In simple English
This program runs the core server for KoboToolbox. It lets people design forms, collect answers, and download their data. It provides the web interface and the application programming interface (an API, which is a way for other computer programs to ask this server for information). It costs nothing in money because it is open source, but it needs technical knowledge to set up and keep running. You should use it if you want to host your own survey platform on your own hardware.
What it is
This repository contains the backend and frontend code for KoboToolbox, built with Python and the Django web framework. It handles user permissions, form storage, data exports, and administrative reports.
What it is good for
It removes the need to rely on a hosted survey service, giving humanitarian groups and researchers full control over their data collection forms and submitted answers.
- Gives you full control over your own survey forms and data.
- Includes a complete application programming interface for custom integrations.
- Merges old components into a single codebase for easier maintenance.
- Hard to set up for non-programmers because it is designed as a large server component.
- Needs several gigabytes of memory and a separate database to run reliably.
- Uses the AGPL-3.0 licence, which requires you to share your code if you modify it and offer it as a service over a network.
Commercial survey platforms like Qualtrics or Typeform when you need self-hosted control.
PostgreSQL database and Redis for caching and background tasks.
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git clone https://github.com/kobotoolbox/kpi.git cd kpi git branch -rl 'origin/release/*'