Orbeon Forms vs. Adobe AEM Forms

Enterprise Forms Without the Complexity

Organizations in government, banking, insurance, and healthcare rely on complex forms and official PDF documents to serve citizens and customers. While Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms (formerly Adobe LiveCycle) has long been used in this space, many organizations now face steep licensing increases, forced cloud migrations, deprecated XFA PDF forms, and the complexity of running a full Digital Experience Platform (DXP) just to power their forms.

Orbeon Forms is a dedicated, enterprise-grade web forms platform built specifically to handle the entire lifecycle of large form libraries, without the overhead, lock-in, or cost of the Adobe ecosystem.

Why Organizations Migrate from AEM Forms to Orbeon Forms

Logos of Swiss Social Security, City of Brussels, City of Bristol, Government of South Tyrol

  1. A Dedicated Forms Platform, Without the CMS Bloat: With AEM Forms, you are buying into the entire Adobe Experience Manager stack. Orbeon Forms focuses exclusively on doing one thing exceptionally well: complex web forms and PDF generation. It deploys as a lightweight standard Java web application (WAR) or Docker container and integrates seamlessly with your existing CMS, portal, or custom applications.
  2. Predictable, Transparent Pricing: Enterprise software licensing shouldn’t require months of negotiation or surprise volume tiers. Orbeon Forms offers straightforward, publicly available pricing at a fraction of the total cost of ownership of AEM Forms.
  3. True Data Sovereignty & Self-Hosting: As vendors push customers toward vendor-managed cloud services, maintaining control over sensitive citizen and customer data becomes harder. Orbeon Forms runs 100% on infrastructure you control, whether on-premises, in an air-gapped government environment, or in your own private cloud (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). Orbeon never has access to your forms or collected data.
  4. Escape Legacy XFA & Static PDF Forms: Modern web browsers no longer support legacy Adobe XFA forms, and static PDFs are difficult to fill out on mobile devices and often fail accessibility audits. Orbeon Forms lets you modernize legacy forms into responsive, accessible HTML5 web forms while still producing pixel-perfect PDF documents when needed.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Capability Orbeon Forms Adobe AEM Forms
Primary Focus Dedicated, lightweight enterprise web forms & PDF platform Add-on module to the heavyweight Adobe Experience Manager CMS/DXP suite
Visual Form Authoring Browser-based Form Builder designed for both business users and technical authors (localized in 11 languages) AEM Adaptive Forms editor tied to AEM repository and component architecture
PDF Generation Built-in automatic PDF generation plus pixel-perfect mapping to existing AcroForm PDF templates Document Services / Output module (often requires separate licensing and complex setup)
Complex Validations & Logic Declarative W3C XForms & XPath formulas for multi-page wizards, repeating grids, and server-verified rules Rule editor and custom JavaScript/OSGi services
Accessibility Out-of-the-box WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 compliance Requires careful custom theme and component configuration
Multilingual Forms Built-in multi-language authoring in a single form definition; Form Runner localized in 18 languages (including RTL) Managed via separate AEM translation workflows and multi-site copies
Deployment Footprint Single WAR file or Docker image; runs on standard Apache Tomcat and relational databases Heavyweight AEM author/publish cluster or Adobe-managed cloud service
Data Sovereignty 100% self-hosted on-premises or in your own cloud; field-level encryption & GDPR data purging built in Increasingly pushed toward Adobe-hosted AEM as a Cloud Service
Open-Source Foundation Open-source Community Edition on GitHub with commercial Professional Edition (PE) 100% proprietary closed-source stack
Pricing Model Public, transparent flat subscription per deployment (see pricing) Custom enterprise quote; high licensing and implementation costs

How Migration to Orbeon Forms Works

Migrating hundreds of forms from Adobe LiveCycle or AEM Forms does not require a risky “big bang” rewrite. Organizations typically transition smoothly in three steps:

  1. Reuse Your Existing Official PDF Templates: If your agency or business relies on strictly formatted regulatory PDFs, you can attach your existing AcroForm PDF templates directly in Orbeon Form Builder and map web form fields onto the PDF. Users get a modern, mobile-friendly web experience, and back-office systems still receive the exact official PDF layout they expect.
  2. Deliver Forms Incrementally: Using Orbeon Forms’ embedding APIs (JavaScript, React, Angular, or server-side Java), you can embed new Orbeon forms directly inside your existing portal, including Adobe Experience Manager sites, Liferay, or custom web applications, and migrate form by form at your own pace.
  3. Connect to Your Existing Infrastructure: Orbeon Forms integrates directly with your identity provider (OIDC, SAML, LDAP), relational databases (PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2), and backend REST APIs.

Proven in Government, Finance, and Healthcare

Orbeon Forms powers mission-critical data collection for government agencies and enterprises around the world, including Swiss Social Security (AHV-IV), the City of Brussels, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and tax preparation platforms handling over 300 complex screens. Many of our customers have relied on Orbeon Forms for over 15 years.

Next Steps

  • Try Orbeon Forms: Explore our online demo or launch Orbeon Forms PE locally in seconds using Docker.
  • Review Pricing: See our transparent subscription options.
  • Contact Us: Reach out to discuss your AEM Forms or LiveCycle migration, schedule a live technical demo, or request a free evaluation license.