Top 15 Cognito Forms Alternatives (Free & Paid)

Cognito forms, while a good tool for creating and sharing surveys, does have its limitations and cons. It might be the same reason why you are here searching for potential alternatives. 

If you are, then you have come to the right place!

Here, we intend to help you understand why you should look for Cognito Forms alternatives and what are the options available for you in the market. 

NOTE: The tools we have listed are solely based on the research done through platforms like G2, Trustradius, and Capterra. 

Let’s get going!

A Quick Overview of All the Best Cognito Form Alternatives

Please note that the features mentioned below aren’t the end of it. The mentioned ones are only the main or key features offered by the tools. Please go through each tool’s website to learn more about their features. 

Why Look for Cognito Alternatives?

While Cognito Forms are good for creating creative forms with its conditional logic and the ‘IF’ statements (which restrict information on the forms), there are some drawbacks that can affect the way you do surveys.

Upon visiting customer reviews on G2 and other related websites, we have found the following demerits for Cognito Forms. They are – 

• The templates available, though are customizable, don’t offer any option to monetize them.
• It doesn’t support electronic signatures.
• Its formatting options are complex and unattractive.
• The small changes done on one form will be automatically made to all others (including the one that doesn’t require it).

Though the Cognito Form pricing is comparatively feasible, the mentioned cons make users look for a Cognito Forms alternative.

15 Best Cognito Forms Alternatives to Try in 2024

Here are the Cognito forms alternatives that we think will fit you just right.

#1 SurveySparrow

When looking at Cognito forms alternatives, especially running polls or creating NPS surveys, SurveySparrow is the best choice.

Customers love the exciting and fluid experience that they provide. Couple that with loads of options and a question library to choose from, and you’ll break no sweat and find real fun in conducting surveys.

When it comes to analytics, something that Cognito form massively lacks, SurveySparrow helps you gain a ton of insights very quickly and at very affordable prices. Their interface is user-friendly and conversational, which keeps your audience engaged as they fill out the surveys.

It has a 40% higher conversion rate than almost all survey software (including Cognito Forms), making it one of the best Cognito forms alternatives around.

Features:

• Conversational Interface: It keeps the survey-takers engaged while boosting the results.
• NPS Surveys: SurveySparrow’s NPS software is simply one of the best in the market you’ll find. Very easy to make, and powered with powerful analytics to find relevant patterns. In short, their NPS software is the OG in its segment!
• Online & Offline Surveys: SurveySparrow lets you roll out online, NPS, white-label, and recurring surveys. And on top of that, you can conduct these surveys offline, too. How? Check here.
• AI Surveys: You heard it right. Just like GPT, you can add a prompt on what topic you want to survey and SurveySparrow’s AI survey builder will do the rest. It’s faster, easier, and more effective than ever. You can create highly engaging surveys in just a matter of minutes.
• Mobile-Friendly Surveys: The surveys are mobile-friendly when you’re using SurveySparrow, making it easy for your audience to fill out surveys whenever they want using any device.
• Multiple Data Collection Channels: Yes, with SurveySparrow, you don’t just conduct surveys to collect data. Chatbots, automated workflows, and more options are right there for you to make the most of.

SurveySparrow Pricing:

They have a free plan for you to start with, and their paid plans start from $19 per month when billed annually. To get features anywhere near this plan in Cognito forms, you’ll have to scoff up $99 per month! You’re pretty smart to figure out which is a better deal. 🙂

#2 WPForms

WPForms is a conversational form builder and a 1-click tool that gives a conversational style to your forms. On top of that, their survey and polls addon makes the survey creating process a lot easier, compared to that in Cognito forms.

Features:

• It’s a WordPress plugin. So, naturally, it has a seamless connection with the platform.
• This is because of its drag-and-drop visual builder that lets you create forms in real-time.
• Their completely customizable poll data display lets you create beautiful graphs for better data visualization.
• WPForms fight spam with hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA, & custom Captcha, and keeps the data well secured.
• WPForms comes with over 300 pre-designed templates that include NPS surveys, Likert surveys, basic survey forms, and more.

WPForms Pricing: 

It has a completely free plan for life. The pricing for the pro plan starts at $199.50 per year. Compared to Cognito forms pricing, it’s dead cheap.

