Opti'Typed questions
Text, integer or decimal, single or multiple choice, date, GPS point, photo, instruction note: each question gets the right XLSForm type and its input constraints.
📋 Build your KoboToolbox form in minutes
AI XLSForm generator
for KoboToolbox and ODK
Describe your survey in one sentence: the generator writes a complete XLSForm questionnaire, with its sections, typed questions, choice lists, skip logic, constraints and calculations. Watch it being built here, with no account, then take the .xlsx file for KoboToolbox, ODK or SurveyCTO.
Opti Gemba · XLSForm generator
Free demo: describe your survey, the AI generates a real questionnaire
🎉 Your questionnaire is ready Sign in for free to collect it, edit it and export it to KoboToolbox and ODK.
Public demo: do not enter personal or sensitive data here.
✓ Free trial, no account ✓ A real XLSForm file (.xlsx) ✓ KoboToolbox, ODK, SurveyCTO
A real XLSForm, not a list of questions
The generator does not suggest question ideas for you to copy: it writes the file that KoboToolbox and ODK import, in the exact syntax of the XLSForm standard. Every formula is compiled and the file goes through Kobo's validation tools before it leaves: the generator's method is public, limits included.
Skip logic
A question only appears when the previous answer calls for it: the relevant column is written during generation, then consolidated by a dedicated checking pass.
Calculations and indicators
Scores, totals, ratios: calculate fields are written in a dedicated pass, with formulas that reference the right variables in the form.
Clean choice lists
Options get plain variable names and clear labels, and the same list serves several questions when that makes sense.
Multilingual
French and Arabic, English and Swahili, or any other combination: one label column per language, ready for multilingual data collection.
Informed consent
When the survey is addressed to people, the form opens with a consent module, and the following sections depend on it.
An excerpt of what it produces
The survey sheet of a post-distribution monitoring survey for cash assistance, as the generator writes it:
| type | name | label | relevant | constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| begin_group | household | Household composition | ||
| integer | household_size | How many people live in your household? | . > 0 and . < 30 | |
| select_one yes_no | assistance_received | Did you receive the cash assistance this month? | ||
| decimal | amount_received | What amount did you receive? | ${assistance_received} = 'yes' | . > 0 |
| select_multiple uses | uses | What did you use this amount for? | ${assistance_received} = 'yes' | |
| end_group |
The yes_no and uses lists are written in the choicessheet, and the questions that depend on the assistance received only show to those who received it. To go further on PDM, see the post-distribution monitoring guide.
Convert a Word or PDF questionnaire to XLSForm
Does your questionnaire already exist, approved by the team or the donor? Drop it here: it is transcribed into XLSForm question by question, without inventing or rewording anything. Sections become groups, explicit skip instructions are rebuilt, and a specification table is copied as is, without any call to AI. The conversion finishes in your account.
Drop your questionnaire here or click to choose a file
.docx, .pdf or .txt · 4 MB max on the demo
or paste the text of your questionnaire
How to create a KoboToolbox form with AI, in four steps
From survey idea to a form ready for data collection, without writing a single line of XLSForm.
Describe your survey
In one or two sentences: the topic, the population, what you want to measure, the languages. The way you would explain it to a colleague. Or drop an existing Word or PDF questionnaire.
Watch it being built
The AI proposes a section plan, then writes the sections one by one, live: typed questions, choice lists, constraints, skip logic, calculated indicators.
Take it with you
As a one-off purchase or with a plan: download the .xlsx file, or send it straight to your KoboToolbox account, with its public link.
Fine-tune it
In the spreadsheet-style editor, cell by cell, or by asking the form assistant for a change in plain language.
Forms for humanitarian surveys
The generator knows the sector's surveys, their usual modules and their indicators. A few requests that work well, to reuse in the demo:
Post-distribution monitoring (PDM)
"PDM for a cash transfer to 500 households: receipt, use of the amount, satisfaction, complaints, in French and Arabic." Method: the cash PDM guide.
Baseline and endline
"Baseline survey for a food security project: food consumption score, coping strategies, market access." Method: baseline and endline surveys.
Data quality assessment (DQA)
"Data quality checklist for a health programme: accuracy, completeness, timeliness by site." Method: data quality assessment.
Accountability and satisfaction
"Satisfaction survey of people who received a kit distribution, with complaint mechanisms and respectful treatment."
For qualitative work, focus groups and interviews are also prepared and analysed in Opti': see the focus group guide. And to size your survey, the sample size calculator is free.
AI generator, Kobo Formbuilder, Excel or ChatGPT: which to choose?
