10 Best Online Form Builders with Databases [2024 UPDATE]

JotForm has been around for a while, but I was happy to see it’s definitely keeping up with the times. It’s still easy to use, but this doesn’t mean it’s lacking in advanced features. It includes payment integrations, widgets, and third-party app integrations, and with over 10,000 free templates to choose from, you’re sure to find whatever you need.

One thing I don’t like about JotForm is the limits it puts on the number of forms you can create and submissions you can receive – even on paid plans. However, you can receive payments via your forms on all plans, including the free plan.

Cognito Forms offers a great set of features at a price that won’t stretch your budget – and you can try out the premium features with a 14-day free trial (unless you’re happy to stick with the free plan). I was particularly impressed with its variety of integrations – including Stripe, PayPal, and Zapier. It also offers electronic signatures and developer-focused features like webhooks and CSS styling.

There’s no limit on the number of forms you can create (although the number of form submissions you can receive is limited on the free plan), and there’s a range of embed options, including AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) and iFrame.

Cognito Forms gives you high levels of data encryption. If you’re in the healthcare industry, you’ll be glad to know it offers HIPAA compliance.

Priced at roughly the same level as Cognito Forms, Zoho Forms is an intuitive form builder that offers all the essential features, plus a few extra ones – even on the free plan1. This includes integrations with payment providers like Stripe and PayPal, multi-page forms, and a mobile app that lets you collect data on the go, even without an internet connection. 

As a Zoho product, it integrates seamlessly with other Zoho apps, including Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Zoho Sheet, and Zoho Sign (which lets you collect digital signatures from customers). Beyond that, it’s compatible with more than 550 other applications. 

You can create an unlimited number of forms on any paid plan (the free plan caps you at three). But on the downside, every paid plan limits how many submissions you can receive, and the template selection isn’t the most comprehensive or best-designed. 

Ninja Forms is a free WordPress plugin that gives you the basics without the need to upgrade. It’s simple to use and great for beginners.

I like its unique approach to the premium features – it allows you to customize your form builder using only the add-ons that you need. For example, if you only want the format and styling add-on, you can purchase it on its own, which is cheaper than plans that bundle several add-ons together. 

Available add-ons include tools for content management, style, email marketing, and payment processing. The downside is that there aren’t a lot of templates – fewer than 20 at the moment. 

If you’re a developer, you’ll like the Ninja Forms developer mode, that lets you completely customize your forms.

If you’re looking to grow your business online, I’d recommend Formstack. It comes with analytics tools that can help you optimize your forms for better conversions, and there are over 300 form templates to choose from.

There’s no free plan with Formstack, but you can sign up for a risk-free 14-day trial to test it out. There’s a huge library of video tutorials and walkthroughs, so even if you’re a beginner, you can learn how to use the more advanced features.

Designed specifically for building surveys (yes, the clue is in its name!), SurveyMonkey has the features you need to conduct detailed research – for marketing, academics, and many other fields. It allows you to create custom question banks that your whole team can use, and also includes a bank of questions pre-written by experts.

I found SurveyMonkey to be very easy to use, and with its simple drag-and-drop editor, I think it would make a good choice for beginners.

SurveyMonkey does have a free plan, but it’s limited, and if you want to export your data, you’ll need to upgrade. With the free plan, you’re limited to ten questions per survey, and your choice of templates is limited to 40 out of the hundreds available.

HubSpot’s form builder is really easy to use and works seamlessly with other aspects of HubSpot’s inbound marketing platform. It’s ideal if you need to use forms for marketing – but not really suited for surveys or internal business management.

There’s lots of help available in the HubSpot editor, and the drag-and-drop format makes building your forms quick and easy – perfect if you’re a beginner! HubSpot is a budget-friendly option, too, as the free version gives you access to most of the tools you need, as long as you don’t mind the HubSpot branding on your forms.

Part of the SurveyMonkey family, Wufoo is one of the most popular form builders, used and loved by over 3 million customers worldwide (including Amazon, Disney, Twitter, and Microsoft). Although its free plan limits the number of forms, fields, and submissions you can receive, you can use any of the templates available. 

Wufoo is primarily aimed at businesses, so if you’re looking for personal or education-themed templates, this one is probably not for you. 

While I found the Wufoo interface to be a bit outdated, it’s still pretty simple to use. The only real issue I had is that its options for embedding forms into your website can be a little complicated. Sharing via a link, social media, or email are problem-free, however.

While there are a lot of WordPress form builders available, Formidable Forms is the one for you if you need a whole range of advanced capabilities. If you’re just looking for a simple form builder, however, I’d stay away from this one – the list of advanced features can be a little overwhelming!

Formidable Forms allows you to create forms that use calculated fields – for example, if you need to provide calculations of discounts or price comparisons. You can also use conditional logic, so your visitors don’t have to fill in form questions that aren’t relevant to them. You can use the plugin on your WordPress website for free, but a lot of the features are only available if you upgrade to a paid plan.

Google Forms is offered as part of the suite of applications that includes Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It’s a 100% free form builder (there are no paid plans to subscribe to), but it is a bit limited – for instance, there’s no multi-language support.

Google Forms doesn’t have a wide selection of templates, but there are some options: contact forms for your business, party invites for your birthday bash, and quizzes to test how much your students have learned in class. You can also integrate Google Forms with Google Sheets to collect your data into a spreadsheet.