#3 Ninja Forms

Another Cognito form alternative is Ninja Forms. It’s very much similar to any typical form builder that comes with a drag-and-drop feature. But its clean and quick-function interface is what really sets it apart. As a WordPress-based form builder, Ninja Forms is worth considering.

Features:

• Importing existing forms and installing them on multiple sites is easy with Ninja Forms.
• The prices here are set based on your requirements.
• With Ninja forms, you get 16 form templates just in the basic package.
• You get a real-time preview of the form you’re building to see if it’s coming out correctly.
• This form builder is equipped with the Google reCaptcha option for enhanced security.

Ninja Forms Pricing: 

It comes with a free trial, and the paid plan starts at $99 per year.

#4 123Form Builder

123FormBuilder is a fantastic option for creating bespoke and branded forms. It’s a great alternative if you wish to build some simple forms and don’t wanna pay for them. They do come with a paid plan, but a chunk of their good features are present in the free version, too.

It’s not the most user-friendly platform, to be honest. The interface requires time for better understanding, and that sometimes puts people off.

Features:

• Form building is easy here with the drag-and-drop feature.
• 123 form builder doesn’t just build forms, but surveys, questionnaires, and a lot more of that good stuff.
• Here, the data collected is exported with a click of a button.
• Over 1900 templates are available for use in 123 form builder. That’s huge. That’s impressive.
• Powerful analytics (even in the free plan) to track how your forms are doing.

123Form Builder Pricing: 

They offer a forever-free plan and the paid one starts from $20.64 per month for annual billing.

#5 Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms is one of the most advanced Cognito forms alternatives for WordPress. It’s a plugin allowing you to go beyond the basics of form building, and create quizzes, surveys, payment forms, and even landing pages for your business.

It comes with a range of configuration settings to help you control the look and feel of forms. And this can make a difference if you’re creating forms for your business, and that too at scale.

However, they don’t offer simplicity, if that’s what you’re looking for. But it’s definitely worth trying.

Features:

• Configure and develop forms the way you like them, from the date formal to the number of fields, everything is there for you to decide.
• They offer powerful conditional logic to make your respondents’ life easier.
• Multi-form forms! Yes, with Gravity Forms, you can easily create multi-page forms.
• They come with the Captcha feature to reduce the number of spam submissions.
• You name it, Gravity Forms will have that integration for you, even for accounting software!

Gravity Forms Pricing: 

The starting price for Gravity Forms is $59 per year. What do you say about that?

#6 Formstack

Formstack doesn’t just build forms, but a lot of invaluable work for its users. It allows you to get things done faster, turning all text and images you input into beautifully designed forms and digital documents that are easy to read. It can even accept customer signatures through its online forms and documents.

The best part is that you’ll never write a single line of code for all this, making Formstack a great Cognito forms alternative. But their pricing is higher than the majority of alternatives on this list. 

So think about it well before going for it. Other than that, we can’t think of any reason not to support Formstack as one of the best alternatives to Cognito forms.

Features:

• Personalize each form in Formstack using conditional logic.
• Formstack employs security measures like encryption and 256-bit SSL to completely safeguard the collected data.
• Comes with HIPAA compliance.
• This simplifies your team’s workflow multi-folds. A big advantage for large organizations.
• Advanced form analytics to find relevant patterns in the collected data.

Formstack Pricing: 

Formstack doesn’t offer any free plan and starts at $59 per month.

Here are some cheaper, yet effective alternatives you can use in the place of Formstack.

#7 Jotform

Jotform is one of those WordPress forms that you can use to embed forms by copying and pasting a code snippet. Apart from that, there are lots of customization and integration options available in this alternative to Cognito Forms.

Features:

• Easy form creation using the drag-and-drop builder.
• Ready-to-use form templates based on specific goals.
• Connect your site to email marketing tools using Jotform. Even integrations to CRMs, project management apps, and payment processors are available here.
• This alternative form builder lets users add signatures, make calculations, and even take pictures to upload in forms.
• Send these forms to users via email or social media and get a unique sharable link for it every time.

Jotform Pricing: 

5 forms and 100 submissions/month are free in Jotform. Post that, the paid plans start at $39 per month.

