Cognito Forms vs Zoho Forms
We give Cognito Forms a 3.4 GPA and Zoho Forms a 3.8, out of 4.0. Zoho Forms grades higher on ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Cognito Forms
Form builder with calculations, payments and approval workflows
Zoho Forms
No-code form builder with approvals, payments and mobile apps
How we grade them
| 3.4GPACognito FormsVery good | 3.8GPAZoho FormsExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APro is $19 a month paid yearly, or $24 monthly, for 2,000 entries, e-signatures, integrations and no branding. That's the cheap end of forms. Extra users are $5 each. Cognito labels this plan lineup a pricing experiment, so check before you pay. | ABasic is $10 a month billed annually, or $12 monthly, for unlimited forms and 10,000 submissions a month. That's well under what a typical form tool charges. It covers one user, mind: 10 users start at Standard, which is $25 a month billed annually. |
| Free plan and trial | BAlways free for 1 user, with unlimited forms and even payments. But 100 entries a month is tight, your forms carry Cognito's branding and integrations need a paid plan. Paid plans have a 14-day trial with no card. | BFree forever, with 500 submissions a month, which is decent. But it's 3 forms, 1 user and 10 payment submissions, and your forms show a Powered by Zoho footer. |
| Features | AConditional logic, an expression language for calculations, Stripe payments, e-signatures and save and resume. From Team you get workflow tasks, approvals and data lookups. That's the whole forms job and then some. | AMore than 50 field types, subforms, formulas and multi-page layouts, and Zia can build a form from a prompt, a PDF or a photo of a paper one. Submissions can go through multilevel approvals, take payments through Stripe or PayPal, and come out as PDFs. Approvals start on Standard. |
| Ease of use | BA web app with no App Store rating on record, so a B is as high as we go. It all runs in the browser, so there's nothing to install. | A4.6 from about 450 App Store ratings. It's drag and drop with no code, and Zia will turn a prompt into a first draft for you. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, no phone apps. Paid plans connect to Airtable, Asana, Zapier, Make and Power Automate, and there's an API and JSON webhooks. None of that is on the free plan. | AWeb, iPhone and Android, and the phone apps collect entries offline, with kiosk mode and barcode scanning. It connects to Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk, Google Sheets, Microsoft Teams, Zapier and WordPress. |
| Best for | forms that do sums and take payments | low-cost business forms with approvals and offline apps |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Cognito Forms and Zoho Forms. How we grade
Where they differ
- Cognito Forms starts at $19 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly). Zoho Forms starts at $10 per month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly).
- Only Zoho Forms lists iOS and Android apps.
- Cognito Forms also covers surveys.
- Zoho Forms also covers reports.
At a glance
| Cognito Forms | Zoho Forms | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $19 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly) | $10 per month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Individual plan, always free: 1 user, unlimited forms, 100 entries a month and 100 MB of storage, with payments. Forms carry Cognito Forms branding, and integrations need a paid plan. | Free plan, free forever: 1 user, 3 forms, 500 submissions per month, 200 MB of file storage and 10 payment submissions. Forms show a Powered by Zoho footer. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of paid plans, no credit card required; it reverts to the free Individual plan | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Cognito LLC | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | cognitoforms.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Cognito Forms
- Order, registration and payment forms with calculated totals
- Small teams that need approval steps after a submission
- Solo users who want unlimited forms on a free plan
Zoho Forms
- Businesses that already run Zoho CRM, Desk or other Zoho apps
- Field teams collecting data on phones without a connection
- Processes where each submission needs multilevel approval
Worth knowing
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.
Zoho Forms
- The Free plan is limited to 3 forms and 500 submissions a month, and its forms carry a Powered by Zoho footer.
- Basic covers a single user; 10 users start at Standard, and the user add-on is available only on Premium.
- HIPAA compliance and form encryption are listed under the Premium plan.
- Every plan has a monthly submission cap; extra submissions and storage are add-ons for paid plans.
Key features
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.
Zoho Forms
- Drag-and-drop builder
- Build standard, card-style or spotlight forms without code, using more than 50 field types, subforms, formulas and multi-page layouts.
- AI form creation with Zia
- Generate a form from a prompt, or convert a PDF or a photo of a paper form into an editable form. A Smart Scan field fills in answers from an uploaded document image.
- Approvals and workflows
- Send submissions through multilevel approvals, assign entries to team members, and trigger emails based on responses. Approvals are listed from the Standard plan.
- Payments
- Collect payments through gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square, Razorpay and Authorize.Net. The Free plan allows 10 payment submissions.
- Mobile apps with offline mode
- The iOS and Android apps build forms and collect entries without a connection, with kiosk mode, QR and barcode scanning, location capture and signatures.
- Reports and PDF documents
- Build reports with filters, a Kanban view and CSV or PDF export, and turn submissions into PDFs such as certificates and invoices.
Plans
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.
Zoho Forms
Free$0
1 user, 3 forms, 500 submissions a month, 200 MB of storage and up to 10 payment submissions.
Basic$10
per month, billed annually ($12 billed monthly)
1 user, unlimited forms, 10,000 submissions a month and 500 MB of storage, with branding and custom form themes.
Standard$25
per month, billed annually ($30 billed monthly)
10 users, 25,000 submissions a month and 2 GB of storage, plus approvals.
Professional$50
per month, billed annually ($60 billed monthly)
25 users, 75,000 submissions a month and 5 GB of storage.
Premium$90
per month, billed annually ($110 billed monthly)
100 users, 150,000 submissions a month and 10 GB of storage, plus HIPAA compliance, form encryption and SMTP.
Ways to pay less
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.
Zoho Forms
- Annual discount
Lower monthly rate with annual billing
Billed annually, Basic is $10 per month instead of $12, Standard $25 instead of $30, Professional $50 instead of $60 and Premium $90 instead of $110.
