This guide provides step-by-step instructions for transitioning from KoboToolbox to CommCare, using CommCare’s most affordable, $100 month Standard Plan.

Why Transition from KoboToolbox to CommCare?

Many organizations start their digital data collection journey with KoboToolbox because it is quick and easy to launch simple forms. Over time, as programs grow, they often encounter the same challenges. Kobo does not easily support case management or tracking individuals over time. Managing users becomes harder without detailed permissions. Offline performance, security needs, and support expectations rise, but the platform does not always keep up.

To meet these needs, many organizations switch to CommCare. They look for a platform that can scale with their programs, offer stronger offline performance, support case management, provide better user access control, and deliver enterprise-grade security and customer support.

Here is a summary of the common challenges with Kobo and the benefits organizations gain by switching to CommCare:


Data Collection	Form/submission-based - each submission is independent. Well suited to surveys, assessments, and one-time data collection; tracking the same respondent across visits isn't native.	Adds case management - individuals/households are registered once and updated across visits. Designed for longitudinal, follow-up programs.
Data Workflows	XLSForm-based: supports skip logic, calculations, constraints, and validation within a form. Forms are largely standalone.	Case-driven logic and multi-form workflows that carry data across forms and visits. CommCare lets you build custom logic, skip patterns, and smart workflows that match how your programs actually operate, and easily adapt them as you grow.
Program Monitoring	Built-in summary reports, charts, and a map view; exports and a REST API to feed external BI tools.	CommCare’s pre-configured reports give you real-time visibility into user activities, submissions, and locations for managing field teams
Data Management	Exports per-form datasets (XLS/CSV/SPSS) and offers a REST API. Combining data across forms can require manual joining.	Case data links submissions to entities; dashboards, automated exports, and OData feeds reduce manual stitching. CommCare’s built-in dashboards, automated exports, and live reporting make it easier to analyze and act on your data-without extra overhead.
Platform Support	Encryption in transit (TLS) with at-rest options. Self-hosting gives full control of your data environment. Public-server security is managed by Kobo. Limited survey submissions.	Data security through encryption in transit and at rest (AWS-hosted), SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR-aligned, audit logging, MFA/SSO, and granular role-based access control. Unlimited submissions.
HIPAA Compliance	Public servers are not HIPAA-compliant. A self-hosted instance can be made HIPAA-compliant, but that is the partner’s responsibility.	HIPAA-compliant hosting available with a signed BAA on eligible plans.

Step-by-Step Instructions

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to help organizations easily transition from Kobo to CommCare on their own.

1. Prepare for your Transition

Remember, case management doesn’t exist in Kobo. If you think you may benefit from it, we recommend checking it out with CommCare!

2. Re-Build Form(s) in CommCare

Option 1: Recreate your forms Manually

Check out this video on how to manually create a form on CommCare using the form builder:

Remember: For any multiple choice questions within your application, ensure that the value in the cell corresponds to the "choice value" in CommCare. If you imported your form from Kobo via XML form, these values should presumably already be set correctly.

Option 2: Upload your XML forms from Kobo into CommCare

Check out this video on how you would upload an XML file from Kobo to CommCare to create a form.

This option can potentially speed up the application building process. In order to do this you will need to export your form(s) from Kobo in XML format. After you upload the XML form into CommCare it will recreate the form. Please note that due to differences between the systems, it is recommended that you revise the form after you upload the form on CommCare, eliminating any questions or hidden values that have no content.

To download forms from KoboToolbox, in KoboToolbox:

Navigate to the project's "Form" tab
Click the "More actions" icon (triple ellipse)
Select "Download XML" to obtain the form as an XMLForm file.

Terminology Differences: Kobo vs. CommCare

When building new forms, or "app building" as we call it on CommCare, there are some differences in terminology between Kobo & CommCare. The table below shows most of these.

Notes Form / Survey Form (within a Module) In CommCare, forms are nested within modules that group related workflows and share case types. Form Preview App Preview In CommCare, "App Preview" allows you to test the entire app, including case logic and multiple forms. Edit Form Form Builder CommCare’s Form Builder is more robust, with drag-and-drop tools, logic editors, and hidden values. Project Application Kobo uses “Project” to refer to a survey or set of forms; CommCare organizes work inside Applications. Question Label Display Text The text shown to users when answering a question; used identically in both. Data Column Name Question ID The internal name used to reference the question in logic, exports, and calculations. Question Hint Hint Message A short prompt or description that appears under the question text. Guidance Hint Help Message Optional help text that appears when a user taps a help icon in CommCare. Mandatory Response Required Determines whether a question must be answered before the user can submit the form. Default Response Default Value Sets the initial pre-filled value of a question when the form loads. Appearance (advanced) Appearance Attribute Used to customize the visual layout or behavior of a question (e.g., minimal appearance, image-as-choice). Skip Logic Display Condition Controls whether a question is shown based on answers to previous questions. Validation Criteria Validation Condition Used to enforce data quality rules (e.g., “must be greater than 0”); shows an error if the condition fails. Most question types from Kobo are available in CommCare. The table below includes a full list that compares the question types between both systems. You can read more about question types in CommCare here: Notes Select One Multiple Choice Radio buttons; allows one option. Select Many Checkbox Checkboxes; multiple options selectable. Text Text Free text input. Number Integer Use Integer (whole numbers) Decimal Decimal Numeric with decimal support. Not Supported on Kobo Phone Number or Numeric ID Allows numbers to start with '0'. Date Date Calendar picker. Time Time Time selection input. Date & Time Date and Time Use separate Date and Time questions. Point (GPS) GPS Capture Captures location coordinates. Photo Image Capture Takes or uploads photos. Audio Audio Capture Records or uploads audio. Video Video Capture Records or uploads video. Line Not supported CommCare does not support drawing lines on maps. Not Supported on Kobo Signature Capture Captures Signatures Note Label Non-interactive display text. Barcode/QR Code Barcode Scan Scans using device camera. Acknowledge Single Answer (Yes/No) Can be replicated with a single-answer question. Area Not supported Polygon drawing is not supported in CommCare but it's possible to do so with 3rd party integrations. Rating Simulated with Single Answer Use a Single Answer with number labels (e.g., 1–5). Question Matrix Simulated with Groups Group multiple Single/Multiple Answer questions. Ranking Not supported Workaround possible with multiple select + instructions. Calculate Hidden Value Auto-calculated logic field. Hidden Hidden Value Invisible field to hold logic or values. File Attachment (limited support) CommCare supports image, audio, video-not generic files. Range Not supported No native slider input in CommCare. External XML Lookup Table CommCare uses Lookup Tables uploaded via Excel or HQ.

