form flows
• Custom branding with themes, colors, fonts, and background images
• Webhooks and integrations for pushing submissions to external services

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Typeform — SaaS with per-response pricing; Heyform is self-hosted with unlimited responses
• Tally — free tier with limits; Heyform is fully open-source and self-hosted
• Formbricks — survey/feedback focused; Heyform emphasizes the conversational form experience
• Google Forms — basic and free; Heyform offers a modern conversational UI with branding
• SurveyJS — developer library; Heyform is a complete no-code platform with built-in analytics

FAQ

Q: Is there a limit on form responses? A: No. Self-hosted Heyform has no response caps—limited only by your server resources.

Q: Can I accept payments through forms? A: Yes, integrate Stripe to add payment fields for orders, donations, or subscriptions.

Q: Does it support file uploads? A: Yes, respondents can upload files which are stored on your configured storage backend.

Q: Can I embed forms on my website? A: Yes, via iframe embed, popup, or full-page link with custom domain support.

Sources

• https://github.com/heyform/heyform
• https://heyform.net/docs