123FormBuilder vs Cognito Forms (2026): which should you pick?

Pick 123FormBuilder if

• Fits if you take card payments through a form and already use Stripe or PayPal
• Works for Salesforce users who want form entries to land in Salesforce

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay on the free plan, with 100 submissions a month and 10 fields a form
• Watch out: the paid prices are shown at 50% off a higher crossed-out price, with no end date given
• Pricey if you add people, because extra user licenses cost more on every paid plan
• Skip it if you want your branding removed for free, as that starts on Gold

Pick Cognito Forms if

• Fits if you need order forms that add up the total and take the payment
• Works for small teams who want an approval step after someone submits, on Team at $49 a month billed yearly

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free, with 100 entries a month, 100 MB of storage, Cognito branding and no integrations
• Not for you if you need HIPAA or single sign-on on a budget, as both are Enterprise only, at $149 a month billed yearly
• Skip it if you want a phone app, because it's web only
• Pricey if you add people, since Pro covers 1 user and each extra one is $5 a month
• Watch out: the five-plan lineup is labeled a pricing experiment, and in July 2026 Team was $39, not $49

123FormBuilder

• The free Basic plan stops at 100 submissions a month, 10 fields per form and 1,000 form views.
• Paid prices are shown at 50% off higher crossed-out prices, with no end date given.
• The brand is removed from Gold up; Basic forms carry 123FormBuilder branding.
• Extra user licenses are sold separately on the paid plans.

Cognito Forms

• The free Individual plan is limited to 1 user and 100 entries a month, carries Cognito Forms branding and has no integrations.
• Pro includes a single user; additional users on paid plans cost $5 per user per month.
• HIPAA compliance and single sign-on are listed only under Enterprise.
• The five-plan lineup shown is labeled a pricing experiment; the July 2026 lineup had no Business plan, with Team at $39 and Enterprise at $129 billed annually.

123FormBuilder

Form editor and templates

A form editor with 25+ field types, multi-page forms, digital signatures, Likert scales, embedded files and a template library by form type and industry.

Payment gateways

The site lists integration with 15+ payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, Square, Authorize.Net and Braintree.

Salesforce integration

Forms connect to Salesforce Sales Cloud, Marketing Cloud and Experience Cloud.

Branding and domains

Gold removes the 123FormBuilder brand, Platinum adds a custom form domain, Diamond adds a favicon and white labeling is an Enterprise add-on.

Data transfers

Basic allows up to 100 automated data transfers a day; paid plans list them as unlimited.

Accessibility

The vendor says its forms meet WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA and include alt-text for form elements.

Cognito Forms

Form builder with calculations

Build forms with conditional logic that controls how the form behaves, and use an expression language for calculations. Every plan allows unlimited forms.

Online payments

Take unlimited payments on every plan, with Stripe available from the free plan. PayPal and Square payments are listed among the Team plan's features.

Workflow and approvals

From the Team plan, workflow tasks and links move an entry from submission through review to sign-off. Data lookups arrive at the same tier.

Electronic signatures and save and resume

The Pro plan adds electronic signatures and lets respondents save a form and resume it later. It also removes Cognito Forms branding.

Guest access

Business includes 5 monthly guests and Enterprise 20, for working with people outside the organization. Larger guest tiers start at $25 a month for up to 50.

Integrations, API and webhooks

Paid plans connect to apps such as Airtable, Asana, Box and Calendly, to Zapier, Make and Power Automate, and to the Cognito Forms API and JSON webhooks.

123FormBuilder

• Basic$0

  5 forms, 100 submissions a month, 10 fields per form, 1,000 views and up to 100 data transfers a day.

• Gold$18.50

  per month, billed yearly

  Shown at 50% off a crossed-out $37. 25 forms, 5,000 submissions a month, 250 fields per form and 1 GB of storage.

• Platinum$24.50

  per month, billed yearly

  Shown at 50% off a crossed-out $49. 100 forms, 20,000 submissions a month, 500 fields, 10 GB and a custom form domain.

• Diamond$49.50

  per month, billed yearly

  Shown at 50% off a crossed-out $99. 200 forms, 100,000 submissions a month, 800 fields and 100 GB of storage.

• Enterprise$225

  per month and up, billed yearly

  Unlimited forms, submissions and fields, with 100 GB or more of storage. Sold through sales.

Cognito Forms

• Individual$0

  1 user, unlimited forms, 100 entries a month and 100 MB of storage, with payments and Cognito Forms branding.

• Pro$19

  per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly)

  1 user and 2,000 entries a month, with electronic signatures, save and resume, integrations and removable branding.

• Team$49

  per month, billed annually ($62 billed monthly)

  5 users and 10,000 entries a month, with workflow and approvals and data lookups.

• Business$99

  per month, billed annually ($129 billed monthly)

  10 users, 5 guests and 25,000 entries a month, with folder permissions, 1 year of audit log history and 50,000 API requests a month.

• Enterprise$149

  per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly)

  20 users, 20 guests and unlimited entries, with HIPAA compliance, single sign-on and custom document templates.

123FormBuilder

No public discounts listed.

Cognito Forms

• Annual discount

  Lower rates on annual plans

  Billed annually, Pro is $19 per month instead of $24, Team $49 instead of $62, Business $99 instead of $129 and Enterprise $149 instead of $199.

• Nonprofit

  Discounted rates for 501(c)(3) non-profits

  Cognito Forms offers discounted rates on any plan to non-educational, non-governmental organizations that are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3), on request to its support team.