The 10 best online form builders in 2023

/ 14 min read
Laura Wilson

Forms and surveys are an often overlooked, yet integral, part of any business. They are the easiest way to collect feedback, gather data, and get real insights from your customers, clients, colleagues, or anyone else whose opinions you value.

Though, as important as they are, when it comes to online form building apps, you probably don't think much about them until you actually need one. That can make it difficult to know what you need out of a form making tool, particularly when at first glance, most of them look basically the same.

With that mind, we've curated a list of the ten best online form builders across a variety of use cases. In this article we'll cover their key features, to help you find the best pick.

What should you look for in an online form builder?

Around here, we spend a lot of time thinking about what goes into a great online form builder. As we were researching and testing these tools, we settled on five key criteria that we believe you should consider when looking for your ideal app.

  • Does the pricing meet your needs? Some form builders are completely free, while others have a monthly fee that varies according to the number of features you want access to.
  • Is the form building experience simple? You probably don't want to spend a tonne of time building forms. You want to be able to create and edit forms easily, and have access to templates to make the process faster.
  • Can you customise the design? Ideally you want a form app that makes it easy to tweak colors, fonts, images, UI, and overall branding. Having forms that look compelling are important for completion rates, and brand consistency.
  • Does it connect to your existing tools? Forms are at their best when they can connect to your favourite apps, to automate workflows, and cut down on manual data entry (think things like sharing data to Google Sheets, or entering lead data into Mailchimp).
  • Is there active customer support? There's little worse than getting stuck with a new software, and not being able to find an answer to your problems. All the best form builders should have live customer support (with humans, not bots), and a comprehensive Help Center for additional resources.

We've done our best to keep these criteria in mind while curating this list. You'll find a mixture of software catering to a variety of uses below, whether you need a simple, free option, or something that serves more complex needs.


The best form builder for brains and beauty

Paperform

(Image Source: Paperform)

🔑 Paperform Key Features:

  • Intuitive, free-text editor.
  • Workflow automation through conditional logic
  • Excel-style calculations for complex data manipulations
  • 3,000+ app integrations, including Zapier and Make support
  • Advanced customisation and theming.
  • 24/7 live support team

Paperform is where the flexibility of paper meets the power of automation. Creating beautiful forms with our editor is as easy as writing a doc.

Start typing to build your form, tap enter to move to a new line, and use submenus to insert images or videos, transform text, add questions and much more.

There's no technical knowledge required. With more than 22 question types, conditional logic, the ability to take payments, make bookings and insert e-signatures, Paperform’s tools redefine what forms can do.

Whether you’re making a sale or setting up HR processes, you can use Paperform in every avenue of your business.

Customising with Paperform is simple and effective. Our theme menu gives you full control over colours, fonts, and backgrounds, and with our native Adobe Creative Cloud integration, you can conveniently import your branding from Adobe without leaving the editor.

Don’t have the time to start from scratch? Choose from over 650 pre-made templates—from simple event registration forms to payment forms and restaurant reservation forms. Seamlessly embed forms on your website or share them with your own custom URL. You can even make use of our WordPress plugin to create web forms without leaving the WordPress website.

From your in-built dashboard you can set up custom emails, create tailored success pages and break down your submission results with Paperform Analytics. Save time by automating your workflow with over 3,000 in-app and Zapier integrations with popular tools like MailChimp and Trello.

Paperform Price: The Essentials plan starts at $20/month for one user, up to 1,000 submissions, and unlimited forms. Learn more about the pricing tiers.

Best form builder for lead capture and customer relationship management

HubSpot Form Builder

(Image Source: Hubspot)

🔑 HubSpot Key Features:

  • Simple connection with HubSpot CRM.
  • Drag and drop form builder.
  • Conditional logic and progressive profiling.

At first glance, HubSpot’s form builder seems like a basic option. But when combined with the rest of their excellent marketing, sales and customer service software, you'll find it's a deceptively powerful tool.

HubSpot’s builder behaves like most other drag-and-drop tools. Create up to 1,000 form fields, drag your questions onto the page and move boxes around to make things look nice. It’s simple to find what you need, whether it’s a text dropdown or a checkbox. You can create embedded forms, standalone pages, and forms that pop-up, dropdown or slide onto a page.

The real magic happens once someone fills out your form. Their information is automatically sent to HubSpot CRM. Not only does this simplify your workflow, it helps you leverage customer data for your marketing strategy.

The CRM is your one-stop-shop for contact management. Here you can plan tasks, personalise follow-up emails and trigger processes based on how people complete your forms.

When you upgrade to higher HubSpot plans, you can even set up forms that adapt to returning visitors.

Many form builders, Paperform included, have integrations with HubSpot that will also let you port data from your forms into HubSpot, so you’re not locked into using their native builder.

However, if you already use HubSpot’s marketing tools and are looking for a way to create forms around them, it’s a good choice.

HubSpot Price: Free as part of HubSpot's Marketing Hub; from $50 per month for more advanced marketing and automation features.

Best survey builder for immersive, conversational experiences

Typeform

(Image Source: Typeform)

🔑 Typeform Key Features:

  • Attractive, conversational forms.
  • Conditional logic.
  • Hundreds of integrations, both native and through Zapier.

