Key Takeaways
Online form builders simplify data collection with automation and insights, Google Forms and Microsoft Forms lead the pack. Jotform offers extensive features and integrations, while Typeform focuses on visually appealing design aesthetics. Paperform combines document editing with form building capabilities, perfect for surveys, quizzes, and payments.
We are long past the day of cumbersome paper forms and manual data entry. There is no shortage of online form builders out there. These tools streamline the process and enable seamless data collection, automation, and valuable insights. Whether you are conducting surveys, creating a quiz form for students, managing registrations, or gathering customer feedback, the right online form builder can get the job done efficiently.
In this post, we will glance over some of the top digital form creation apps that offer an easy-to-use UI, robust features, and third-party integrations to make data collection a breeze.
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5 Google Forms
The inclusion of Google Forms here shouldn't surprise anyone. It's one of the most popular Google Workspace tools in startups and education sectors. It can be an ideal option for anyone looking for a free, user-friendly, and efficient way to create and manage forms online.
Google Forms' simplicity, coupled with robust Google Workspace integration and real-time collaboration, makes it a go-to option for all types of data collection needs. Google Forms also comes with a respectable template library to help you get started in no time.
Other noteworthy add-ons include customization options to change the look and feel of your boring forms with themes, images, and colors. It also offers data collection and analysis via Google Sheets, add-ons to expand its functionality, seamless sharing, and native mobile apps. That said, if you are looking for more customization options for your complex forms or workflows, Google Forms may feel underwhelming at times.
Google Forms
See at Google Forms
4 Microsoft Forms
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Like Google Forms, Microsoft Forms is another web-based form builder that plays to its strength within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Similar to other Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Forms received a nice UI makeover with rounded elements that look more modern and up-to-date compared to other rivals.
Microsoft offers an excellent template gallery to get you started. You can check trending templates at the top, even some premium templates, as well as other options in their relevant categories. Whether you want to create a teacher feedback survey, holiday party invitation, or a simple English grammar test, you won't have a hard time getting started with Microsoft Forms.
Based on your creation, Microsoft Forms will also offer several recommendations for enhancing your digital form. It supports various types of questions, branching and logic to tailor the form based on user responses, integration with other Microsoft 365 apps, seamless sharing, and more.
Microsoft Forms
See at Microsoft Forms
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3 Jotform
So far, we have only talked about a couple of free form builders that focus on simplicity. If you are looking for a powerful and versatile solution, give Jotform a try. It's known for extensive features, customization options, a vast template library, automation, and conditional logic.
For instance, Jotforms offers 10,000+ templates, to choose from. These templates are divided into multiple categories, industries, and professions. Jotform also shines in terms of third-party app integrations. You can connect your form to Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, PayPal Personal, Google Drive, DocuSign, and more.
As for other tools, you can enable Jotform Sign automation to turn signed submissions into PDF documents. In addition to basic form elements like address, phone number, payment buttons, you can further customize forms with dedicated widgets from their massive widget library. The possibilities are endless here. The paid plans start at $39 per month to unlock more forms, monthly submissions, and other goodies for your account.
Jotform
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2 Typeform
Typeform has nailed the user experience and design esthetics. If you want to create visually appealing forms that engage respondents and encourage completion, look no further and go with Typeform. It's suitable for individuals, small businesses, as well as large enterprises, offering astute solutions for surveys, quizzes, lead generation, and more.
When you create a new form, you have the option to use AI to generate custom questions. You need to suggest the kind of form you want to create and let Typeform generate one of the usual questions. You can always add specific questions based on your preferences.
For the standard form content, you can add short text, statement, address, video, and a bunch of other elements to your digital form. Typeform also supports integrations with 73+ applications, like Sheets, Notion, Mailchimp, Slack, Airtable, and more. With a paid plan, there is an option to create a brand kit to ensure a consistent look across all your forms. The paid plan starts at $59 per month.
While Typeform completes the job in style, the interface is quite unusual, so if you are coming from Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, it may take some time to get used to it.
Typeform
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1 Paperform
Source: Paperform
Paperform is right up there with Typeform in terms of esthetics. It's the perfect combination of a document editor and a form builder. Whether you want to create surveys, write quizzes, collect payments, or create a roommate agreement, Paperform can be your one-stop solution to complete the job in no time.
It uses a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, a bunch of customization options to change layouts, colors, themes, images, layouts, question types and logic, payment integration with leading companies like PayPal and Square, automation, analytics, and more.
Paperform offers 700+ templates, or you can always create a new one from scratch. There is no free plan, though. You have a 14-day free trial, after which the pricing starts at $29 per month.
Paperform
See at Paperform
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Say goodbye to manual data entry
Your complex workflow may demand a smarter and more efficient way to collect and tabulate information. While Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are good enough for most, you can also explore other paid solutions if you want to unlock more features and templates.
That said, if you don't want to use another separate app in your workflow, explore one of the Excel templates to help you create interactive forms and databases in no time.
