SurveyJS Form Library: JSON-Based Forms and Surveys

What is SurveyJS Form Library?

SurveyJS Form Library is an open-source JavaScript library you install into a React, Angular, Vue 3, or plain-JavaScript app to render forms and surveys from a JSON schema. It runs entirely client-side — there's no SurveyJS server in the loop — so once a response is collected in the browser, sending it to a backend and storing it is your application's job, not the library's.

Core Capabilities and Integrations

• ✓A single JSON definition controls what a form asks, how strictly it validates answers, which parts branch or hide, how users navigate between steps, and how the form looks — write it by hand, generate it with AI, or build it visually with the separate SurveyJS Creator tool.
• ✓Native UI packages for React (survey-react-ui), Angular (survey-angular-ui), Vue 3 (survey-vue3-ui), and plain JavaScript (survey-js-ui), all written in TypeScript.
• ✓Rules for hiding or showing fields conditionally, branching between steps, computing calculated values, and evaluating expressions drive the logic layer, alongside dynamic panels and repeating question groups for things like adding extra dependents.
• ✓Partial submissions, auto-save, and lazy loading protect a long form's progress if a tab closes or a connection drops mid-fill.
• ✓Over 20 built-in question types plus support for electronic signature capture, image capture, and custom question widgets you write yourself.
• ✓No SurveyJS-run backend is required to render forms or collect responses, and the README links sample integrations covering Node.js, PHP, and ASP.NET Core.
• ✓Theming runs through a CSS-variable design-token system with built-in themes, plus adapters covering shadcn/ui, Material UI, and Bootstrap, and community-maintained translations across 50+ languages with right-to-left layout support.

Building Dynamic Forms and Quizzes

• •Multi-step onboarding or intake wizards where later fields depend on earlier answers, using branching and conditional visibility.
• •Scored quizzes and assessments where a calculated value tallies the score as someone answers, per the README's mention of scored surveys and calculator forms.
• •Long internal data-collection forms where auto-save and partial submissions matter because someone might close the tab halfway through.
• •A pop-up survey or feedback widget dropped into an existing product using the plain-JavaScript package when there's no framework in play.
• •Backoffice data-entry tools where a dropdown's choices are pulled live from a web service instead of hardcoded.

Getting Started with SurveyJS Form Library

SurveyJS Form Library ships as four separate npm packages, one per framework — install only the one you need: `npm install survey-react-ui` for React, `npm install survey-angular-ui` for Angular, `npm install survey-vue3-ui` for Vue.js (Vue 3), or `npm install survey-js-ui` for plain JavaScript. The README links a dedicated get-started guide per framework, and building from source starts with the platform-independent survey-core package before you build whichever UI package you target. Past that install command, wiring the rendered form to your own backend and storage is on you — app-level integration steps aren't covered here.

Comparing Form Building Approaches

Frequently Asked Questions

The problem it solves

Building a multi-step form with conditional branching, calculated scores, and partial-save usually means re-implementing that logic separately for whatever framework you're on, then doing it all again if the app ever moves from React to Angular or Vue. SurveyJS Form Library's answer, per the README, is to fold what a form asks, how it validates, which paths it branches down, how someone moves through it, and how it's styled into one JSON definition that framework-specific renderers read — so the form's behavior isn't locked to a single component model.

How to use

Using SurveyJS Form Library follows the same flow no matter the framework: write a SurveyJS JSON object describing the form, render it with the library, collect the response entirely in the browser, then send that JSON to your own backend and store it wherever you choose. You can hand-write that JSON definition, generate it with AI, or produce it visually with SurveyJS Creator, a separate embeddable drag-and-drop builder. Because rendering and collection both happen client-side, persistence, auth, and storage are entirely outside the library's scope.

Who should try it — and who should skip

Try SurveyJS Form Library if you're building forms or surveys inside a React, Angular, or Vue 3 app and want the logic — branching, validation, scoring — defined declaratively in JSON rather than hand-rolled in component state. Skip it if you want a hosted, no-code survey tool with a backend included: SurveyJS Form Library renders and collects responses client-side only, so you're on the hook for the API and storage layer, and a hosted product will get you moving faster if that DIY work isn't what you're after.

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