Version 2.1.1See what is new

Ask better questions. Get answers you can use.

SmartSurvey is a self-hosted survey platform. Build surveys with conditional logic, collect responses on any device and turn them into clear reports — ready to export as PDF, Excel or CSV.

Get started View on GitHub

Runs with one Docker command
Your data stays on your server
Free for non-commercial use

The SmartSurvey admin dashboard with key numbers, a 30-day chart, the top surveys and the latest responses

The SmartSurvey admin dashboard in dark mode

10question types
5export formats
900+automated tests
.NET 10long-term support

Product tour

From the first question to the final report

Everything happens in one place: no spreadsheets, no copy and paste, no second tool for the charts.

Step 1 · Build

Design surveys the way you think

Add pages and questions, set the rules and preview the survey exactly as respondents will see it — before a single person answers.

Ten question types, from text and choices to star ratings and NPS scales
Show or hide questions and whole pages with All/Any conditions
Start from a template, duplicate a survey or import one as JSON

How surveys are designed

Step 3 · Collect

A survey people actually finish

Respondents get a clean, mobile-friendly page that only asks what applies to them and tells them right away when something is missing.

Progress bar, required markers and live validation
Signed-in respondents can save a draft and continue later
Invisible bot and spam protection — no CAPTCHA

What respondents see

Step 4 · Analyse

Reports that are ready to share

Generate an overview report with one click, then shape it with the report builder. Charts and tables always show the live data.

KPIs, bar, pie, doughnut and line charts, cross-tabs and NPS
Date and answer filters with a live preview
Export as PDF, Excel, CSV, plain text or JSON

How reporting works

Step 5 · Manage

One installation, many teams

Workspaces keep the surveys, responses and reports of every team, class or client apart — on a single installation that you control.

Each workspace has its own admins, members and join link
Super admins approve, disable and manage workspaces without seeing their content
Audit log, role management and your own branding

How workspaces are isolated

Features

Everything included, nothing to add on

No plans, no locked features and no per-response pricing. What you install is the whole product.

10 question types

Short and long text, single and multiple choice, dropdowns, numbers, e-mail, dates, star ratings and scales — with “Other → free text” options.

Conditional logic

Show or hide questions and whole pages based on earlier answers. Evaluated live in the browser and checked again on the server.

Multi-page surveys

Split long surveys into pages with a progress bar, per-page validation and a thank-you page at the end.

Report builder

Ten widget types — KPIs, charts, cross-tabs, NPS, text answers and raw grids — with filters and a live preview.

Exports

Download reports as PDF, Excel, CSV, plain text or JSON, and the raw responses as CSV, Excel or JSON.

Templates

New workspaces start with three ready-made surveys. Duplicate any survey, or move one between installations as JSON.

Workspaces

One installation hosts many fully isolated workspaces. Anyone can create one — with approval, if you prefer.

Your branding

Set the product name, the tagline and your own logo for the whole site, with a live preview.

Any device, light or dark

Every page is responsive and has a dark mode. Surveys are comfortable to answer on a phone.

REST API

Every capability is available over /api/v1 with bearer tokens, Swagger and ProblemDetails errors.

Built-in user guide

Step-by-step help in plain language inside the app, for respondents and for administrators.

Self-service accounts

People change their name, e-mail and password themselves, and can download or delete their personal data.

Built with
ASP.NET Core 10
Blazor
EF Core 10
PostgreSQL 16
ASP.NET Core Identity
QuestPDF
Docker

Security and privacy

Your respondents’ answers stay yours

SmartSurvey runs on your own server, so what people tell you stays with you — protected in the database, in the browser and on the way in.

Read the security chapter

Encryption at rest
Written answers, “Other” texts and browser details are encrypted in the database with AES-256. The keys are kept outside the database.
Isolated workspaces
Isolation is enforced in the data layer. Super admins manage workspaces, but cannot open their surveys, answers or reports.
Bot and spam protection
A proof-of-work challenge, a minimum answering time, a honeypot field and rate limits — without a CAPTCHA or a third-party service.
Two-factor sign-in
Works with any authenticator app and comes with recovery codes. Accounts are locked after repeated failed sign-ins.
Checked on the server
Every survey design and every answer is validated on the server, and the conditional logic is evaluated there again.
Audit log
Each workspace has its own audit log. Super admin actions and sign-ups are recorded in a separate one.

