Keep Epicollect5 if
Free fitsYour project is small or academic, volunteers collect data on their own phones, and nobody needs formal back-checks or enumerator-level performance reports.
Alternatives · ODK
When to keep ODK, when to pay for hosting, and when a managed service fits better
If you are weighing an ODK alternative, you probably like what ODK does and dislike one part of running it: the server, the XLSForm learning curve, or finding enumerators and supervisors for the actual fieldwork. This page is for NGO, research and government survey leads in India. It sets ODK, ODK Cloud and Epicollect5 next to Bharat Survey's offline Android app, web panel and field teams, using facts from each vendor's own site.
- Prices and limits checked on vendor pages in September 2026
- Honest section on when ODK is the better choice
- Bharat Survey pricing is on quotation, seat-based
Survey 3/6 · AmenitiesOffline
How is drinking water in your area?
- Comes regularly
- Comes sometimes
- Rarely / never
- Don't know
✓ Section saved on phone · autosave
BackNext
Location evidence
Survey #BS-0412
- In areaInside approx. boundary
- Accuracy±12 m
- Time09:42 · fresh fix
- Mock GPSNot detected
- Interview length11 min
Added to accepted count
ODK CollectODK CentralXLSFormEpicollect5Offline syncGPS checksBack-checksHindi forms
At a glance
Figures come from each vendor's public pages, checked September 2026. Where a vendor does not publish something, the cell says so instead of guessing.
| ODK (self-hosted Central) | ODK Cloud | Epicollect5 | Bharat Survey | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who runs the server | You do | ODK's creators | Imperial College London team | Bharat Survey |
| Published price | Free software; you pay for your own hosting and admin time | Standard $199/mo, Professional $499/mo, Enterprise custom | Free | On quotation, seat-based |
| Monthly submissions in base plan | Limited by your server | 10K (Standard), 25K (Professional) | Not stated as a plan limit | Scoped per project in the quote |
| Open source | Same ODK software, hosted | |||
| Offline data collection | ||||
| Mobile platforms | Android app plus web forms | Android app plus web forms | Android, iOS and web | Android-first app plus web panel |
| Data location choice | Wherever you host | US, EU or India | Not stated on homepage | Discussed per project |
| Field teams and supervision | Available as a service |
ODK Cloud add-on: $199/month paid yearly or $249/month paid monthly for 1 project and 10K monthly submissions, per getodk.org. Prices in USD, excluding taxes.
Our view
Hosting
The ODK team says it plainly: technical users can self-host and self-support ODK for free, and ODK Cloud is the same software, hosted, managed and supported by its creators.
So the choice between self-hosting and a hosted plan is mostly a choice about who carries the operational load. A self-hosted ODK Central needs someone to patch the server, renew certificates, watch disk space, take backups and restore them when something breaks during a district rollout. ODK Cloud takes that away and adds encryption in transit and at rest, continuous backups and 30-day retention, according to its site.
When a hosted plan is enough
If your team already writes XLSForms comfortably and only wants the server off its plate, ODK Cloud is the most direct answer. Nothing about your forms or workflow has to change, and the Standard plan covers one active project and 10K monthly submissions.
When you need more than hosting
Some teams also need the questionnaire built in Hindi and a regional language, enumerators recruited and trained, supervisors re-visiting a share of households, and a dashboard that flags interviews recorded far from the assigned village. That is where Bharat Survey is a different kind of option: software plus field service, priced on quotation, instead of a hosting plan.
Hidden costs of self-hosting
- Server and storage bills
- Admin hours for updates and backups
- Downtime during fieldwork
- Form debugging without vendor support
- Staff turnover in the one person who knows the setup
India setup
Three realistic ways Indian organisations run ODK-style data collection today.
Self-host ODK Central on an Indian cloud region
You control where data sits and pay only infrastructure costs. The trade-off is admin time and the risk that one engineer holds all the knowledge.
- Full control
- Needs Linux and Docker skills
- You own uptime
Team reviewing a self-hosted ODK Central hosting India setup
ODK Cloud with India storage
getodk.org lists India as a storage location alongside the US and EU. You keep ODK's tools and get vendor support, billed in USD.