At Typeform you won't find any dull pages full of bland questions. Design is king. The Spanish-based company specialises in displaying one question at a time, making the submission process feel as conversational and intimate as a candlelit dinner.

Typeform’s excellent design starts with its form builder app. It’s easy to create your custom form by changing fonts, adding cover pages and uploading brand assets and videos. The process is intuitive and within a few minutes you’ll have built your own immersive experience.

The forms are easy to use too. Respondents just navigate with a combination of keyboard and mouse commands, and on mobile the experience is even better. This great experience translates to better conversion rates—but it doesn’t work for all types of forms.

For example, you wouldn't want to use it for long question and response forms, or for collecting complex data, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a better tool for making surveys and questionnaires that keep audiences engaged.

Typeform Price: Free with restrictions; starting at USD$29/month for Basic, which includes a single user, unlimited forms, unlimited questions, and a cap at 100 responses per month.

Best free form builder for building basic forms quickly

Google Forms

(Image Source: Google Forms)

🔑 Google Forms Key Features:

  • Simple, effective design
  • 11 question types
  • Easy collaboration

You would be forgiven for not expecting much from a free online form builder. But when it comes to free online software, Google sets a high bar.

Google Forms makes it easy to quickly create and customise basic forms and surveys that can be embedded on web pages, or accessed with a direct link. The form builder is responsive and includes most of the question types you would expect, like short answers, multiple-choice and checkboxes.

But, there are quite a few limitations. You can’t accept payments, customise your forms fully, create designated ranking questions, or set up many advanced integrations. You can add images and videos and use basic conditional logic to change the questions people see based on the answers they give.

The design isn’t going to reinvent the wheel, but if you’re looking to make a simple, basic form or quiz, Google Forms will do the trick.

Google Forms Price: Free for anyone with a Google account.

Best form builder for a vast template library

Jotform

(Image Source: Jotform)

🔑 Jotform Key Features:

  • Huge library of templates, themes and widgets.
  • PDF Editor.
  • Mobile app.

JotForm has been around for over ten years. With more than 10,000 form templates available in 18 languages, it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing.

You’ll find that JotForm puts a greater emphasis on customisation than a tool like Google Forms. Be careful - it's easy to lose hours tweaking colours and picking fonts. That's before you get to the 100+ widgets, which allow you to do things like accept payments, collect e-signatures and add useful features like progress bars.

For those who don’t want to start from scratch, Jotform has a massive library of templates (for the content of your form) and themes (for the appearance of your form). It's selection of free and paid designs covers just about any form you could need - from order forms to marriage certificates.

You also have the option of creating your own customisable PDF forms. These allow your form submissions to look just right, while still allowing you to use form features like conditional logic and integrations.

You can download responses to an Excel spreadsheet, an HTML table, or a visual report. There's even the option to set up an RSS feed so you can check responses in real-time on the go.

Jotform’s major downfall comes with its website design. The site is difficult to navigate and its help documentation is poorly organised. The free plan is limited and forms are branded with the JotForm logo, but it's a great way for small businesses to get started.

Jotform Price: The free Starter plan is limited to five forms, 100 monthly submissions, and 1,000 monthly form views; Bronze is USD$29/month for up to 25 forms, 1,000 monthly submissions, and 10,000 monthly views.

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Best form builder for reports without spreadsheets

Wufoo

(Image Source: Wufoo)

🔑 Wufoo Key Features:

  • Intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
  • Separate theme designer.
  • Report builder for results.

Wufoo is part of SurveyMonkey, one of the earliest web apps dating back to the nineties. Like most things from the nineties, it looks a bit outdated now and has many modern alternatives, but appearances can be deceiving.

What it lacks in modern design it makes up for with functionality. It’s easy to edit and customise forms to your liking. You can base your design on one of the 400+ templates available or add your own CSS and HTML code to really make it your own.

Integrations allow you to export your data to spreadsheets or send it to various other business tools through Zapier. Wufoo even has its own report builder that allows you to generate graphical reports without opening a spreadsheet - a great option for anyone who shivers when they hear the word 'Excel'.

You have to pay for some of the best features, like Google Analytics tracking or the ability to accept payments with PayPal, but prices are fair and you’ll see plenty of additional benefits.

Wufoo Price: Wufoo's free plan restricts you to five forms, with 10 fields each, and 100 entries per month; Starter is USD$19/mo, and allows you to customise branding, send confirmation emails, and use basic automations.

Best form builder for collecting compliant data

Formsite

(Image Source: Formsite)

🔑 Formsite Key Features:

  • Data encryption.
  • Value and score calculations.
  • Email notifications.

Formsite has been around since 1999. While Britney Spears is no longer topping the charts and VHS tapes are long gone, 21 years later it's still a powerful form builder. Its retro design might look out of place compared to modern tools, but it’s pretty intuitive once you get used to it.

Where Formsite stands out is helping you collect sensitive information. It lets you encrypt text in specific form fields, which means responses are unintelligible to anyone without the right permissions.

