Top 10 Apps to Easily Create Online Forms
Introduction
Building customized online forms from scratch is notoriously time-consuming and requires coding expertise. Fortunately, there are now many intuitive drag-and-drop form builder apps that make it easy for anyone to create stylish, functional forms tailored to their needs - no coding required!
In this post, we'll provide an in-depth look at the top 10 highest rated apps for easily building online forms without writing a single line of code. We'll explore the key benefits these tools provide, like drastically saving development time, offering deep customizability, and integrating with other business apps.
After extensive research comparing dozens of options based on ease of use, mobile responsiveness, template availability, integrations, pricing, and customer reviews, we narrowed it down to the 10 best form building apps ideal for surveys, quizzes, job applications, payments, and more. Whether you need a simple contact form for your website or a complex multi-page survey, these user-friendly builders have you covered!
Let's dive in and compare the core capabilities of these top-rated form creators to determine which solution is best suited to your specific needs and use case. The target audience for this content includes non-technical users as well as developers looking to improve productivity and skip the hassle of building forms from scratch.
What Exactly are Online Form Builders?
Before jumping into the top tools, let's clearly define what online form builders are and how they work:
- Form builders provide pre-made templates and drag-and-drop editors to create customized forms without needing to write any code.
- These tools allow you to collect all types of data through forms, including text, multiple choice questions, images, file uploads, payments, signatures, and more.
- Key features include a graphical user interface (GUI) editor, hundreds of templates, conditional logic, integrations, notifications, analytics, and much more.
- Forms can be embedded anywhere like websites, social media, or emails. They can also be shared via simple links.
- Popular use cases include surveys, quizzes, job applications, event registrations, orders, contact forms, and countless others.
Benefits of Online Form Builders Over Coding
There are many clear advantages to using online form builders rather than hand coding forms from scratch:
- Saves massive development time - No need to code backend form processing and validation. Build forms visually in minutes!
- No coding required - These tools are designed for anyone to use, no technical skills needed.
- Customizable themes - Make forms match your brand with color, font, layout options.
- Pre-made templates - Start with a template tailored to your use case, then customize as needed.
- Mobile responsiveness - Forms work perfectly on all devices and screen sizes.
- Easy embedding - Embed forms on websites with a simple provided code snippet.
- Multi-page forms - Create multi-step forms with progress bars, conditional logic, and branching.
- Accept payments - Seamlessly collect payments, donations, orders, and more.
- App integrations - Connect to CRMs, email services, Slack, and 1,000+ other apps.
- Response analytics - View real-time analytics on form responses and conversion rates.
Top 10 Online Form Builders
Now let's provide overviews of the top 10 user-friendly form builders and highlight some of their notable capabilities:
The top options we'll cover include Typeform, Jotform, Wufoo, Formstack, Google Forms, Formspree, FormKeep, FormGet, FormsIt, and DevHunt Forms. These were selected based on criteria like ease of use, mobile optimization, template availability, integrations, analytics, pricing, and overwhelmingly positive customer feedback.
We'll summarize key benefits and ideal use cases for each form builder. We'll also do deeper comparison dives between the leaders later on.
1. Typeform
Typeform specializes in beautiful, engaging online forms with slick conversational interfaces. They offer ready-made templates for surveys, quizzes, contests, recruitment forms, and more. Their forms utilize conditional logic to personalize the experience. Typeform seamlessly integrates with tools like Zapier, Slack, Mailchimp, and hundreds of others. They provide a partially featured free plan but paid plans unlock more robust functionality.
For example, Typeform is ideal for creating a recruiting screening quiz that branches based on candidate responses.
2. Jotform
Jotform is a powerful drag-and-drop form builder with hundreds of professionally designed templates. It enables forms to accept payments, signatures, file uploads, and more. Jotform offers compliance options for handling sensitive data like HIPAA and PCI. It integrates with popular apps like Zapier, PayPal, MailChimp, Slack, and over 1,000 others. They offer a basic free plan as well as paid plans for more advanced capabilities.
