Craft CMS
Craft 6 is being rebuilt on Laravel in public, one alpha at a time
Comparison · Mkt Auto
OpnForm vs Joomla
A side-by-side editorial comparison of OpnForm and Joomla — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:open-source
OpnForm vs Joomla: at a glance
What is OpnForm?
OpnForm's V2 bet: import your Typeform, generate the PDF, self-host the lot.
OpnForm is an open-source form builder that shipped a major V2 in June 2026 and has spent every release since hardening it for self-hosters. V2 brought PDF generation from submissions, computed variables, version history, and importers for Typeform, Tally, Google Forms and Fillout. The three releases after it are almost entirely OIDC, Docker and PDF reliability work.
What is Joomla?
Three release lines in parallel, and changelogs that publish checksums instead of changes
Joomla is running three lines at once: 5.4.x maintenance, 6.1.x stable, and a 6.2 alpha. The GitHub release feed is the only signal captured here and it carries no feature detail — every entry repeats the same template of contributor counts, merged-PR counts, download links and SHA-256 checksums, with user-facing notes deferred to an off-site release page. Volume is the only thing that distinguishes them: 5.4.7 merged 43+ pull requests where the 6.1.2 candidates carry one apiece.
OpnForm vs Joomla: editorial side-by-side
OpnForm
5.0MKT AUTO
OpnForm's V2 bet: import your Typeform, generate the PDF, self-host the lot.
◆ Current state
OpnForm is an open-source form builder that shipped a major V2 in June 2026 and has spent every release since hardening it for self-hosters. V2 brought PDF generation from submissions, computed variables, version history, and importers for Typeform, Tally, Google Forms and Fillout. The three releases after it are almost entirely OIDC, Docker and PDF reliability work.
◆ Where it's heading
The product is aimed at teams leaving a hosted form builder: the importers remove the migration cost, PDF generation covers the paperwork workflows those tools charge for, and the run of self-hosting fixes makes the destination credible enough to move to. The plan-based feature access introduced in V2 is the commercial half — an open core with an Enterprise tier, now being enforced consistently across self-hosted installs.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next releases to keep filling in V2's surface rather than opening a new one, with PDF templates and computed variables the likeliest areas given how often both reappear in follow-up fixes.
Joomla
5.0MKT AUTO
Three release lines in parallel, and changelogs that publish checksums instead of changes
◆ Current state
Joomla is running three lines at once: 5.4.x maintenance, 6.1.x stable, and a 6.2 alpha. The GitHub release feed is the only signal captured here and it carries no feature detail — every entry repeats the same template of contributor counts, merged-PR counts, download links and SHA-256 checksums, with user-facing notes deferred to an off-site release page. Volume is the only thing that distinguishes them: 5.4.7 merged 43+ pull requests where the 6.1.2 candidates carry one apiece.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is a CMS mid-transition, keeping the 5.x line on a heavy maintenance drip while 6.1 stabilises and 6.2 opens in alpha. Every release links a new migration guide and new developer documentation, which suggests the 5-to-6 upgrade path remains the project's central concern. Where the capability surface is heading isn't determinable from this feed — that information simply isn't published in it.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued parallel maintenance on 5.4.x and 6.1.x with 6.2 progressing through further alphas; the entries give no basis for calling what 6.2 will actually contain.
Alternatives to OpnForm and Joomla
Other Mkt Auto products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either OpnForm or Joomla.
Customer.io
Location becomes a trigger, Twilio stops being the only SMS path, and the LLM layer gets a memory
Buttondown
Buttondown ships something almost every day, and most of it is somebody's bug report.
Systeme.io
Systeme.io's feed is an unbroken run of customer success stories, not a changelog.
Customer.io
Customer.io's summer wave pushes messaging into location triggers and live device surfaces.
Mautic
Mautic is patching three supported branches at once while 7.2 grinds through release candidates.
See all OpnForm alternatives → · See all Joomla alternatives →
Recent activity from OpnForm and Joomla
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 9d agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.2.0 Alpha 3
- 16d agoOpnFormv2.2.2: E2E CI reliability
- 16d agoOpnFormv2.2.1: Self-hosted reliability and file-link controls
- 17d agoOpnFormv2.2.0: More reliable self-hosting and PDF generation
- 22d agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.2
- 22d agoJoomlaJoomla! 5.4.7
- 22d agoJoomlaJoomla! 5.4.6
- 29d agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.2 Release Candidate 3
- 1mo agoOpnFormv2.1.0: Self-hosted form fixes
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.2 Release Candidate 2
- 1mo agoOpnFormv2.0.0: OpnForm V2 ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between OpnForm and Joomla?
Both compete on the same themes — open-source — within Mkt Auto. OpnForm and Joomla are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is OpnForm better than Joomla?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. OpnForm and Joomla are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Mkt Auto products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to OpnForm?
Top OpnForm alternatives in Mkt Auto are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "OpnForm alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/opnform for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Joomla?
Top Joomla alternatives in Mkt Auto are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Joomla alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/joomla for the full list with editorial commentary on each.