Build Forms Faster with the Best Drag and Drop Creators
Forms are essential for any web application or website. They allow collecting user information through things like contact forms, surveys, lead captures, ecommerce checkouts, and more. But building forms through traditional coding can be slow and tedious. That's where drag and drop form builders come in - they enable anyone to create great looking, functional forms in minutes without any coding. In this post, we'll explore the key benefits of using drag and drop form builders and highlight some of the top choices available today.
Introduction
Creating forms from scratch using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and backend code is incredibly time consuming. Even experienced developers can spend days or weeks hard-coding customized forms by hand. This is why drag and drop form builders have become so popular. They allow you to quickly build forms through an intuitive visual interface instead of writing code.
With these drag and drop tools, you simply drag form fields onto a canvas and customize their appearance and behavior through settings panels. Changes are visible in real time previews. You can create forms for surveys, contact forms, online orders, and more in just minutes without needing any technical skills.
With so many options available now, it can be tough to identify the best drag and drop form builders. This post will cover the key advantages of using them and review some top choices based on features, usability and pricing. You'll also learn what criteria to consider when evaluating form builders for your specific needs. Let's dive in!
Benefits of Drag and Drop Form Builders
Drag and drop form building solutions provide many benefits over coding forms manually:
Speed
The most obvious benefit is the massive time savings compared to hand-coding forms. Building forms visually can be 5-10x faster than writing them from scratch in HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Instead of coding each element, you simply drag and arrange ready-made fields. Changes are reflected instantly in live previews. Frontend and backend coding requirements are eliminated through integrations.
Usability
These tools are designed to be intuitive and easy to use, even for non-developers. The drag and drop interfaces allow you to quickly experiment and iterate on forms. Moving fields around is as simple as dragging and dropping them into place. Since you can immediately see how changes look, it's easy to build forms that are optimized for user experience.
Features
Drag and drop form builders come packed with features to add advanced functionality without coding. You get a wide selection of ready-made form fields to add, from text boxes to dropdowns. There are options to add logic, branching, calculations and other behaviors with just a few clicks. Popular integrations further extend capabilities.
Styling
Customizing the appearance of forms is easy with most drag and drop form builders. They provide themes and templates to quickly brand forms to match your site look and feel. You can tweak fonts, colors, spacing and other styling through visual editors without needing to write custom CSS.
Top Drag and Drop Form Builders
Now let's look at some of the top drag and drop form building tools available, including both well-known names and up-and-coming options:
Typeform
Typeform specializes in conversational, interactive forms aimed at boosting completion rates. Their drag and drop editor is incredibly intuitive with minimal learning curve. Forms are beautifully designed and optimized for mobile. Downsides are higher pricing and limited logic/integration capabilities.
JotForm
JotForm is packed with features for all form use cases. Their form builder is easy to use with drag and drop simplicity. Tons of templates, form fields, themes, apps and integrations available. Can handle complex multi-page forms. More affordable pricing tiers.
Wufoo
Wufoo offers a solid set of features in their form builder. Very simple drag and drop editor that beginners can quickly learn. Good selection of field types and styling options. Light integration options. More limited in advanced features but cheaper starter pricing.
Formstack
Geared towards business users. Formstack combines power and simplicity. Straightforward drag and drop builder. Broad set of form fields and actions. Robust integrations with CRMs, email marketing, and payments. Prices on the higher side.
Formidable Forms
Formidable Forms is a developer-focused WordPress form builder that is also easy for beginners. It has an open source free version. The drag and drop editor is intuitive. Packed with features like logic, calculations, and styles. Integrates deeply with WordPress.
Paperform
Paperform provides beautiful form design and creation. Intuitive drag and drop builder that’s easy for beginners. Includes templates and themes for quick custom styling. Integrates with 1000+ apps via Zapier. Limitations include lack of logic features.
There are many other great options not covered here, such as Google Forms, Formspree and more. Each has unique strengths and advantages depending on your specific needs and budget.
Key Criteria for Evaluation
When researching form builders, consider these key criteria to select the best option for your requirements:
Drag and Drop Interface
Look for a visual drag and drop interface that is intuitive and easy to use without coding skills. Rearranging fields should be as simple as dragging and dropping. Live previews help visualize changes as you build.
Fields and Elements
Evaluate the selection of built-in form fields like radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdowns, etc. Also check for layout elements like columns and dividers. Validation options, calculations and logic features are also useful.
Styling and Branding
Assess how much styling customization is available to match your brand, through themes, templates, colors, fonts, etc. Ability to add custom CSS is also valuable.
Integrations
Integration capabilities help connect forms to other apps for data, storage, email marketing and more. Common integrations include Mailchimp, Slack, databases, payments and Zapier.
Pricing
Consider how pricing tiers fit with your budget and needs. Watch for limits on number of forms, submissions, features based on pricing level. Formidable Forms offers a free open source option, while other builders like JotForm and Wufoo have free starter tiers.
Support
Good documentation, tutorials, chat support and an active user community provide help when you need it.
Conclusion
Drag and drop form builders enable anyone to quickly create forms without coding. They provide massive time savings, easy customization and built-in capabilities that previously required complex programming. Leading options like Typeform, JotForm, Wufoo, Formstack and Formidable Forms make form building a breeze. Consider key criteria like interface, templates, styling, integrations and pricing when choosing the best fit for your specific use case and budget. Give one of these top drag and drop form builders a try today to start creating forms faster!
For those interested in developer-focused or open source form builders, explore tools like Formidable Forms which has a free version. You can also check out the form builders listed on DevHunt to discover and compare the latest developer-oriented options.