Published 19 Apr 2023

Best and Free Form Builders

business man using SafetyCulture form maker

What is a Form Builder?

A form builder (also called form app or form maker) is a software program designed to create, distribute, and complete digital forms. Managers, HR personnel, and other workers from a variety of roles can use form builders to create and implement internal, external, and operational work forms on a digital platform instead of using paper printouts.

What is a Form Builder Used For?

There are multiple ways that forms can be used as surveys, questionnaires, quizzes, and checklists. A form builder is used to create digital forms that users can fill out locally using a gadget such as a tablet at the frontdesk or off-site while online at the comfort of their own homes. This method of using a form builder is an efficient way to send out, collect, and analyze data which reduces paperwork, shortens wait times, and streamlines processes.

Benefits of Using a Form Builder

  • Eliminate the need to physically store and organize paper forms
    In a busy organization, paperwork can easily pile-up. Paper forms are bothersome and susceptible to damage and loss. They require lots of storage space and manually organizing them can use up plenty of time and energy otherwise spent on something more productive.
    Online form builder eliminates these problems with cloud storage that allows you to keep the data of your completed forms safe and accessible only to selected personnel. Some form makers have the filter feature that helps you organize your collected data by time, location, department, employees, templates, and more so you can easily find the information you need in seconds.
  • Data compilation and analysis becomes a breeze
    Most online form builders can compile your completed forms automatically. Here, you can easily retrieve all responses and see a snapshot of your business’ performance by viewing the results from every completed form of a certain template. No need to manually tally and analyze data from numerous paper forms.
  • Easy drag-and-drop customization of digital forms
    Online form builders offer features that are highly customizable. Every business or organization has different needs, and preferences. Set certain fields of the form to collect a type of response such as multiple choice, check boxes, short answer, date, and other important information. Additionally, there are form makers that can be customized appearance-wise such as adding a logo, banner, and changing the font or color of the form to match the company’s branding.

What is the Best Software to Create Forms?

Different form builder software and applications cater to different user requirements. Businesses might need a form to collect responses from their clients or use a form to get orders for their online stores. Some organizations use it mainly for data collection and analytics. The academe also uses forms for generating quizzes and there are scholars who are able to send out surveys to a wider range of respondents for their research studies. Here are some examples of the best software to create forms:

  • SafetyCulture (iAuditor) – inspection and assessment checklist forms
  • Wufoo – good for surveys
  • Google Forms – simple form builder for simple form types, best use for google account holders
  • Microsoft Forms – best for intra organizational purposes such as team events
  • FormSite – HTML form builder
  • Cognitoforms – collecting payments from orders and generates unique order IDs
  • Formstack – functions similar to Cognitoforms, have almost the exact same features and layout
  • Paperform – can also collect payments

Form Builder

Standout Feature

Why Upgrade?

Form Builder Integrations

SafetyCulture

Public library with 100,000+ free to use and customizable templates for multiple industries 

  • Unlimited users
  • Business analytics and reports
  • Account Manager
  • Single Sign On

Data Integration:

  • PowerBI
  • Tableu

SSO Integration:

  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Okta
  • Azure

Workflow Integration:

  • Salesforce
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox
  • Excel
  • Sheets

Custom Integration:

  • SAP
  • Procore

Wufoo

Customizable form themes with custom branding capabilities

Starter accounts can have up to 10 forms and collect 1,000 responses. This account can generate unlimited reports and store files up to 1GB

Numerous integrations are available such as Mailchimp, Stripe, Dropbox, Sheets, Salesforce, and Workstack

Google Forms

Free to use for all gmail account holder

n/a

Can be integrated with other Google applications. Commonly used as an integration itself

Microsoft Forms

Best used for companies that utilizes Microsoft teams

Free to use for Microsoft account users but Microsoft 365 account holders can collect more respondents and use more templates

Can be integrated with Teams and other Office 365 applications

Formsite

For users that are knowledgeable on HTML

The basic premium account “deluxe” offers up to 5 forms and 500 responses each form. File storage is 500mb

Integration services such as Salesforce, Drive, Sheets, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Slack, and DocuSign

Cognitoforms

Can collect payments

Pro users can build unlimited forms and collect up to 2,000 responses per month

Integration services such as Google Analytics, Integromat, JSON Webhooks, and Microsoft Power Automate

Formstack

Can collect payments

Formstack has a separate pricing for Forms. Starter accounts can have 20 forms and 1000 responses. 

Free users can’t access integrations aside from Salesforce. For team subscribers and up, Microsoft Dynamics, Sheets, and Amazon Web Services are available

Paperform

Can collect payments

Premium “Essential” account holders can have unlimited forms and 1000 submissions each month 

Direct integrations with Sheets and Slack.

 

SafetyCulture

SafetyCulture Staff Writer

SafetyCulture Content Team

The SafetyCulture content team is dedicated to providing high-quality, easy-to-understand information to help readers understand complex topics and improve workplace safety and quality. Our team of writers have extensive experience at producing articles for different fields such as safety, quality, health, and compliance.

The SafetyCulture content team is dedicated to providing high-quality, easy-to-understand information to help readers understand complex topics and improve workplace safety and quality. Our team of writers have extensive experience at producing articles for different fields such as safety, quality, health, and compliance.