3. Set up Case Management

Unlike Kobo Toolbox, CommCare supports case management, which is essential for programs that track individuals, households, or entities over time. In Kobo, each form submission is separate, with no built-in way to link a follow-up visit to an initial assessment-fine for one-time surveys, but limiting for ongoing services, progress monitoring, or managing caseloads across staff.

Example of Incorporating Case Management into a Kobo application

The box below provides an illustration of how a potential organization adapts their data structure transitioning from Kobo to CommCare, while leveraging case management.

Partner A is running a community health program that tracks pregnant mothers and has been using KoboToolbox for their mobile data collection. When they decide to transition to CommCare, they move their data to a new CommCare project space to begin setting up the data model. They identify key indicators and data points from their old system and use these to define case properties and case types in CommCare. For example, they create a case type for "pregnant_mother" and include properties such as due date, number of antenatal visits, and risk factors. CommCare’s form builder allows partners to quickly replicate form content from other tools in an intuitive and robust user interface. Using CommCare’s drag-and-drop Form Builder, they then recreate their original forms from Kobo. The intuitive interface allows them to replicate questions, logic, and workflows while also introducing improvements such as better validations or branching logic. This results in a more streamlined and robust data collection app. CommCare allows partners to create data models and mobile applications on the platform quickly. This is an example of a form deployed on Kobo and an app on CommCare replicating the same structure. This rebuild ensures that both future data collection and historic data mapping are aligned with the new CommCare structure, setting up Partner A for long-term success on the platform. CommCare does not require any coding - partners can easily map “case properties” for all the key indicators they were tracking previously through intuitive interfaces like the one above.

4. Create Users

Unlike Kobo where you often have shared logins or limited tracking, in CommCare:

Each field user has a unique login (username + password)
Users can be manually created or bulk uploaded via spreadsheet
Users can be grouped and given different permissions

5. Migrate Existing Data into CommCare

As you transition from Kobo to CommCare, you may want to bring over data previously collected-especially if you're continuing to work with the same individuals, households, or other tracked entities. While migrating data is optional, it's highly recommended for programs using case management, where you want to continue following up with the same cases or carry forward key information.

Example In Action

if you registered 500 children in Kobo for a nutrition program, you can export that data, clean it to match CommCare’s case structure, and use the Import Cases tool to create child cases with the same baseline information. When mobile workers log into CommCare, they’ll immediately see the children they had previously registered and can begin follow-up visits without losing any data.

Kobo to CommCare Data Migration: Step-by-Step Instructions

The instructions below walk through how to migrate your data from Kobo to CommCare from via a CSV Upload / CommCare Case Import. You can follow along in the video above.

Export your Kobo data as a CSV file. From your Kobo project dashboard, click Downloads > XLS/CSV. Clean the file so that each row represents exactly one case (e.g., one household or one person/entity). Match the structure of your CommCare case type. Note: All new case imports require a “case_id” column as the first column. This column should contain no information. Recommendation: If you would like to keep metadata from Kobo (such as “submitted_by”, “submission_time”, “version”, etc), you can import them into CommCare as case properties. Just make sure you identify the name of the case property as coming from Kobo. Your CSV should include exactly one row per case, and the column headers should match the exact names of the case properties used in your CommCare app (e.g., name, age, location, case_id if reusing existing IDs). Note: Case properties are case sensitive, and cannot include spaces. Column names must start with a letter, and can only contain letters, numbers and underscores. Go to CommCare HQ > Data > Import Cases from Excel. This resource gives you more information on this process. Select your application and case type. In the section “Handle New Records”, make sure to click the checkbox next to “Create new Records if there is no matching case”. This is only necessary when creating new cases on CommCare and not when updating existing ones. Upload your cleaned CSV and map the columns in the file to the corresponding case properties in your application. Import and confirm. After import, the cases will appear in your app and can be updated through forms like any other CommCare case.

KoboToolbox to CommCare Transition Guide