Jotform excels at complex proposal and order form templates perfect for collecting payments and customer agreements.
3. Wufoo
Wufoo focuses on ease of use with straightforward forms that are quick to build. They offer a library of clean, stylish templates for any use case. Wufoo has built-in integrations with MailChimp, Zapier, PayPal, and other popular tools. They also provide dedicated contact form plans for websites. Wufoo's pricing is based on the number of forms and responses needed per month.
Wufoo's simple drag-and-drop editor makes building clean, uncomplicated contact forms fast and easy.
4. Formstack
Formstack is a versatile form builder that excels at complex multi-page forms with conditional logic and partial submissions. Advanced features include A/B testing, partial payments, and more. Formstack offers real-time integrations with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Webhooks, and hundreds more. Formstack provides a 14-day free trial, after which paid plans scale based on usage and capabilities.
Formstack is ideal for robust multi-step forms like online applications, insurance claims, or research studies.
5. Google Forms
Google Forms is a free and intuitive basic form builder included with Google Workspace accounts. It enables easy collaboration with real-time response viewing and analysis. Forms integrate directly with Google Sheets for organized data capturing. Compared to paid builders, Google Forms has relatively limited styling and customization options. But its tight Google Workspace integration makes it a convenient choice for basic forms.
Google Forms works well for simple internal surveys where responses can be automatically compiled into Sheets.
6. Formspree
Formspree offers a unique form integration service designed primarily for contact forms on websites. Just add your submitted email address to any form, and Formspree will instantly activate submissions and deliver the data to your inbox. The setup takes seconds. Formspree is free up to 50 submissions per month, with paid plans to scale up forms, fields, and monthly volume.
Setting up a contact form with Formspree is as easy as forwarding your email to a special address.
7. FormKeep
FormKeep focuses on seamlessly collecting form data and routing it precisely where you need it to go. It has built-in integrations with Gmail, Slack, Google Sheets, and more to manage form submissions. FormKeep enables setting up rules to automatically direct form data to specified Google Sheets based on triggers and conditions. Pricing is based on the number of fields utilized per month.
For developers, FormKeep can automatically direct web form data to structured Sheets for easy accessing and aggregation.
8. FormGet
FormGet is an easy-to-use online form builder requiring zero coding. It provides hundreds of customizable templates for quizzes, surveys, contact forms, and more. FormGet supports accepting payments, e-signatures, file uploads, and advanced form elements. It also integrates with CRMs, email services, Slack, and over 1,000 other apps via Zapier. FormGet offers a fully-featured free plan and affordable paid plans to scale.
FormGet is great for building optimized lead generation and contact forms with built-in payments.
9. FormsIt
FormsIt gives an intuitive drag-and-drop form builder with mobile responsive templates. It offers a library of professionally designed templates that can be customized to match any brand or use case. FormsIt natively integrates with email services, payment processors like Stripe, Webhooks, Zapier, and more. The free version supports basic forms while paid plans enable more fields, responses, and advanced functionality.
FormsIt excels at customizable contact and lead capture form templates for embedding on websites.
10. DevHunt Forms
DevHunt Forms is a developer-focused form builder created specifically for technical professionals' needs. It provides templates tailored for collecting structured feedback, bug reports, technical surveys, and more from users. DevHunt Forms has built-in integrations with popular developer tools like GitHub, Jira, Slack, and Trello. It offers real-time response analytics and summary charts. The free plan is fully-featured while paid tiers provide more fields, responses, and capabilities.
For example, DevHunt Forms makes gathering organized beta testing feedback easy with developer-centric templates.
Side-by-Side Comparisons of the Top Form Builders
Now let's do some deeper side-by-side comparisons between some of the top form builder options.
Typeform vs. Jotform Comparison
Typeform and Jotform are two of the highest rated form builders overall. Here's how they compare:
- Typeform specializes in sleek, conversational forms perfect for surveys and quizzes.
- Jotform offers more overall form customization options and advanced settings.
