# Build brief — a focused alternative to Typeform

> **Verdict:** Partly, if you narrow it · **Buildability:** 45/100 · **Category:** Forms
> **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/typeform
> Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Typeform. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting.

## Context

**Typeform** — Polished one-question-at-a-time forms, surveys, quizzes, and lead capture. It currently costs $39/mo.

A one-question form UI is easy, but Typeform's respondent UX, templates, analytics, integrations, anti-spam, payments, and scale justify a kinda.

This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of Typeform that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest.

## What you are building

Build a form schema/editor, render one question at a time, store responses, export CSV, and send webhooks.

- Create forms, validate submissions, store responses, and export the results.
- A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states.

## Requirements

### Functional

- Hosted backend.
- Database.
- Form builder UI.
- Optional Stripe integration.

### Data and integrations

- Webhook/email service.

Each of these needs a real account, credential, or quota. Set them up before writing feature code.

### Non-functional

- Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support.
- Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle.
- Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down.
- Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it.

## Implementation brief

Build me a one-question-at-a-time survey app to replace Typeform, personal scale. Requirements:

- Node + Express + better-sqlite3 on my VPS behind Caddy. A form is a YAML file in
  forms/ (types: text, email, select, rating 1-5, yes/no), loaded at request time.
  No visual builder.
- Public page at /s/<slug>: one question on screen, large type, Enter or click to
  advance, up arrow to go back, progress bar, thank-you screen. Vanilla JS, no
  framework, works on a phone.
- Simple branching: a question may declare next: per answer. One level deep, do not
  build a logic engine.
- Responses saved on completion to SQLite with timestamp and form version.
- CSV export at /admin/<slug>.csv behind an ADMIN_TOKEN from .env; optional webhook
  POST per completed response, URL set in the form's YAML.
- Honeypot field and a per-IP rate limit for spam, nothing fancier.
- No accounts, no telemetry; respondent data stays in my SQLite file.
- Out of scope: a drag-and-drop editor, payments, analytics dashboards, and
  partial-response capture. Adding a form means dropping a YAML file on the server.
- README: Caddy snippet and the YAML form format with one full example.

## Delivery standard

- Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code.
- Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data.
- Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations.
- Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states.
- Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data.
- Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details.
- Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey.
- Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations.

## Acceptance criteria

- [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example.
- [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable.
- [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state.
- [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control.
- [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures.
- [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified.

## Non-goals

Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them:

- Template quality.
- Completion UX.
- Analytics.
- Integrations.
- The last 20 percent is sync, migration fidelity, speed, and edge cases.
- Connectors, OAuth flows, and vendor API changes require constant upkeep.

## What you still own after launch

- Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates.
- Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change.
- Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss.
- Maintain every third-party integration as APIs and OAuth rules change.

## Risk

**Operational risk.** The code is achievable; dependable data, integrations, and ongoing operations are the real cost.

Editorial confidence in this assessment: high. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet.

## Prior art

Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting:

- [HeyForm](https://github.com/heyform/heyform) — Open-source form builder with surveys and forms; useful prior art for Typeform-like flows

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Generated by [Can It Be Vibe Coded?](https://www.canitbevibecoded.com) · Full report: https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/typeform