Jotform Review 2024: Does It Live Up to the Hype?

Simple, Feature-Packed Form Builder That Doesn’t Disappoint

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Jotform is one of the most established form builders – but unlike some of its competitors, it has kept up with the latest developments in form building features, such as form widgets and payment integrations. At the same time, it has managed to keep the interface simple and beginner friendly.

Jotform has both free and paid plans and supports multiple languages, including French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Arabic, and Polish. You can sign up without submitting credit card details – and you can even receive payments on the free plan.

It all sounds great so far, but there are some downsides. Paid plans can be expensive and you’ll have to upgrade to the most expensive plan if you want unlimited forms. But what you really want to know is whether Jotform is right for your specific needs. Let’s find out.

Massive Selection of over 10,000 Free Templates

No other online form builder offers so many templates – and they’re all available on free and paid plans. All forms are fully mobile-responsive – in fact, Jotform uses mobile-first technology, so not only do your forms look great on all types of devices, you can also build and edit forms on your smartphone and tablet.

All of Jotform’s templates are easy to customize – you can add/remove and rearrange form fields and use the form designer to change the color scheme, styles, themes, and layout. There are dozens of free themes you can apply to your forms (as well as themes you can purchase for a one-time fee).

Jotform’s templates are neatly organized into categories including forms for orders, payments, feedback, education, advertising, questionnaires, and business registration. You can also choose to view templates by industry rather than by category.

There is also a search function, but it isn’t as useful as it sounds – I tried a search for “opt-in” forms and was presented with 1,905 results (only three of which I’d describe as opt-in forms).

Jotform Gives You the Features You Need – and More!

Jotform is not short on features – in fact, if anything, there are more features than the average user would need. Some of Jotform’s key features include:

• A wide variety of form fields – including personal details fields, multiple choice, file upload, CAPTCHA, input table, star rating, date picker, and many more
• Payment forms – even on the free plan (ten payments per month on the free plan, or up to 100 if you use Square)
• Two types of forms – “Classic” and “Card” (which has each question presented as a separate page, with next and back buttons for navigation)
• Unlimited form fields – including on the free plan
• Form widgets – hundreds to choose from, including e-signatures, terms and conditions, image slider, data grid, PDF embedder, button checklist, and many more.
• Free survey maker for students – 500+ survey templates to choose from. Plus unlimited survey submissions for students to help you collect data for your research or thesis.

However, Jotform has some usage limitations. Even on paid plans, it puts strict limits on the number of monthly form submissions you can receive, and the number of forms you can create.

For example, on the Bronze plan (the cheapest paid plan), you’re limited to 1,000 monthly submissions, a maximum of 25 forms, and 100 payment form submissions.

Mobile Forms

Jotform has recently started focusing on Google’s “mobile-first” guidelines, with the launch of a mobile app. It’s a free-to-download app that integrates with your Jotform account, available for both Apple and Android devices. All the features of the web version of Jotform are available in the app.

Secure and HIPAA Compliant Forms

If you work in an industry that is strictly regulated for data privacy, such as healthcare, or your business has clients in the European Union, then you’ll appreciate Jotform’s secure forms feature. Jotform uses the highest level of security to ensure that data is private and secure. It offers:

• PCI compliance – Jotform meets PCI DSS Service Provider Level 1 status (the highest-possible security level for financial data privacy).
• GDPR compliance – Jotform meets the requirements for EU General Data Protection Regulation.
• HIPAA compliance – for healthcare providers collecting patient data, Jotform offers HIPAA compliance features (only available on Gold plans).

Apps and Integrations

Jotform is compatible with 80 app integrations (including PayPal, Slack, Google Calendar, Mailchimp and more. It also works with popular CRM (customer relationship management) tools such as Salesforce and HubSpot. If you use WordPress, there are plugins for simple integration between Jotform and your website.

Intuitive and Great for Beginners

Jotform is one of the easiest form builders I’ve come across. Its interface is well-designed, it uses a simple drag-and-drop editor for rearranging form fields, and the settings pop up neatly in a sidebar on the right. Changing settings and adding text to fields is a matter of clicking and typing.

Form Preview Slider

As you’re editing your form, you can toggle the form preview slider to check how your form will look when completed. Toggle the slider again to return to the editor view.

Form Elements Sidebar

If you need to add new form elements – like form fields, payment options, and widgets, just click on the Add Form Elements icon. The Form Elements sidebar pops up on the left, allowing you to easily add new fields or widgets to your form.

Learn More Links

When you’re editing your form field settings, you’ll find helpful links (in blue) to articles in the help center. Links open in a separate tab, so you can learn about a feature without leaving your form.

Building a Form with Jotform

Whether you use a template or create a blank form, all the Jotform options you need open up in sidebars that are easy to navigate. If you’ve never built a form before, Jotform’s intuitive form builder interface is very easy to learn – and the help guides available will lead you through the process.

When you’ve built your form and adjusted the settings, sharing your form is also really simple. You have these share options:

• Direct link
• Social media share links and a QR code
• Embed using JavaScript, source code, iFrame code, pop-up code, lightbox code, or feedback button code
• Email
• Fillable PDF form
• Third-party platforms – including WordPress, Joomla, Weebly, Wix, Magento, Shopify, Squarespace, GoDaddy, and Duda

Jotform’s support is available 24/7 via a simple Contact Us form that also allows you to upload a screenshot of your form (though this is optional) for faster problem resolution. There’s no live chat or phone support, however.

Many form builders will prioritize paid subscribers when offering support – but Jotform seems to be different. I submitted a support request at 6:52 a.m. and received a reply at 8:39 a.m. – and I’m only using the free plan. Getting a response within two hours is pretty good – and the response even included a screenshot to help solve the issue I was having.

Lots For Free, Reasonable Upgrade

Jotform has three paid plan options in addition to the free plan, and you can pay via PayPal and major credit cards. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans, too.

The Gold plan exclusively offers unlimited form submissions and payment form submissions. All plans (including the free plan) enable you to invite others for collaboration on your forms instead of requiring multiple user plans.

There’s no avoiding the fact that Jotform is more expensive than other form builders – like Cognito Forms1 – particularly when you consider the limits on the number of forms and form submissions. However, Jotform does include a lot more features – such as dozens of payment processing options, form widgets, and integrations.

Also, there are special discounts for certain user groups. If you’re an educator or a non-profit organization, you’ll receive a 50% discount for any paid plan.

Jotform’s free plan is relatively limited – in some ways, at least. You can only receive 100 form submissions per month, you can only create five forms, and your monthly form views (the number of times visitors see your form) is limited to 1,000.

You can, however, use widgets and app integrations and receive payments on the free plan. You can accept up to ten payments per month with other processors, and collect up to 100 monthly payments with a Square integration.

Jotform’s special agreement with Square applies to paid plans as well – the monthly payment limit is the same as the monthly submission limit for all plans.