Also Read: 10 Best Jotform Alternatives & Competitors

#8 Wufoo

Another great Cognito forms alternative is Wufoo. Created in 2006, it’s a simple and minimalistic form builder that allows you to do things quickly. You can filter through Wufoo’s massive template library to find the right one for your business. Plus, set up this form on your first page in just a few clicks. Now that’s fast!

With Wufoo, you can create surveys, and quizzes, build contact, registration or payment forms, and more for all of your business needs.

Features:

• Just the variety of things you can do in Wufoo makes it one of the best WordPress forms.
• A handy drag-and-drop builder lets you start from scratch here.
• Wufoo connects to PayPal, Stripe, and other payment platforms.
• With Wufoo, sharing data to platforms like Salesforce becomes super easy.
• They’re equipped with powerful analytics with a one-click report feature.

Wufoo Pricing: 

There’s a free plan for Wufoo and the paid one starts at $14 per month when billed annually.

Though Wufoo does act as a worthy Cognito alternative, it lacks some advanced features. If you are someone looking for such tools but want it at Wufoo pricing, then here are some Wufoo alternatives. 

#9 Typeform

Typeform is a popular form builder because of its user-friendly interface, clean design, and visually appealing templates. It’s a fantastic choice if you wish to create a good impression on your consumers with a well-designed survey.

The flowchart feature in Typeform is a standout, as it updates automatically as people proceed through your survey. This function also shows if people are leaving the survey in between, which is a piece of useful information.

Features:

• With Typeform, making forms is fun. The reason? It’s simple.
• You’ll get state-of-the-art analytics options here which catch your attention.
• A fantastic customer support team that strives to give an unforgettable customer experience
• Embed chat boxes, or create personalized, logical trajectories for your users. Basically, customize your forms the way you wish to. No restrictions.

Typeform Pricing: 

Typeform has a free version and comes with a free trial for all their paid plans that start from $29 per month for annual billing.

Also, take a look at the top Typeforms alternatives and competitors available. 

#10 Formsite

Formsite is actually a software package that distinguishes well as a form builder. It’s a great tool for an enterprise or a small business that lets you create customized forms in quick and simple steps.

Expert features are in abundance on Formsite, and even though its UI is a little complex, it still is one of the best Cognito forms alternatives around.

Features:

• Their email support is top of the brass in all sense.
• With Formsite, you get features for all your different needs, from business to casual. Ain’t that fantastic?
• You get to create a form by just dragging and dropping different items and features. No unnecessary buttons to press or steps to take.

Formsite Pricing: 

Their paid plan starts from $25 per month on annual billing.

Suggested Read: Top 10 Formsite Alternatives in 2024

#11 Formidable Forms

Formidable Forms is a wonderful option if you’re trying to build technical forms on your website. It’s one of those Cognito forms alternatives that let you do advanced things like advanced calculations with your forms.

Features:

• It gives instant online estimates and calculates advanced product options which are unique for a form builder.
• One of the few tools to create forms with quizzes that display scores.
• Easily connect all forms with popular third-party services.
• Send prompt email notifications to yourself or others.
• There’s a free version of Formidable forms WordPress.org. So try that out before you go for the paid version.

Formidable Forms Pricing: 

The pricing starts at $40/year.

#12 Contact Form 7

It’s one of those WordPress forms that’s an ideal WordPress plugin for basic and flexible forms. It’s used for creating as well as managing multiple contact forms. With over 23 million downloads, the popularity of this form builder plug-in is pretty clear.

Features:

• It has a range of free and premium options to choose from.
• This effective plugin offers a great selection of field types for your forms.
• It might look basic, but Contact Form 7 pretty much offers most of the features you’ll need in a form builder.

Contact Form 7 Pricing: 

Free plugin with internal premium options.

#13 Google Forms

A part of Google Suite, Google Forms is a simple, yet effective, alternative to Cognito Form. The basic version is free to use and almost anyone can make the most out of it so long as the intent is to do basic surveys. 

They do offer a specific plan for businesses who look into crafting customized surveys. Some of the key features of Google Forms are as follows.

Features:

• Its drag-and-drop feature makes it easier for you to craft surveys
• You customize the surveys (font, color, and so on) to make them align with your branding
• It also supports real-time updates on the survey status and allows you to get deeper analysis as well
• The surveys crafted are supported on all devices, albeit it doesn’t support in-app surveys
• It offers enterprise-level security for all the survey data

Google Form Pricing:

The basic version is free of cost. For businesses, they can avail it for $12 per user per month. 

