Orbeon Forms

Free plan Open source APILinuxSelf-hostedWeb

What Orbeon Forms is

Orbeon Forms manages web forms across their lifecycle, from building and testing to publishing, collecting data, validating entries, and submitting forms. Its Form Builder supports validation, visibility and editability rules, calculations, repeating sections and grids, and multi-page forms. Forms can collect attachments, and the product can generate PDF and Excel files. Orbeon Forms can run on-premises or in the cloud; its server runs in a Java servlet container. Integration options include Liferay, server-side and JavaScript embedding, JavaScript APIs with React and Angular components, and HTTP and database service endpoints. It supports Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and DB2, with an API for other databases or backends. Authors can select fields for encryption at rest, and the documentation says those values are encrypted in transit to and from the persistence API. The search API cannot search encrypted fields or return their decrypted values. The open-source Community Edition is available at no charge. Paid subscriptions start at $1,300 / server / year for PE Basic, and a 90-day trial is available. PE Silver and Gold add production licensing and technical assistance at different response times. PE subscriptions are priced per server, defined as a physical hardware machine; cloud customers whose VMs may share hardware need one subscription per VM.

Who it suits

Orbeon Forms suits organizations that need to create and operate multi-step web forms with rules, attachments, and generated documents. It may also suit teams that need on-premises or cloud deployment, database connections, or an open-source edition alongside paid support plans.

What it does well

Form Builder includes rules, calculations, repeating sections, grids, and multi-page forms.
Forms can collect attachments and produce PDF and Excel files.
Deployment can be on-premises or in the cloud.
Integrates with Liferay, JavaScript APIs, HTTP, and database endpoints.
Community Edition is open source and available at no charge.

What to know first

PE Basic starts at $1,300 / server / year.
PE subscriptions are priced per server, with one per VM when cloud hardware is uncertain.
The search API cannot search encrypted fields or return decrypted values.

Limits

The no-charge Community Edition is identified as open source and community driven. PE Basic is for Dev, QA, and Staging environments and includes a 1-year license and 2 incidents; production environments are listed under PE Silver and Gold. PE subscriptions are per server, and the search API cannot search encrypted fields or return their decrypted values.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Community Edition (CE)	Open-source use · evaluation · development · self-supported deployments	Free
PE Basic	per server / year · PE features · 1-year license · Dev, QA, staging · 2 incidents · bug-priority escalation	$1,300 a year
PE Silver	per server / year · PE features · production · unlimited incidents · 1-business-day response · 4 technical-assistance hours	$4,200 a year
PE Gold	per server / year · PE features · production · unlimited incidents · 4-business-hour response · 8 technical-assistance hours · chat · meetings · emergency hotfixes	$6,300 a year

As orbeon.com lists them, read 15 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Visit https://www.orbeon.com/.
Choose the no-charge Community Edition or review the PE plans.
Use the 90-day trial to evaluate a paid plan.
Choose on-premises or cloud deployment.
Run the server within a Java servlet container.

Verdict

Choose Orbeon Forms if you need extensive form-building controls, multiple deployment options, and connections to databases or other systems. The no-charge Community Edition is an option, while paid production plans bring support and licensing costs; check the per-server scope and encrypted-field search limitation against your needs.

Questions

Is there a free plan?

Yes. Community Edition is available at no charge and is open source.

How much do paid plans cost?

PE Basic is $1,300 / server / year, PE Silver is $4,200 / server / year, and PE Gold is $6,300 / server / year.

Is a trial available?

Yes, a 90-day trial is available.

Where can Orbeon Forms run?

It can run on-premises or in the cloud, and its server runs within a Java servlet container.

Which databases are supported?

The product supports Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and DB2, and provides an API for other databases or backends.

What happens to encrypted fields in search?

The search API cannot search encrypted fields or return their decrypted values.

Facts from Orbeon Forms's own pages

API coverage: Documented APIs include CRUD, search, attachments, metadata, discovery, caching, versioning, leases, reindexing, revision history, ZIP export, JavaScript embedding, Java embedding, PDF, publishing, remote servers, and background processing. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Company facts: LinkedIn lists Orbeon, Inc. as privately held, founded in 1999, with 2–10 employees and a software-development focus. · linkedin.com, 15 Oct 2026
Company history: An Orbeon announcement says the company was founded in 1999 and delivers and supports Orbeon Forms. · orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Company product description: LinkedIn describes Orbeon Forms as software for creating, publishing, versioning, and running complex on-premises forms with access rights, PDF and Excel output, and attachments. · linkedin.com, 15 Oct 2026
Custom persistence: A custom persistence layer can be implemented as REST services in any technology and configured without recompiling Orbeon Forms. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Data and documents: The product can collect form data with attachments and produce PDF and Excel files. · orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Database support: Official pages list Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DB2, SQLite, and custom persistence providers. · orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Deployment: Orbeon Forms can run on-premises or in the cloud, and its server runs within a Java servlet container. · orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Documentation and support: Support resources include comprehensive documentation, a forum, Stack Overflow, Google Groups, commercial support, and development-support plans. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Encryption limitation: The documentation says the search API cannot search encrypted fields or return their decrypted values. · doc.orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Excel exchange: Orbeon Forms supports Excel import and export, including row-by-row import. · orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Form Builder: Form Builder is a browser-based visual designer with grid layouts, controls, validation, calculations, localization, and service actions. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Form building: Form Builder supports validation, visibility and editability rules, calculations, repeating sections and grids, and multi-page forms. · orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Form Runner: Form Runner is the runtime that presents forms, manages definitions and data, and handles search, validation, saving, importing, and exporting. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Founded: 2007 · orbeon.com, 28 Sept 2026
Free trial: A free PE trial license is available for local development on a developer's laptop or workstation, is valid for 90 days, and can be renewed by obtaining another trial license. · orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Government compliance: Orbeon states support for WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508, GDPR-oriented retention controls, Friendly Captcha, and customer-controlled data location. · orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Hardware guidance: Recommended starting hardware is a recent four-core-or-better Intel Xeon or Core i7-class CPU and at least 4 GB JVM RAM. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Installation requirements: Server installation requires a Java runtime and a Servlet 2.5-or-newer container such as Apache Tomcat. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Integrations: Integration options include HTTP and database services, REST or web services, Java and JavaScript APIs, React and Angular components, and Liferay. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
Java support: The installation documentation lists Java 11, 17, and 21 for the 2025.1 release. · doc.orbeon.com, 15 Oct 2026
Licence: Community Edition source is available under the LGPL-2.1 licence; modifications to existing code must be redistributed under LGPL terms when distributed. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
License scope: PE subscriptions are priced per server, which the pricing page defines as a physical hardware machine; cloud customers unsure whether VMs share hardware need one subscription per VM. · orbeon.com, 8 Oct 2026
Limit: complexity and performance: G2 reviewers report that XML form files can become complicated, server communication can make forms slow, CSS customization can be difficult across releases, and database choices are limited. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026

Where Orbeon Forms stands on Freedom251

Form API Software#1 of 25
Form Automation Software#3 of 26