head to head · open source
cakephp vs LimeSurvey
cakephp has 8,789 GitHub stars, 3,352 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LimeSurvey has 3,787 stars, 1,130 forks, 101 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cakephp leads on adoption by 132% (8,789 vs 3,787 stars). cakephp is written in PHP under MIT; LimeSurvey is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. cakephp has attracted 38% as many forks as stars, LimeSurvey 30%. LimeSurvey was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (php), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| cakephp | LimeSurvey | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.8K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | PHP | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cakephp if
- You weight community size — 8.8K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick LimeSurvey if
- You want the LimeSurvey feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and LimeSurvey fits your workflow better
About cakephp
CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP which uses commonly known design patterns like Associative Data Mapping, Front Controller, and MVC. Our primary goal is to provide a structured framework that enables PHP users at all levels to rapidly develop robust web applications, without any loss to flexibility. Installing CakePHP via Composer You can install CakePHP into your project using Composer. If you're starting a new project, we recommend using the app skeleton as a starting point. For existing applications you can run the following: For details on the (minimum/maximum) PHP version see version map…
read the full cakephp overview →
About LimeSurvey
LimeSurvey: The world’s 1 open source survey platform It's what we love and do best since 2006... 🌐 Website · 🔮 Demo · 📚 Documentation · ⚙️ Request a feature · 🐛 Report a bug · 🗨️ Forums · 🗨️ Discord LimeSurvey is a free and open source online survey platfrom used by businesses of all sizes, professionals, academic institutions, teachers, students, governments, financial institutes, and Anja from HR (who is hiring and looking for a DevOps and Technical Support Engineer/Developer – drop her a Lime…) in 80+ countries worldwide. It offers features like conditional logic, question branching, customizable…
read the full LimeSurvey overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is cakephp or LimeSurvey more popular?
cakephp has 8,789 GitHub stars and LimeSurvey has 3,787. cakephp has the larger community by that measure.
Are cakephp and LimeSurvey free?
Both are open source. cakephp is licensed under MIT, and LimeSurvey has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between cakephp and LimeSurvey?
cakephp is written in PHP and LimeSurvey in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, cakephp or LimeSurvey?
Choose cakephp if you want the larger community (8,789 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose LimeSurvey if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.