Top 10 no-code form builder platforms for 2024

Forms aren't just for grabbing emails or customer feedback. They're versatile: use them for support tickets, event sign-ups, or internal requests for new equipment.

Get a decent form builder, and you can churn out whatever forms you need, make sure they look right, keep tabs on submissions, and tweak your data-gathering tactics.

There are tons of form builders out there, and Directual, of course, is one of them. But hey, it’s nice to have options! So, time to dive into some choices.

How to tell the form-building software is good?

Form apps are tools to create and distribute forms, from basic questionnaires to complex surveys with analytics, security settings, and detailed reports. Essentially, they organize your questions, distribute them effortlessly, and track responses straightforwardly (too many -lys?). Advanced options offer deeper insights and control over your data.

Here’s what matters in each form builder app:

• Ease of use. A good form app is user-friendly right off the bat—no manual required.
• Distribution. The simpler to share, the better. Bonus points for seamless integrations with other platforms.
• Analytics. How well the app analyzes form data and the quality and range of its reporting.
• Customization. It should let you maintain your brand's look or create something unique to engage users.
• Extra features. Anything that improves user experience, boosts integration, or sharpens data insight scores high.

Top 10 online form builders

So many to choose from! In fact, there are hundreds out there. Everyone and their grandma has one. Most CMS systems offer one, and a lot of different no-code platforms too. However, let’s take a look at the most popular options.

Google Forms

Google Forms is straightforward:

Pros:

• Super easy to use.
• Part of the Google suite.

Cons:

• Lacks complex conditional logic.

Google Forms is your go-to if you need to whip up a form fast. It’s simple, without too much fuss, letting you quickly type out questions that it smartly predicts, saving you from manual dropdown hassles. Perfect for beginners; your forms will look polished in no time.

However, Google Forms doesn’t offer a wide range of templates. It has basic customization options like adding a header image or tweaking colors and fonts, which keeps things simple but might be too plain if you’re aiming for something more distinctive.

When you’re ready to send your form, just hit the Send button. You can share it via email, copy a link, or embed it as HTML on a website. As responses roll in, you can view them individually or see aggregated data and charts. If you’re good with spreadsheets, you can further analyze the data in Google Sheets.

Other features include form pre-filling, collaboration tools, and add-ons from the Google Workspace Marketplace. If your respondents are logged into Google, their progress saves for a month, letting them return to complete the form later.

Zoho forms

Zoho Form, just like Hubspot, but…Zoho. That’s not a bad thing, don’t get us wrong.

Pros:

• Detailed reports on who's filling out what
• Hooks up with a bunch of other apps

Cons:

• It’s a headache to figure out the fancy stuff

So, Zoho Forms is part of that Zoho bundle, meaning it's geared for team stuff. You can loop in teammates or anyone else important and manage all your form-sharing and tracking chaos from one spot.

For those stuck in big companies, you know how annoying it is when a bunch of suits have to okay something. Zoho Forms is on top of that. It lets you set up approval chains. Imagine you need a new laptop or something. You send your form to your boss first. If they say yes, it moves up to their boss, and it keeps going up the chain until someone says yes or no.

You get to choose from tons of ready-to-go form templates. Tweak the questions however you like, then jazz it up with one of the designs. Plus, Zoho Forms throws in a fancy editor so you can mess around with your form’s look as much as you want. You can share your forms in a ton of ways—links, QR codes, on social media, stick it on your site, blast it out with Mailchimp or Zoho Campaign, or even plug it into WordPress.

The reporting tool is solid too. You can see a rundown of responses and can customize your own reports by filtering answers and choosing which questions you want to show or hide. It also tracks where your responses are coming from with stuff like IP addresses, where people are, and even which ads they clicked on to get there.

Directual

Directual's form builder is a whole package and then some. Important to note that this is not a standalone form builder—it’s a part of the no-code platform.

Pros:

• The thing does more than just take your data; it interacts with it. You can set up forms that not only look good but also work like a charm.
• Sections in your forms can appear or vanish depending on what your users do. Like, picking a country might suddenly show options for cities. Neat trick, huh?
• This one’s for the data nerds. Hook it up to calculate complex stuff like loans or debts on the fly, or ping another server and grab what you need right then and there.

Cons:

• If you're not a techie, good luck. You might find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out how to use all these fancy features, but it’s not too hard.

You're basically building web pages that can go as deep as you want with unlimited subpages. Think of it as building a house, each form a room with its own fancy door and windows.

The forms themselves—-you can make them as complex or as simple as you like. Want to hide some fields? Just tuck them away until needed. You can even add a personal touch by automagically filling in fields if your user is logged in.

Wanna play with HTML and CSS? Go wild. If you know your stuff, you can practically build whatever you can dream up. Directual’s form builder lets you create stuff that’s both beautiful and brainy. But it's not for the faint-hearted—you'll need to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in to really make the most of it.