For everyone involved

Simple for respondents, complete for administrators

Three roles, each with exactly the pages it needs.

Respondents

Answer in a couple of minutes, on any device.

Only the questions that apply to them
A progress bar and clear, immediate validation
Their own responses in one place when signed in

Workspace admins

Run the surveys of a team, a class or a company.

Build, publish, schedule and close surveys
Browse responses, build reports and export them
Manage members, roles and the join link

Super admins

Look after the whole installation from the System console.

Create, approve, disable and delete workspaces
Manage every account, the branding and the settings
See figures only — never a workspace’s content

Screenshots

See it before you install it

Taken from a fresh demo instance. Select a picture to enlarge it.

The display logic editor of a question in the survey builder — **Display logic**Show or hide questions based on earlier answers

The preview of a survey — **Preview**The survey exactly as respondents will see it

The report builder with its widget list and a live preview — **Report builder**Widgets and filters with a live preview

The list of responses of a survey with filters and export buttons — **Responses**Filter, open, delete and export the raw data

The settings of a workspace with its join link — **Workspace settings**Name, address and the join link for new members

The list of members of a workspace — **Members**Roles, new passwords and the join link

The built-in user guide — **User guide**Plain-language help inside the app

The admin dashboard in dark mode — **Dark mode**Every page, remembered per browser

Quick start

Up and running in a few minutes

The Docker stack contains the web app and a PostgreSQL 16 database. Your data is kept in Docker volumes and survives restarts.

Install Docker

Docker Desktop on Windows and macOS, or Docker Engine with the Compose plugin on Linux.
Get the code and start it

Three commands. The first start takes a few minutes, later starts take seconds.
Open the app and sign in

The demo data gives you example surveys, about 200 responses and a sample report to explore.

git clone https://github.com/supunsarachitha/SmartSurvay.git
cd SmartSurvay
docker compose up -d --build
# then open http://localhost:8080

First sign-in

Workspace admin	`admin@smartsurvey.local`
Super admin	`superadmin@smartsurvey.local`
Password	`ChangeMe123!`

Change both passwords right after signing in, or set ADMIN_PASSWORD and SUPERADMIN_PASSWORD in .env before the first start. Going live? Follow the deployment checklist.

Questions

Good to know before you start

Is there a hosted version of SmartSurvey?

No. SmartSurvey is self-hosted: you run it on your own computer or server, and your data stays there. With Docker that is a single command.

What do I need to run it?

Only Docker. The stack contains the web app and a PostgreSQL 16 database. Without Docker you need the .NET 10 SDK and PostgreSQL 16 — or SQLite for a quick demo. See Getting started.

May I use it at work?

SmartSurvey is free for personal use, study, research, hobby projects and non-commercial organisations such as charities, schools and public institutions. Commercial use needs a separate licence from the repository owner — get in touch via GitHub. The details are in the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0.

Do respondents need an account?

Not always. Each survey decides whether anonymous answers are allowed. Surveys that require an account are for the members of the workspace that runs them, who join with the workspace’s join link.

Can several teams share one installation?

Yes. Each team gets its own workspace with its own admins, members, surveys, responses and reports. Workspaces are completely separate, and even super admins cannot open a workspace’s content.

How do I back up and update it?

Back up the database together with the keys volume: it holds the keys that decrypt the written answers. To update, run git pull && docker compose up -d --build; database migrations are applied when the app starts. See Deployment.

Is there an API?

Yes. Everything the user interface does is available over /api/v1 with bearer tokens, documented with Swagger. See REST API.

Ready to hear from your audience?

Install SmartSurvey with one command and publish your first survey today.

Get started Read the documentation

Free for non-commercial use under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. Commercial use needs a separate licence.