Orbeon Forms
Orbeon Forms manages web forms from design and testing through publishing, data capture, validation, and submission.
What Orbeon Forms is
Orbeon Forms manages web forms from design and testing through publishing, data capture, validation, and submission. Form Builder supports validation, visibility and editability rules, calculations, repeating sections and grids, and multi-page forms. Forms can collect attachments and produce PDF and Excel files. The product runs on-premises or in the cloud, with its server inside 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. Supported databases are Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and DB2; an API can connect other databases or backends. Authors can mark fields for encryption at rest, and those values are encrypted in transit to and from the persistence API. However, the search API cannot search encrypted fields or return their decrypted values. Orbeon Forms has a no-charge open-source Community Edition. Paid PE plans start with PE Basic at $1,300 a year, billed per server, and a 90-day trial is listed. Silver and Gold include technical assistance, with different typical response times and hours of support.
Good
- Form Builder supports multi-page forms and repeating grids.
- Can generate PDF and Excel files.
- Runs on-premises or in the cloud.
- Community Edition is available at no charge.
Watch out
- Search API cannot search encrypted fields.
- PE subscriptions are priced per server.
- PE Basic costs $1,300 a year.
Who it suits
Orbeon Forms may suit organizations building web forms with conditional rules, document output, integrations, and on-premises or cloud deployment. Teams that need searchable encrypted fields should account for the search API limitation.
Verdict
Orbeon Forms covers form creation, data capture, validation, and submission, with a broad set of integration options. Its free Community Edition provides a no-charge starting point; paid PE subscriptions start at $1,300 a year per server.
Plans and prices
From Orbeon Forms's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Community Edition (CE) | Free | Open-source use · evaluation · development · self-supported deployments |
| PE Basic | $1,300 a year | PE features · 1-year license · Dev, QA, staging · 2 incidents · bug-priority escalation · per server / year |
| PE Silver | $4,200 a year | PE features · production · unlimited incidents · 1-business-day response · 4 technical-assistance hours · per server / year |
| PE Gold | $6,300 a year | PE features · production · unlimited incidents · 4-business-hour response · 8 technical-assistance hours · chat · meetings · emergency hotfixes · per server / year |
The facts
Each one read from Orbeon Forms's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- 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.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Custom persistence
- A custom persistence layer can be implemented as REST services in any technology and configured without recompiling Orbeon Forms.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Data and documents
- The product can collect form data with attachments and produce PDF and Excel files.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Database support
- Official pages list Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DB2, SQLite, and custom persistence providers.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Orbeon Forms can run on-premises or in the cloud, and its server runs within a Java servlet container.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Documentation and support
- Support resources include comprehensive documentation, a forum, Stack Overflow, Google Groups, commercial support, and development-support plans.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Encryption limitation
- The documentation says the search API cannot search encrypted fields or return their decrypted values.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Excel exchange
- Orbeon Forms supports Excel import and export, including row-by-row import.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Form Builder
- Form Builder is a browser-based visual designer with grid layouts, controls, validation, calculations, localization, and service actions.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Form building
- Form Builder supports validation, visibility and editability rules, calculations, repeating sections and grids, and multi-page forms.checked 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.checked 15 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.checked 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.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Installation requirements
- Server installation requires a Java runtime and a Servlet 2.5-or-newer container such as Apache Tomcat.checked 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.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Java support
- The installation documentation lists Java 11, 17, and 21 for the 2025.1 release.checked 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.checked 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.checked 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.checked 15 Oct 2026
The company
- Company facts
- LinkedIn lists Orbeon, Inc. as privately held, founded in 1999, with 2–10 employees and a software-development focus.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Company history
- An Orbeon announcement says the company was founded in 1999 and delivers and supports Orbeon Forms.checked 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.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2007checked 28 Sep 2026
Money
- 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.checked 8 Oct 2026
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