This added security lets you directly accept credit card information in your form. But don't worry, there's also payment integration with companies like PayPal and Stripe. It also offers HIPAA compliance on request.

Another useful feature is the ability to reuse blocks, so you don’t have to make the same thing over and over again for different forms. You can also link forms together. This is particularly handy if users are filling out multiple forms, so they don’t have to fill out the same information every time.

Once responses are submitted you can use the built-in data visualisation tools to export graphs and tables, or publish them for people to access or download online.

There are two main downsides to Formsite: it’s pricey, and you can’t make a lot of forms. Even their priciest plan is limited to 100 forms per month, so be careful if you’re looking to make forms in bulk.

Formsite Price: The Deluxe plan is USD$24.95/mo, and includes five forms, 500 results per form, 500MB of file space, and access to 24/7 customer support.

Best form builder for organising marketing campaigns

Woorise

(Image Source: Woorise)

🔑 Woorise Key Features:

  • Drag-and-drop campaign and form builder.
  • 30+ field types.
  • Marketing and promotional focus.

Woorise looks a little different from the other items on this list, as it doesn’t market itself first and foremost as a form builder, but forms are at the core of what it does. It’s an all-in-one lead generation platform that allows you to create a wide range of interactive campaigns such as promotions, landing pages, forms, surveys, and quizzes.

With Woorise, you can create a wide range of interactive campaigns for your business including lead magnet campaigns, NPS campaigns, advanced marketing and feedback surveys, event registration and signup forms, accept payments and subscriptions and much more.

Woorise is a solid choice for marketers who want to create contests, landing pages and forms from one place. It’s pretty user friendly, though its documentation can be difficult to navigate and there aren’t any instructional videos.

The free plan comes with all the essential fields, and is enough to build basic forms. However, if you want to build multi-page forms, quizzes and surveys, collect payments, use integrations, or activate email notifications a premium plan is required.

Woorise Price: The Free plan is capped at 500 entries per/mo; Basic is $23/mo, and includes 2,000 entries each month, email and chat support, and the ability to remove Woorise branding.

Best form builder for document generation

Cognito Forms

(Image Source: Cognito Forms)

🔑 Cognito Forms Key Features:

  • Conditional logic and answer piping.
  • HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA and other compliancy available.
  • Document generation based on form data.

Cognito Forms make it easy to create unlimited forms with advanced functionality. It is also one of the rare companies that offer excellent features in the free version, from Stripe payments to file uploads and conditional logic.

Of course, some of the best features are saved for Pro users. You’ll have to pay for useful things like custom document templates, HIPAA compliant forms, Zapier integration, analytics and the ability to save unfinished forms to finish later.

As for the form builder, Cognito Forms keeps things simple. The drag-and-drop tool makes it easy to build things like contact forms, surveys and event sign-ups. The menus are a bit cluttered and the UI at times feels clunky, but the clear labelling helps.

Cognito Forms comes with a variety of ways to share your finished forms, from website embeds, to direct links, to social media posts.

Overall it doesn't have as many customisation options as other tools, but Cognito Forms is a good choice if you need to create forms at scale.

Cognito Forms Price: You can get started with the Free plan, which offers one user, and unlimited forms capped at 500 entries/mo; Pro is USD$15/mo for two users, up to 2,000 entries/mo, and 1 GB of storage.

Best form builder for engaging & conversational survey experiences

SurveySparrow

(Image Source: SurveySparrow)

🔑 SurveySparrow Key Features:

  • Conversational user interface
  • 954+ customizable free survey templates
  • Feature-rich analytics dashboard
  • Recurring surveys

SurveySparrow is not just another form builder; it redefines how forms are perceived by turning them into interactive conversations. For businesses seeking to capture leads efficiently, this approach is great because it enhances both user experience and response rates.

SurveySparrow is designed to feel like a chat. With its conversational approach, it stands out in the crowded market of survey tools. It's also feature-rich. Whether you're looking to gather customer feedback, conduct market research, or onboard employees, they have a suite of features tailored to every need.

The interface is intuitive, and creating and sharing surveys is a breeze. Plus, the rich analytics dashboard ensures that you can derive actionable insights from the feedback collected.

For businesses that prioritize branding, SurveySparrow's white-labeling feature is a godsend. It allows for complete customization, ensuring that surveys align with the brand's look and feel.

SurveySparrow Price: While they offer a free version with foundational features, The Basic plan starts at $19/month with unlimited surveys and 1,000 responses per month. Premium and Business plans offer additional features and higher response limits. Reach out to the team for detailed pricing tiers.

So which online form builder is the best?

As we outlined at the beginning of the article, the best form builder app is the one that meets your specific needs. Hopefully, this list has given you a good idea of the options out there for you in 2023. The rest is in your hands.

If you need to create a simple, quick form, Google Forms is the way to go. If you need more advanced features look at proper, paid tools like Paperform, Typeform and Jotform.

Why not get started with Paperform’s 14-day free trial? You can use our one-of-a-kind builder to make beautiful surveys, and forms, that reflect your brand, collect payments, take bookings, and easily integrate with your favourite apps.


About the author
Laura Wilson
Writer
Laura is a former Content Writer at Paperform.

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