Meet our new Multistep Form, the next-gen tool. Design intricate, dynamic forms tailored to your users—effortlessly. It’s a plug-and-play solution designed to create complex workflows with ease. Install it now from the marketplace—it’s free, and it’s powerful!

Have fun!

Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms isn't as famous as other Microsoft products, but it's a solid, no-cost option if you need to quickly churn out a form that integrates well with Excel.

Pros:

• Easy to navigate.
• Some advanced features are free.

Cons:

• Poor integration with non-Microsoft platforms.

The interface is typical Microsoft, so long-time users will find it familiar. Setting up questions is straightforward, and tweaking settings is a breeze thanks to its WYSIWYG editor. You can add conditions to questions, like age restrictions, right in the settings.

The Style button unleashes AI-driven themes, including options with animated backgrounds—which can be a bit much if they’re too lively. There’s also an AI feature next to the ‘Insert new question’ button that suggests questions and answers, which is pretty neat.

Sharing your form is a piece of cake: email it, embed it with HTML, distribute it via a QR code, or send it straight to Microsoft Teams. It’s just a couple of clicks to get it out there, or a few more to manage settings like start and end dates.

Microsoft Forms is free, but you'll need a Microsoft account to access it. They might nudge you towards a Microsoft 365 subscription if you're not already logged in.

Jotform

Jotform is a mixed bag, honestly.

Pros:

• Tons of widgets and types of questions.
• You can mess around with the code if you want.

Cons:

• The free version is pretty stingy with form limits, submissions, views, and how much stuff you can store.

Hate staring at a blank form trying to figure out what to put on it? Jotform users probably don't have that problem. They've got a giant pile of templates to grab from, covering everything from your run-of-the-mill needs to some really niche stuff.

The interface is pretty snazzy with all its colors and animations, and it stays quick and doesn’t bog down, which is something. Despite throwing a ton of features at you, it's not a total mess to navigate.

You can tweak nearly everything in the visual editor, but if you're picky, there’s a deeper code editor. Still not good enough? Fine, dive into the CSS editor and code till you're happy. It's definitely up there for flexibility in design.

When it’s time to share your form, Jotform does all the usual stuff like emails and embeds, but it also lets you do weird things like sending your form as a fillable PDF or sticking an interactive feedback button on your site. Plus, you can grab the source code and have your techies add more bells and whistles.

Responses can be viewed as a list, or you can make them fancier with a PowerPoint-style presentation complete with charts—good for meetings or making your data look cool.

Extras? Jotform plays nice with a bunch of payment systems, lets you add widgets (even Instagram posts or Adobe Sign for signatures), and, get this, you can turn your form into an app that people can download to their phones.

Feathery

Feathery—it’s a nice one, but pretty difficult for beginners. 

Pros:

• Drag-and-drop, no need to code.
• Lets you link your apps better.

Cons:

• It’s a pain to learn.

Feathery really tries to stand out in the form-building game with its fancy logic stuff. You can build what they call “flows.” These are basically the guts of an app or website, helping you tie together all your scattered data, decide how people log in, and check data on the fly as users fill out forms.

It’s almost like making a mini-app. If your IT team is swamped, you can roll up your sleeves and solve some big issues yourself with this thing. Later, the IT pros can jump in, mess with your setup, add some code, and integrate it better with the rest of your tech stuff.

Feathery lets you hook up with Stripe for payments or Plaid for banking details right in your forms. They’ve got step-by-step guides that basically hold your hand as you paste in API keys and try not to break anything testing it out. You can mess around with the data flows using their no-code tool, setting up what happens if someone checks a box or fills out a part of the form.

It’s not just about the brains, though. The design bit feels a lot like Webflow—you can tweak spacing, colors, what happens when you hover, and where stuff sits on the page. You can whip up some themes and slap them on all your forms to keep your brand looking tight without sweating over it. Or, if you can’t be bothered with design, just pick a template that doesn’t look terrible right off the bat.

Typeform

Typeform—one of the more popular and mature platforms.

Pros:

• Killer user experience.
• Guides you through embedding forms step-by-step.

Cons:

• The free version is basically a teaser.

Typeform is all about conversational forms, which means your questions pop up one at a time like a chat. This setup is so slick that you can ditch the mouse and just type away.

The form builder itself is clean. It's packed with visual aids, so it’s pretty tough to screw up the look of your form. They start you off with tons of templates and themes, and you can fiddle with the layouts, fonts, and other design elements to get it just right.

When it’s time to share your form, you’ve got options: email, social media, QR codes, or stick it on your site with one of four layout choices. You can embed it as a chat window to keep that conversational vibe going. They’ve even thrown in some easy-peasy embedding instructions so you know exactly where to stick the code.