Here are some Google Form alternatives you try that are cheap and effective

#14 QuestionPro

Mostly used for market research, QuestionPro is yet another Cognito Form alternative you can use. The tools help businesses acquire valuable insights and help them reach their goals faster and better. 

They adhere to all security (international) laws and offer top-grade security for all the survey data collected. 

Features: 

• Offers all major customer experience surveys (NPS, CSAT, CES, & so on)
• You can use the inbuilt temples, which are customizable, or build one from scratch
• It supports conditional, extraction, and looping logic, making surveys smart
• The surveys are multilingual and you can use multimedia as well

QuestionPro Pricing:

Their survey software has a free version, which you can use to see if it fits your needs or not. The basic plan for the survey software is $99 per month. For their CX and market research tool, you will have to connect with them for personalized quotes.

Since the pricing is a bit on the high end, here are some alternatives to QuestionPro you can try. 

#15 ProProfs Survey Maker

Proprofs Survey Maker is a survey software that helps you work better, find smart employees, and create happier customers. It offers a wide range of tools/features, including but not limited to score surveys, NPS surveys, branching and skip logic, and more. For this reason, we can consider ProProfs a worthy alternative to Cognito Forms. 

Features:

• It supports multilingual surveys
• The created survey can be shared both on websites and in apps
• It offers options to overlay and exit pop-ups that can help grow sales and conversions
• You can also use the tool to track projects, tasks, and time

ProProfs Pricing:

ProProfs’s survey maker offers a free version. Its paid plan starts from $40 per month.

Suggested Read: Top 10 ProProfs Alternatives in 2024

Forms/Survey Best Practices

Forms are tricky. Why? It either charms people so much that they end up giving the details you need, or frustrates them so much that they end up leaving the form in between.

So, it’s crucial to design forms that people can relate to and acknowledge. For that, we’ve got 5 best practices delivered in an extremely crisp manner. Here we go:

1. Follow the Brand Image

If you and your team have put great effort and time into creating a strong brand image, it should reflect in your forms, too. Basically, that brand image should remain the same, whether it’s your website, emails, or forms. Otherwise, people get confused and don’t connect well.

So, when you get involved with choosing the pictures, colors, and fonts for a form, think about whether it goes in line with your brand image. If not, keep searching for a better option. No need to rush here.

2. Use Different Fields

No matter what your business is, visitors, come to your website for different things. A simple “Your comment” field on your forms won’t work in knowing what they’re up to. Design forms to generate fields based on the response to an initial question. This way, you keep the visitor’s attention and let them know their interests matter.

This practice works best especially when the questions people ask are falling into distinct categories. It’s a time-consuming process, no doubt. But one that yields handsome rewards!

3. Remove Repetitions

Experience.

This word should hold importance to you while designing a form. Because streamlining the form-filling experience goes a long way in getting quality data collected. So, if you think you can remove a step or a field from your form, do it. It’ll make the entire process faster and much more engaging.

For something in return, many respondents will happily fill out forms, but everyone will appreciate it if the effort required to interact with such forms is kept to a minimum. It’s all about the experience, remember that.

4. The Right Tone

Just like the brand imagery, it’s always best to match the tone of your form with that of your website and social accounts. This uniformity allows respondents to connect with you better and on a deeper level. And that translates into better responses!

5. Specify the “Hook”

Initially, the better the hook in your forms, the better the responses are, both in terms of quality and volume. This hook can be a reward, a one-on-one conversation, or a relevant piece of information. But whatever it is, it’s crucial to specify it right at the start. Don’t let the audience play a guessing game on this one.

When Are You Starting?

Yup, that’s what we’re asking before wrapping up. You were looking for Cognito forms alternatives, and we gave you 12 of them, plus the form designing best practices.

Now, the reading part is over. It’s time to choose one out of these options and start collecting quality data. So, go ahead and do it.

One last thing though, if you never want to worry about anything related to surveys, go with SurveySparrow. We have a history of always satisfying our customers, big or small. You’ll be valued the same way. Talk to us, and let’s make your survey campaigns ridiculously successful!