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Formulus vs Field Survey: catalog facts
Formulus	Field Survey
Best for: Research teams and organizations running field data collection in low-connectivity areas	Best for: Researchers and volunteers collecting structured observations in the field
Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence, with optional donations.
Android	Android, iOS
Offline-first collection with later sync Forms defined with the open JSONForms specification All 3 strengths for Formulus Offline-first collection with later sync Forms defined with the open JSONForms specification Part of a complete open-source platform with server and CLI	Custom survey templates for almost any field work Automatic timestamps, GPS and photos per record All 4 strengths for Field Survey Custom survey templates for almost any field work Automatic timestamps, GPS and photos per record Exports to a spreadsheet No account or cloud needed
Needs the ODE server side set up to be useful Aimed at organizations building forms, not casual users All 3 limitations for Formulus Needs the ODE server side set up to be useful Aimed at organizations building forms, not casual users Small project with a young community	Templates take some setup before the first survey Data stays on one device unless exported
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: GPL-3.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Formulus opendataensemble.org github.com/OpenDataEnsemble/ode f-droid.org/packages/org.opendataensemble.formulus Catalog checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Field Survey pufstudio.net/apps/field_survey Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.