head to head · open source
Budibase vs HeyForm
Budibase has 28,289 GitHub stars, 2,218 forks, 276 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HeyForm has 8,977 stars, 708 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. Budibase leads on adoption by 215% (28,289 vs 8,977 stars). Budibase is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; HeyForm is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Budibase has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, HeyForm 8%. Budibase was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Budibase | HeyForm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 9.0K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 708 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Budibase if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick HeyForm if
- You want the HeyForm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and HeyForm fits your workflow better
About Budibase
Budibase is an open source low code platform for building internal tools, data apps, and AI powered agents that automate operational workflows. It lives in the low code/no code ecosystem and serves as a self hostable alternative to proprietary platforms like Retool.
read the full Budibase overview →
About HeyForm
HeyForm is an open source form builder written in TypeScript and released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. It lives in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem, and its repository is organised as a monorepo of packages: a Node server, a React webapp, a form renderer, an embeddable JavaScript library, and shared utilities and type definitions used by both the server and the webapp. The project describes itself as an open source form builder built for small business success, and it is positioned as an open alternative to Typeform.
read the full HeyForm overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Frameworks & Platforms projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Frameworks & Platforms field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Budibase or HeyForm more popular?
Budibase has 28,289 GitHub stars and HeyForm has 8,977. Budibase has the larger community by that measure.
Are Budibase and HeyForm free?
Both are open source. Budibase has no licence declared in this registry, and HeyForm is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Budibase and HeyForm?
Budibase is written in TypeScript and HeyForm in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Budibase or HeyForm?
Choose Budibase if you want the larger community (28,289 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose HeyForm if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.