- Same ODK software
- India data location option
- Plan limits on submissions and projects
3,000
Target homes
2,184
Visits
1,962
Completed
1,871
Accepted
Daily accepted surveysLast 12 days
Bharat Survey app and field service
An offline Android survey app with GPS, time and duration captured on every record, a web panel for review, and optional field teams and supervisors for the survey itself.
- Forms built with you
- Out-of-area and short interviews flagged
- Seat-based pricing on quotation
Sync
6
Safe on phone
8
Synced to server
Last sync12:40
Offline permit18 h left
Photos pending3
Other free tools
Epicollect5, built by an Imperial College London team, is free and supports online and offline collection on Android, iOS and the web. It suits many research and citizen-science projects well.
Look further if
Audit needsA funder or department wants proof that each interview happened where and when it was claimed, with supervisor sign-off and a clean audit trail for review.
Skip logic and validation
Test firstCheck that your longest questionnaire, with its range checks and conditional sections, behaves as needed on the tool before committing a state-wide survey to it.
People, not just software
Budget realityFree tools cover the form. Hiring, training and paying enumerators across districts is usually the larger line in the budget, and no form tool solves it.
Decision aid
Before
Stays the same
Your research design
- Sampling plan and questionnaire logic
- Offline collection with later sync
- GPS capture on records
- Export to your analysis tools
With Bharat Survey
Changes with Bharat Survey
Who does the work
- We build and test the forms with you
- Records outside the assigned area go to review
- Supervisor back-check workflow in the panel
- Optional field teams for the fieldwork
- No server for your team to maintain
Not the right fit if
- You want open-source software you can inspect, modify and self-host
- Your team is fluent in XLSForm and has a server admin
- You need an iOS collection app today (Bharat Survey is Android-first)
- Budget is near zero and fieldwork is done by your own staff
- You want a published monthly price before any conversation
A good fit if
- You need the survey run, not just the software
- Funders expect GPS, time and duration evidence per interview
- Fieldwork spans districts with weak network
- Nobody on the team wants to maintain a server
Survey app features
Offline forms, GPS verification, sync and the web review panel.
Learn moreSurvey app development
When you need a custom data collection app built around your workflow.
Learn moreWhatsApp and SMS surveys
Reaching respondents who will not meet an enumerator.
Learn moreCustomer feedback software
Short feedback forms for services and outlets.
Learn moreField inspection app
Checklists with photos and location for inspections.
Learn moreFAQ
Straight answers to the questions people ask most about this topic.
Is ODK really free?
The ODK software is open source, and the ODK team states that technical users can self-host and self-support it for free. You still pay for the server, storage and staff time. ODK Cloud, the hosted version, starts at $199 per month for the Standard plan as listed on getodk.org in September 2026.
Can Bharat Survey import my existing ODK forms?
Share your XLSForm and we will rebuild it in our app, keeping question wording, skip logic and validation. We test it with you on a pilot before fieldwork. We do not claim a one-click import, because complex forms usually need a review of each rule anyway.
Does Bharat Survey have an iOS app like Epicollect5?
No. Our collection app is Android-first, which matches the phones most field enumerators in India carry. Review and dashboards run in a web browser. If your enumerators must use iPhones or iPads, ODK web forms or Epicollect5 may suit you better.
How is Bharat Survey priced compared with ODK Cloud?
ODK Cloud publishes fixed monthly plans in USD. Bharat Survey is priced on quotation, based on app seats and, if you want them, field services such as enumerators, supervision and back-checks. Send your sample size, states and timeline and we will reply with a scoped quote.
Where is survey data stored?
ODK Cloud lets you choose US, EU or India storage. For Bharat Survey, data location and retention are agreed per project and written into the proposal, so your ethics or procurement team can review them before fieldwork starts.
India Nationwide, Hindi-first
Tell us your sample, states and timeline. We will say honestly whether ODK Cloud or Bharat Survey fits better.