The best online form builder for most people is a free one: Google Forms if you live in Google, Microsoft Forms if you live in Microsoft 365, and Tally if you want unlimited forms and submissions on a free plan with no ecosystem attached. Pay for Typeform when the form's look and feel matters, Jotform when you need breadth (templates, payments, HIPAA features), Fillout or Cognito Forms for strong free tiers, Formstack when forms feed documents and e-signatures, and Paperform for forms that double as simple pages. When the form needs logins, editable records and approvals, it has become an app, and an AI app builder like Greta.sh is the better fit. Prices below are as of October 2026.
Form tools are easy to over-buy. Plenty of teams pay for features a free plan already covers, while others pay a form tool to act as a database it was never designed to be.
How we compared
We looked at the free plan (forms, submissions and branding limits), the price of the first paid plan and its billing basis, response or submission caps, and what happens when you outgrow "collect answers and email them to me." Prices were checked on each vendor's own pricing page on October 4, 2026, and are stated as of October 2026. Response caps change often; confirm them before you launch anything big.
At a glance
| Form builder | Best for | Free plan | First paid plan (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Forms | Google Workspace and personal Google users | Comes with a Google Account | Included in Google Workspace plans |
| Microsoft Forms | Microsoft 365 organizations | Available with a Microsoft account | Available to Microsoft 365 Apps for business and Office 365 Education customers |
| Tally | Unlimited forms on a free plan | Unlimited forms and submissions (fair use) | Pro $24/month, or $20/month paid yearly |
| Typeform | Design-led, on-brand forms | Limited monthly responses | Basic $39/month, or $28/month billed yearly |
| Jotform | Templates, payments, breadth | 5 forms, 100 submissions/month | Bronze $39/month, or $34/month billed yearly |
| Fillout | Generous free tier, unlimited seats | 1,000 responses/month | Starter $15/month billed annually |
| Cognito Forms | Unlimited forms and payments on every plan | 1 user, 100 entries/month | Pro $24/month |
| Formstack | Forms that feed documents and e-signatures | 14-day trial, no free plan | Forms from $83/month paid annually |
| Paperform | Forms that look like pages | 30 submissions/month | Pro $49/month billed annually |
The 9 best online form builders
1. Google Forms – the default for Google users
Google Forms needs nothing more than a Google Account to start, and the Google Workspace pricing page lists Forms in the suite next to Gmail, Drive, Docs and Sheets on its plans.
Strengths: zero setup for anyone who already has a Google Account. Limits: limited design control and limited logic. It's a survey and sign-up tool, not a workflow engine.
2. Microsoft Forms – the default inside Microsoft 365
Microsoft says Microsoft Forms is generally available to Office 365 Education customers, Microsoft 365 Apps for business customers and users with a Microsoft account (Hotmail, Live or Outlook.com). It covers surveys, quizzes and polls.
Strengths: already available to many Microsoft 365 business and education users. Limits: like Google Forms, it's for collecting answers, not for running a process.
3. Tally – unlimited forms on a free plan
Tally offers unlimited forms and submissions for free within its fair-use guidelines, including payments, signatures, file uploads and conditional logic. Pro is $24 a month, or $20 a month when paid yearly, and removes Tally branding and adds custom domains, team workspaces and partial submissions. Business is $74 a month and adds data-retention controls and email verification. Tally describes itself as a Belgium-based (EU) company.
Strengths: the most generous free plan here. Limits: fewer enterprise controls than Jotform or Formstack.
4. Typeform – design-led forms, on brand
Typeform sells interactive, design-led forms with AI-assisted creation. Basic is $39 a month ($28 a month billed yearly) with 100 responses a month and 1 user; Plus is $79 ($56 yearly) with 1,000 responses and 3 users; Business is $129 ($91 yearly) with 10,000 responses and 5 users. Typeform's FAQ describes a free plan with basic features and a limited number of responses per month.
Strengths: polished design, and Plus removes Typeform branding and adds a custom subdomain. Limits: response caps are tight for the price, so a viral form gets expensive.
5. Jotform – the all-rounder
Jotform is the all-rounder: form, PDF and app templates, widgets, and payment integrations including Square, PayPal and Stripe. The free Starter plan allows 5 forms and 100 monthly submissions. Bronze is $39 a month ($34 a month billed yearly) for 25 forms and 1,000 submissions; Silver is $49 ($39 yearly) for 50 forms and 2,500 submissions; Gold is $129 ($99 yearly) for 100 forms and 10,000 submissions. Jotform offers optional HIPAA compliance features, which its FAQ notes aren't part of the free plan.
