Jackpoll

Jackpoll is an open-source survey and quiz builder for creating forms, collecting responses, and running live activities. It offers 15 question types, including short answers, checkboxes, grids, file uploads, sliders, signatures, and word clouds. Forms can span multiple pages, use conditional logic, and be built together with editor and viewer roles. For live events, presenters can run quizzes that participants enter by PIN or QR code; players can use phones as buzzers and see a leaderboard and podium. Quizzes can be auto-graded, and responses appear in real time. Results can be exported as CSV, Excel, or per-response PDF files. Webhooks can POST responses to an endpoint, while email notices can arrive immediately or in a daily digest. Privacy tools include consent banners, retention controls, data export, and erasure. The maker describes the service as GDPR-compliant and EU-hosted. Its frontend, API, and deployment stacks are MIT-licensed, and the hosted and self-hosted versions use the same build. The free hosted plan includes unlimited surveys and responses; self-hosting is also free.

Jackpoll combines forms, quizzes, and live audience activities in one open-source product. Its free plan and self-hosting option may suit groups that want broad response tools and privacy controls.

Jackpoll suits teachers, researchers, businesses, event organizers, teams, and privacy-conscious organisations that need surveys, quizzes, or live polling. Respondents can participate without accounts, but survey creators need an account or self-hosted instance.

Jackpoll suits teachers, event organizers, researchers, and teams that need both flexible surveys and live participation. Its strongest case is the combination of a genuinely unrestricted free plan and an MIT-licensed self-hosting option; organizations seeking a dedicated employee-experience suite should look elsewhere.

Overview

Jackpoll pairs survey building with live polls, Q&A, and presenter-led quiz games. Respondents can join without accounts, keeping participation simple for a class or event. Survey creators do need an account, unless they manage a self-hosted instance, so the no-account advantage belongs to the audience rather than the organizers.

The product is made by Germany-based Quavon UG. Its frontend, API, and deployment stacks are public under the MIT licence, and the maker says hosted and self-hosted editions use the same build. That is a meaningful choice for privacy-conscious organizations: use the hosted service or take on the responsibility of running the software themselves.

Key features

The builder offers 15 question types, spanning short answers, checkboxes, grids, file uploads, sliders, rankings, signatures, and word clouds. Multi-page drag-and-drop forms and conditional logic make it useful for more involved surveys, while real-time collaboration and editor or viewer roles help separate building from review. That range is an advantage for mixed research, classroom, and business needs, but may be unnecessary for teams that only want a tightly specialized feedback workflow.

Live quiz games give Jackpoll more stage presence than a standard questionnaire. Players join by PIN or QR code, use their phones as buzzers, and compete for speed bonuses on a live leaderboard and podium. Real-time results also appear for survey responses, with exports to CSV, Excel, or individual-response PDF. These tools suit sessions where immediate participation matters; they are less relevant to organizations focused only on collecting periodic employee feedback.

For connected workflows, Jackpoll can POST each response to an endpoint using HMAC-signed webhooks and send new-response email alerts instantly or in a daily digest. Consent banners, privacy notices, lawful-basis controls, configurable retention, data export, and erasure features support privacy administration. The maker describes the product as GDPR-compliant and EU-hosted; self-hosted deployments include ClamAV upload scanning and Traefik TLS and routing.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing (billed forever) and includes unlimited surveys, unlimited responses, all 15 question types, and all features. There is no free-trial period because the free tier is ongoing. Unlike many entry plans, it does not impose a response quota or withhold listed features, so it is a strong fit for individuals and groups willing to use the hosted service.

Self-host costs nothing (billed once), with unlimited everything, an MIT licence, and no licence key. The price removes a software licence charge, not the practical work of hosting and maintaining an instance. Choose it when control over deployment matters and your organization can handle that responsibility; otherwise the hosted Free plan is the simpler route.

Platforms

Jackpoll supports web, Android, iOS, API access, and self-hosted deployment. The maker says its mobile builds are produced from the frontend through Capacitor and links to an iOS TestFlight beta, so mobile apps extend its reach beyond browser use. API and self-hosting options will matter most to teams integrating or operating their own systems.

Who it's for

Teachers and event organizers can use the live quiz format, while researchers and business teams can draw on varied question types, exports, and response integrations. Privacy-conscious organizations have the additional option of self-hosting and a set of privacy controls. Jackpoll is a less obvious choice for buyers whose priority is a purpose-built employee-experience platform rather than a general survey and audience-response tool.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Unlimited surveys and responses at no charge make the hosted plan viable beyond a small trial or pilot.
• Pros: Live quizzes, Q&A, and standard survey tools cover both audience sessions and asynchronous feedback.
• Pros: MIT-licensed code and the same hosted and self-hosted build give technically capable teams deployment choice.
• Cons: Creators need an account or must self-host, even though respondents can join without one.
• Cons: Self-hosting avoids a licence fee but requires the organization to run its own instance.
• Cons: The broad general-purpose feature set may be more than a team needs for a focused employee-feedback program.

Alternatives

Qualtrics is worth considering for individuals who prefer a free survey plan with a defined scope: its free tier allows one user, three active surveys, and 500 total responses, rather than Jackpoll's unlimited free responses. Microsoft Viva Pulse is a paid option for managers seeking quick workplace surveys, at $6 a month (billed paid yearly; annual commitment).

EchoSpan offers freemium access and a multilingual survey option priced at $17, paid once (billed $17 per review.), useful to readers who need surveys and reports in more than 100 languages. Perceptyx is a paid alternative with custom enterprise pricing. Gallup Access is another paid workplace option, with subscription options provided through Gallup’s Business Development team. WorkTango offers paid employee surveys and insights as well as recognition and rewards. Workvivo is a paid alternative focused on communication and engagement. Questback Employee Experience is a paid alternative with a free trial.

Readers comparing broader categories can also browse Employee Feedback Software, Employee Survey Software, Audience Response Systems, and Survey Software.

Verdict

Jackpoll is a strong choice for educators, event hosts, researchers, and teams that want survey breadth, live participation, and freedom from response caps without a licence bill. Its MIT-licensed self-hosting option adds meaningful deployment control. Look elsewhere if the job calls for a dedicated employee-experience platform or if your organization does not want to manage self-hosting and only needs a narrow feedback tool.