Overview

formBuilder is a jQuery-based drag and drop form builder that lets developers and designers create complex web forms without writing HTML. Simply drag field types onto the canvas, configure their properties, and export clean JSON or HTML. It has been actively maintained for over a decade with a strong community and regular releases.

Developer Tools

formBuilder

Drag and Drop Form Building, Simplified

jQuery plugin – integrates into any jQuery-based project in minutes

MIT licensed – free for commercial and open source use

Actively maintained – regular releases with bug fixes and new features (currently at v3.22.x)

Tested – Jest test suite with coverage reporting

View demo & docs View on GitHub

Drag and Drop Form Building, Simplified

Built for flexibility, formBuilder works as a standalone tool or integrates seamlessly into existing applications. Whether you need a quick contact form, a multi-step registration wizard, or a dynamic survey engine, formBuilder gives you the controls to build it visually.

The library ships with a comprehensive set of built-in field types and supports custom controls, making it suitable for everything from simple admin panels to full-featured form generation platforms.

Who It’s For

Internal tools and admin panels — let non-technical staff create intake forms, feedback surveys, and data collection tools
Customer-facing applications — embed a form builder so users can design their own surveys, quizzes, or application forms
CMS integrations — add visual form creation to WordPress, Drupal, or custom content management systems
Survey and poll platforms — build the visual editor for survey tools without starting from scratch
Low-code/no-code platforms — use formBuilder as the form component in a broader application builder

Why formBuilder

formBuilder eliminates the need to hand-code forms or build a custom drag and drop editor from scratch. It is production-ready, MIT licensed, and backed by years of active development. The JSON-based form definitions make it trivial to persist, version, and share form layouts across environments.

Technical Highlights

jQuery plugin — integrates into any jQuery-based project in minutes
MIT licensed — free for commercial and open source use
Actively maintained — regular releases with bug fixes and new features (currently at v3.22.x)
Tested — Jest test suite with coverage reporting
NPM package — install via npm install formbuilder
Minimal dependencies — only requires jQuery and jQuery UI Sortable
CDN ready — hosted on jsDelivr and unpkg for quick integration

FEATURES 01

What it does

Visual drag and drop interface

build forms by dragging field types onto a live canvas

20+ built-in field types

including text, textarea, select, radio, checkbox, date picker, file upload, star rating, and more

Custom field types

extend the builder with your own controls and subtypes

JSON import/export

save form definitions as JSON and reload them at any time

formRender

a companion renderer that displays saved forms with full validation support

Bootstrap grid support

arrange fields in responsive columns using drag and drop

Internationalization (i18n)

ship with built-in support for multiple languages via the mi18n library

Field options editor

configure labels, placeholders, required status, validation rules, and custom attributes per field

Event hooks

callbacks for adding, removing, and editing fields give you full control over the builder lifecycle

XSS protection

built-in DOMPurify sanitizer keeps user-generated form definitions safe

RELATED 02