As responses roll in, you can check them out in a list, dig through charts tailored to your questions, or whip up detailed reports to share. You can also tag submissions to keep them organized or flag them if they need action. The analytics are handy too, tracking stuff like conversion rates, how long people take to fill out the form, and where they bail.

Extra: you can upload your brand kit to Typeform, so your forms always match your style, no matter where they end up.

Paperform

Paperform, the runner-up to Typeform.

Pros:

• Looks sharp right out of the gate
• Plays nice with Google and Facebook for tracking

Cons:

• The interface is a bit of a puzzle at first

Paperform is another form builder that's slick. The interface is clean, and interacting with the forms feels snappy.

It’s great for setting up forms to handle orders and sales. Say you're slinging concert tickets or homemade jams. Just pop a Products section into your form, list what you’re selling with details like name, SKU, images, price, and how many people can buy. You can even dump your entire product list in with a CSV file to make life easier.

It also handles coupons and special pricing rules, say, if you need to tack on a few bucks to cover payment fees. It’s hooked up with Stripe, Braintree, PayPal Business, and Square to manage payments.

Making a new form feels like making up a Word doc. You add sections for images, headers, whatever, then drop in the questions. You see your form taking shape live, so no surprises later. To tweak a section, just hover and hit the settings.

You start with 400 templates, but the design options aren’t top-tier. Paperform uses a sort of "throw it at the wall and see if it sticks" method for design—hit the "I’m feeling lucky" button and hope for the best. Not feeling it? You can still mess with the fonts, colors, and layout until it feels right.

Sharing your masterpiece is easy—via link, QR code, or socials like Facebook and Twitter, or slap it on your website in one of four styles. Once someone fills out your form, you can have it shoot an email, jump to another page, or trigger a custom action.

Paperform’s got the standard reporting tools and analytics, plus integration with Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel to help boost your sales based on the data you gather.

Formsite

Formsite—super simple.

Pros:

• Top-notch for making sure data's entered right
• You can encrypt your stuff

Cons:

• Design options are pretty basic

Formsite is all about keeping your data safe. You can encrypt bits of your form so that only the folks with the right keys can read what’s written there. They're pretty serious about security—they've even got a whole FAQ section just to talk about how they protect your submissions.

The thing’s easy to use, too. The design’s straightforward with lots of room between bits, so you won’t feel cramped. You've got tons of templates to kick things off, many ways to tweak your input fields, and a variety of color schemes to pick from. If you want to get fancy, there's a visual editor, or you can dive into the CSS to really make it yours. Sharing’s a breeze with options like regular links, links that already have stuff filled out, embedding it directly onto a site, QR codes, or even a WordPress shortcode.

When it comes to checking out what your form's pulling in, Formsite lets you filter submissions, whip up reports—including some fancy cross-tab ones—and it spits out all sorts of stats like where your users are coming from, what browser they’re using, device info, daily hits, and how long folks are hanging around your form. On top of all that, it's loaded with features like really solid input checks, reCAPTCHA, support for order forms, and hooks into various payment platforms.

Formstack

The last contender on the list, and boy is it a cool one—Formstack!

Pros:

• Checks if your forms are easy for everyone to use
• Lets you test different form designs to see what works best

Cons:

• Not much wiggle room in the design department

If you're stuck in a job where you have to follow super strict rules about how you handle data—think GDPR or HIPAA headaches—Formstack's your pal for collecting info without stepping on legal landmines.

The basics are right up front where you'd expect them, but dig around in the settings if you need the fancy stuff. And if you're new to a part of the site, it throws a quick tutorial at you so you don't get lost.

Don’t want to start from scratch? Grab one of their templates, slap on one of the designs, and make it pretty. If it's not quite right, tweak it in the visual editor or mess with the CSS. When you're ready to go live, sharing is easy: grab a link, snap a QR code, pop it on WordPress, blast it on Facebook, or just embed it with some JavaScript you copy and paste.

Checking how your form’s doing? You can see lists of responses, individual details, and even make up charts to make sense of the data visually. It shows you where people were when they filled out your form, their IP addresses, what device and browser they used, and how many actually finished the form versus just looked at it.

Formstack also has some neat tricks up its sleeve. Like the Conversion Kit that lets you run A/B tests to see what form design gets more bites. And it checks if your forms play nice with accessibility tools, meeting Section 508 standards, which is a big deal for making sure everyone can get in on what you're offering.

What's the top form software?

Any of these options should cover what you need, so you shouldn't have to bother with another platform to fill the gaps. Just pick a couple that sound good from what I've said and test them out. 

There's no need to sit through demos or jump through hoops to start, so you can quickly find out which form app suits you best.

Afterword

Want to know how to build cool forms, automate stuff with AI, and generally give your dream no-code project a shot? Hop into our communities and talk to us directly (ha), the links are in the footer below.