- Typeform provides a partially featured free plan while Jotform's free version is more limited.
- Both integrate seamlessly with popular apps like MailChimp, Slack, Zapier, etc.
- Typeform excels at beautifully designed surveys, polls, and quizzes. Jotform is better suited for complex data collection forms.
Google Forms vs. Formstack Comparison
Google Forms and Formstack are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Here are the key differences:
- Google Forms is free but has limited styling options. Formstack is paid but feature-packed.
- Google Forms is better for basic forms and tight Google Workspace integration. Formstack offers vastly more advanced functionality.
- Formstack can handle complex multi-page forms. Google Forms is ideal for simpler use cases.
- Formstack has tons of app integrations. Google Forms mainly syncs with Google products.
- Formstack enables partial submissions and payments. Google Forms lacks ecommerce capabilities.
Pricing and Free Plan Comparison
Form Builder | Free Plan Limits | Paid Plans Start At |
---|---|---|
Typeform | 3 forms, 100 responses/month | $30/month |
Jotform | 1 form, 100 submissions/month | $14.99/month |
Wufoo | 2 forms, 100 entries/month | $14.95/month |
Formstack | 14-day free trial only | $15/month |
Formspree | 50 submissions/month | $10/month |
DevHunt Forms | Unlimited forms, questions, 100 responses/month | $12/month |
This table compares the free plan limitations across some of the top form builders. It also shows where their paid plans start in terms of monthly cost if upgraded capabilities are needed.
As shown, Typeform and Wufoo have the most generous free tiers while Jotform and Formspree are more limited. Formstack only provides a standard 14-day free trial. DevHunt Forms offers a full-featured free plan tailored specifically for developers' needs.
Key Evaluation Criteria for Choosing Form Builders
When selecting the best form builder for your specific needs, here are some of the most important criteria to evaluate:
- Usability - How intuitive and easy is the form builder interface? Can you quickly create exactly what you need?
- Responsive design - Do forms render and function perfectly on all devices and browsers?
- Templates - Are there professional pre-made templates for your use case to start from?
- Conditional logic - Can you create advanced multi-step forms with branching based on responses?
- Integrations - What other apps and tools can you connect with out of the box?
- Payments - Can you easily collect payments, donations, etc without extra work?
- Analytics - Does it provide deep insights into form performance and conversions?
- Security - What compliance does it offer for sensitive data like HIPAA, GDPR, etc?
- Pricing - Is the free plan fully-featured? How affordable are paid plans?
- Reviews - What do real verified users report about the platform?
Top Capabilities to Look For
Based on our in-depth research, here are some of the top features and capabilities to look for in a full-featured online form builder:
- Drag and drop form editor for quickly building any type of form
- Mobile responsive design across all devices and browsers
- Hundreds of professionally designed templates to customize
- Conditional logic for creating dynamic multi-step forms
- Integrations with CRMs, email, payments, Slack, and more
- Ability to add e-signatures, file uploads, images, and other advanced fields
- Real-time analytics to view response and conversion metrics
- Compliance offerings like HIPAA, PCI, GDPR, etc
- Generous and fully-functional free plan with unlimited forms and questions
Conclusion and Recommendations
Building forms from scratch using traditional coding is extremely time-consuming and cumbersome. The user-friendly form builders we covered make it easy for anyone to create customized, professional online forms fast without any programming required.
After extensive hands-on testing and research, Typeform and Jotform emerged as two of the most powerful and well-rounded form builders overall for their ease of use, beautiful design, and deep integration options. Wufoo is also great for basic forms, while Formstack excels at complex multi-page forms.
For developers specifically seeking to optimize form building productivity, we highly recommend exploring DevHunt Forms. With developer-focused templates and integrations tailored to technical use cases, it's an excellent option to create forms fast for collecting structured feedback, bug reports, beta testing data, and more.
We encourage you to try out a few of these top-rated form builders for yourself to determine the best fit for your specific use case and requirements. Let us know if you have any other favorite form builders we should consider highlighting!