What is Cognito Forms used for?

Cognito Forms builds online forms that support calculations, payments and file uploads, and adds workflow automation for documents, signatures and approvals. It is a good fit for order forms with automatic totals and approval workflows for requests.

Is Cognito Forms free?

Yes. Cognito Forms has a free plan, and paid plans start at $24 per month. A free trial is also available.

Is Cognito Forms open source?

No. Cognito Forms is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Cognito Forms include HeyForm, Form.io and FormsLab.

What are some alternatives to Cognito Forms?

Cognito Forms competes with Formstack, Wufoo and Paperform. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Cognito Forms alternatives.

Cognito Forms: features, pricing and alternatives

About Cognito Forms

Cognito Forms is a commercial online form builder that offers a free plan alongside paid tiers. Users design forms with fields that support calculations, accept payments and receive file uploads, and then share them as links or embed them on a website.

Beyond basic collection, it adds workflow automation for generating documents, collecting signatures and routing approvals, so a form submission can drive the next steps in a process. The site provides how-to guides, industry guides, webinars and customer stories. Cognito Forms is hosted and used by small businesses, schools and nonprofits.

Key features

Form fields with calculations
Payment collection inside forms
File uploads from respondents
Workflow steps for approvals
Document generation and signatures
Free plan available

Good fit for

→Order forms with automatic totals
→Approval workflows for requests

Tags: forms; form-builder; payments; workflow; file-upload; approvals; free-plan

Cognito Forms: questions and answers

What is Cognito Forms used for?: Cognito Forms builds online forms that support calculations, payments and file uploads, and adds workflow automation for documents, signatures and approvals. It is a good fit for order forms with automatic totals and approval workflows for requests.
Is Cognito Forms free?: Yes. Cognito Forms has a free plan, and paid plans start at $24 per month. A free trial is also available.
Is Cognito Forms open source?: No. Cognito Forms is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. Open-source alternatives to Cognito Forms include HeyForm, Form.io and FormsLab.
What are some alternatives to Cognito Forms?: Cognito Forms competes with Formstack, Wufoo and Paperform. For open-source options, see Enlisted's ranked list of open-source Cognito Forms alternatives.