Palform

Palform is an open-source online form builder designed around zero-knowledge data collection. Every response is encrypted in the respondent's web browser before transmission, leaving the host server without the keys needed to read submissions. Form creators decrypt and inspect entries locally within their own browsers.

Why Palform instead of Google Forms

Google Forms stores survey responses in plaintext across Google Cloud, connecting records directly to Google accounts and Google Drive. Anyone with administrative access to the Google Workspace tenant or the host infrastructure can inspect submissions, creating privacy hurdles for medical intake, legal inquiries, or anonymous whistleblowing. Palform shifts the security perimeter entirely to the client: form owners generate a cryptographic key pair, answers are sealed in the browser with public-key encryption, and the backend receives only ciphertext blobs.

The trade-off centers on architectural convenience. Google Forms connects directly to Google Sheets, sends notifications through standard email triggers, and supports hundreds of third-party add-ons. Because Palform treats form entries as unreadable blobs on the server, automated server-side data extraction is harder; it relies on webhooks and client-side processing rather than automatic cloud integrations. For non-technical teams handling confidential surveys, trading ecosystem convenience for cryptographic privacy eliminates the danger of cloud database leaks.

What it does well

• End-to-end encryption in the browser: submissions are sealed with OpenPGP via WebAssembly before dispatch, so the hosting infrastructure never handles plaintext answers.
• Visual form builder with conditional branching: creators can build multi-step questionnaires that display or skip specific questions based on earlier user answers without writing custom logic.
• Custom branding controls: users can customize form colors, logos, and typography to align surveys with their organization's identity.
• Direct file uploads with client-side handling: respondents can attach files directly within questions while preserving encryption across the entire payload.
• European cloud hosting: the official hosted instance runs on European infrastructure under GDPR guidelines, providing ready access without server setup.
• Local data export: organizers can decrypt stored submissions in their browser and export datasets as CSV or JSON for offline spreadsheet analysis.