All four lead to a KoboToolbox form. What changes is the time spent and what is left to check.
| Opti' generator | KoboToolbox Formbuilder | Excel by hand | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing the questions | Generated from a description or a document | One by one, with the mouse | Row by row | Suggested as text, to copy over |
| XLSForm syntax | Written and checked before export | Handled by the tool | Up to you to master | Not checked, to verify by hand |
| Skip logic and calculations | Generated, then consolidated | Set up question by question | Written as formulas | To review one by one |
| Starting from a Word or PDF file | Yes, transcribed question by question | No | Manual copying | Partial, unchecked |
| Sending to KoboToolbox | Direct, with a connected account | Native | File import | File import, if it is valid |
| Cost | Free to see; one-off purchase or a plan to take it with you | Free | Free, paid in time | Depends on the subscription |
Kobo's Formbuilder remains the ideal tool for editing a form by hand: the generator saves you from the blank page, and the file it produces opens there like any other. To understand the platform, see what KoboToolbox is.
Seeing is free, taking it with you is paid
The demo on this page is free and needs no account: you see the whole form before paying anything. To take it with you (download the XLSForm, send it to KoboToolbox, edit it), there are two options:
- One-off purchase: a single payment, by card, bank transfer or mobile money. The form is yours, with a free week of usage to fine-tune it.
- With a plan Starter, Pro or Premium: everything you produce is yours to take, forms, analyses and reports.
A form longer than what the demo builds is finished in your account, free and with no credit card. Prefer to start from scratch? The generator is at the top of the page.
After the form: data collection, analysis and reporting
The form is only the start of a survey. In Opti Gemba, the rest happens in the same place.
KoboToolbox, with no files to pass around
Opti' connects to your KoboToolbox account: the form goes there in one click, and the submissions come back for analysis, with live tracking of the collection.
Field collection, even offline
Enumerator Mode works on mobile with no connection, photos and GPS included, and the data syncs as soon as the network is back. On KoboCollect, the app guide.
Analysis and reporting
Dashboards, cross-tabulations, disaggregations, then a narrative report written from your data, exportable to Word, PowerPoint, PDF or HTML.
Frequently asked questions
What is an XLSForm generator?
A tool that writes, on your behalf, the XLSForm file of a survey: the three-sheet Excel workbook (survey, choices, settings) that KoboToolbox, ODK and SurveyCTO can read. You describe the survey in plain language; the generator produces the typed questions, choice lists, skip logic, input constraints and calculations, in the exact syntax of the standard.
Is the file compatible with KoboToolbox, ODK and SurveyCTO?
Yes. The form exports to the standard XLSForm format (.xlsx), which imports as is into KoboToolbox, ODK Central and SurveyCTO. With a KoboToolbox account connected to Opti', it even goes straight into your Kobo projects, with no file to handle.
Are skip logic and constraints generated?
Yes. The relevant column (skip logic), input constraints and calculated fields are written during generation, then consolidated by dedicated checking passes. Every formula is compiled before the file leaves, so that a reference to a variable that does not exist is caught on our side rather than in the field.
Can I convert a Word or PDF questionnaire to XLSForm?
Yes. Drop the document or paste its text: it is transcribed question by question, without inventing or rewording anything. Sections become groups, explicit skip instructions are rebuilt, and a specification table (variable name, question, type, options) is copied without any call to AI.
Can the questionnaire be multilingual?
Yes. State the languages in your request, for example English and Arabic: the XLSForm gets one label column per language, ready for multilingual data collection in KoboToolbox, ODK or Opti'.
How much does a form cost?
Generating it and seeing it in full is free, with no account. To take it with you (download the XLSForm, send it to KoboToolbox, edit it), you buy it as a one-off, in a single payment by card, bank transfer or mobile money, or you choose a Starter, Pro or Premium plan, with which everything you produce is yours to take. Prices are on the pricing page.
Can I edit the form after buying it?
Yes, as much as you like. It opens in a spreadsheet-style editor, with an interactive preview of the form, and an assistant you can ask for changes in plain language ("add a question on access to water", "translate into French"). A free week of usage comes with the purchase for these edits.
Is my data safe?
A form contains no respondent answers, only questions. On the public demo, still avoid writing personal data in your description. In your account, collected submissions are encrypted before they are stored, on servers in Europe.
How is it different from ChatGPT?
A general-purpose assistant suggests questions, sometimes a table to copy over, but nothing checks the XLSForm syntax: variable names, skip logic references and formulas have to be checked by hand before import. Opti's generator writes the file itself, checks it before delivering it, and sends it to KoboToolbox if you wish.
Your next survey deserves a real questionnaire
Describe it to the generator: the demo is at the top of the page, and it is free.