Strengths: breadth, from payments to HIPAA features to prefilled and assigned forms. Limits: per-form and per-submission caps, and the editor can feel crowded.
6. Fillout – a big free tier and no per-seat charges
Fillout charges one flat fee with unlimited seats. Free includes unlimited forms, conditional logic, payments and 1,000 responses a month. Starter is $15 a month billed annually (2,000 responses), Pro $40 a month billed annually (5,000 responses), and Business $75 a month billed annually (unlimited responses, custom domain, partial submissions).
Strengths: the strongest free tier for teams, since nobody pays per seat. Limits: the headline prices assume annual billing; month-to-month costs more.
7. Cognito Forms – a capable free plan with payments
Cognito Forms includes unlimited forms and payments on every plan, and its own Cognito Pay for card payments. The free Individual plan gives 1 user, unlimited forms and 100 entries a month. Pro is $24 a month with 2 users and 2,000 entries a month; Team is $49 a month with 5 users and guest access. Cognito says prepaying saves up to 20%.
Strengths: unlimited forms even on the free plan. Limits: entry caps on each plan, and extra users are $5 each per month.
8. Formstack – forms that feed documents and e-signatures
Formstack sells forms as part of a wider workflow suite with documents and e-signatures. Forms starts at $83 a month paid annually ($99 monthly) for 1 builder user, 25 forms and 1,000 submissions per form; the Suite plan starts at $250 a month paid annually. There's a 14-day free trial and no free plan.
Strengths: forms, document generation and e-signatures from one vendor, with HIPAA compliance listed as an add-on. Limits: the most expensive entry point here for simple use.
9. Paperform – forms that read like pages
Paperform pitches forms that handle payments, contracts and workflows, laid out more like a page than a questionnaire. Free allows 30 submissions a month. Pro is $49 a month and Business $124 a month, both billed annually.
Strengths: good for product orders, bookings and applications where the form is the page. Limits: a tight free plan, and annual billing for the listed prices.
Got an idea? Build it now!
Just start with a simple prompt. No coding required: Greta.sh turns your idea into a working app in minutes.
When a form should be an app
A form is the right tool when the job ends at "collect answers." It stops being the right tool when any of these show up:
- People need to log in and see or edit their own submissions later.
- A submission needs approval by someone, then a status the submitter can check.
- You're building a database out of responses and filtering it in a spreadsheet every week.
- Different people should see different records (role-based access).
At that point you're paying a form tool, a spreadsheet and an automation tool to imitate an app. That's where an AI app builder fits. Greta.sh generates the full app from a description (forms, database, logins, roles and an admin view), and the code is exportable. Its pricing starts with a free plan of 5 credits a day; Starter is $5 a month on the welcome offer (normally $20 a month) and adds deployment and custom domains; the Database feature and team management are on Pro, $20 a month on the welcome offer (normally $50 a month). It's more than you need for a contact form, and the right size for an intake-and-approval process.
If approvals are the heart of it, see our roundup of approval workflow software. If external people need a login, the client portal software guide covers the portal tools, and how ops teams replace spreadsheets with internal apps shows the pattern end to end. Weighing a full platform instead? Compare the best low-code platforms or, for Microsoft shops, Power Apps alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free online form builder?
Tally offers unlimited forms and submissions on its free plan within fair-use guidelines, and Fillout's free plan includes 1,000 responses a month with unlimited seats. Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are the defaults if you already use Google or Microsoft accounts.
Is Typeform better than Google Forms?
Typeform is better for polished, on-brand forms, but it's paid beyond a limited free plan, starting at $39 a month or $28 a month billed yearly. Google Forms is better when you just need answers in a spreadsheet.
Which form builder is best for payments?
Tally includes payments on its free plan, Cognito Forms includes payments on every plan, Jotform integrates with providers including Square, PayPal and Stripe, and Paperform is built around forms that take payments. Check each vendor's payment integrations for your provider and country.
Which form builders support HIPAA?
Jotform offers optional HIPAA compliance features, not available on its free plan, and Formstack lists HIPAA compliance as an add-on. Requirements depend on your situation, so confirm the vendor's terms (including any business associate agreement) before collecting health information.
When should I build an app instead of using a form builder?
When submitters need to log in and edit their records, when submissions go through approvals with a visible status, or when different people should see different data. That's an app, and an AI app builder like Greta.sh can generate it with the database and logins included.
Start free, upgrade on evidence
Begin on Google Forms, Microsoft Forms or Tally. Upgrade when you hit a real limit (branding, response caps, logic), not a hypothetical one. And when the spreadsheet behind the form starts running the business, stop buying form upgrades and build the app.
