Build a Customer Feedback System Without SaaS Fees

Typeform charges 25 dollars per month. SurveyMonkey charges 35. And every one of them limits how many responses you can collect before upgrading to a higher tier. For a business that genuinely wants to understand its customers, these costs add up fast. The good news: you can build a complete feedback system with open-source tools, on your own server, with zero per-response fees.

Option 1: Formbricks for Micro-Surveys

Formbricks is the open-source answer to Typeform. It supports conditional logic, multiple question types, custom branding, and response analytics. Embed it in your website, share a link, or send it via email. Responses are stored in your own database, not a third-party server. GDPR compliance is simpler because the data never leaves your infrastructure.

Formbricks runs in Docker with PostgreSQL. A basic installation on a 2GB VPS handles thousands of responses without breaking a sweat.

Option 2: LimeSurvey for Full Research

When you need more than micro-surveys, when you are doing market research, employee satisfaction studies, or detailed customer feedback with branching logic and statistical analysis, LimeSurvey is the tool. It supports 80 question types, quota management, token-based access control, and exports to SPSS and R for statistical analysis.

LimeSurvey is heavier than Formbricks but more capable. It runs on PHP and MySQL. Once deployed, it replaces SurveyMonkey entirely and handles thousands of responses per survey.

Option 3: HeyForm for Simple Forms

HeyForm is an open-source form builder that creates clean, embeddable forms without coding. It supports file uploads, conditional logic, webhooks, and email notifications. If you need a quick contact form, an NPS survey, or a feedback widget, HeyForm takes five minutes to set up.

How to Act on Feedback

Collecting feedback is useless if it sits in a database. Here is how to close the loop:

1. Automated email follow-ups: Use n8n to send a thank-you email immediately after a response, and flag negative feedback for manual follow-up.
2. Dashboard integration: Pipe survey results into Grafana so you can see trends over time alongside your other business metrics.
3. Regular review cadence: Block one hour per month to review feedback themes, prioritise action items, and communicate what changed to customers.

Want a feedback system integrated into your stack? VPS1 sets up Formbricks, LimeSurvey, or HeyForm end to end.