Gravity Forms vs Paperform
We give Gravity Forms a 2.0 GPA and Paperform a 2.4, out of 4.0. Gravity Forms grades higher on value for money. Paperform grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Gravity Forms
WordPress form builder plugin sold as a yearly license
Paperform
Form builder for payments, bookings, signatures and workflows
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAGravity FormsFair | 2.4GPAPaperformFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BGraded against its alternatives. Basic is $59 a year for one site with unlimited forms and entries, a fraction of what hosted builders like Jotform or Typeform charge. Stripe and PayPal need Pro at $159 a year, and you need a WordPress site and hosting to run it on. | C$49 a month billed annually is twice this category's $24 middle, though it is a flat fee with unlimited users and unlimited submissions under fair use. A custom domain is another $20 a month on Pro, and SSO and roles mean Business at $124. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free and no trial, just an online demo. There are refunds within 30 days, but asking for one switches the licence off at once, and a refund isn't a trial anyway. | CUnlimited forms, fields and users sounds generous until you see the wall: 30 submissions a month, and a Paperform badge that can't be switched off. Paid plans do get an unrestricted 7-day trial with no credit card. |
| Features | CPlenty for forms: 30+ field types, conditional logic, multi-page forms, calculations, payments and, on Elite, surveys, quizzes, polls and signatures. The gap is the listing's own: it only runs as a WordPress plugin, so without a WordPress site it does nothing. | BThe whole job and the business around it: payments through Stripe, Square or Braintree with no Paperform fee, an appointment field that syncs to Google Calendar, logic and scoring on every plan, then Papersign for signed documents and Stepper for workflows. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Dragging fields around inside WordPress is friendly, but first you need a self-hosted WordPress site or a WordPress.com Business plan, then the plugin and its add-ons installed, then each form built. | CNo store rating on record, and you're still building each form, even if the doc-style editor and slash commands make it feel like typing. The 30,000-odd templates are the quickest way past a blank page. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs in the browser inside WordPress and connects to Stripe, PayPal, Square, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier and Slack, with a REST API and 500+ hooks for developers. No desktop or phone app of its own. | BWeb with a solid integration list: Google Sheets, Mailchimp, Slack, HubSpot, Notion, Airtable, Zapier and Stripe. No phone or desktop apps, and webhooks and the REST API both need a paid plan. |
| Best for | forms on your own WordPress site | forms that sell, book and get things signed |
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: Gravity Forms and Paperform. How we grade
Price against what you get
Gravity Forms starts at $4.92 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Paperform starts at $49 a month and scores 2.7.
Paperform scores higher, and starts $44.08 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, none scores higher than Gravity Forms for less, and 5 score higher than Paperform for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Gravity Forms starts at $59 per year. Paperform starts at $49 per month, billed annually ($59 month-to-month).
- Paperform has a free plan. Gravity Forms does not.
- Paperform also covers workflow automation and no-code.
At a glance
| Gravity Forms | Paperform | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $59 per year | $49 per month, billed annually ($59 month-to-month) |
| Free plan | None | Free forever: unlimited forms, fields and users, 30 submissions a month, 200 workflow steps, 3 signed documents a month and 100 MB of upload storage. Forms carry a Paperform badge. |
| Free trial | None listed | Unrestricted 7-day free trial of the paid plans, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Rocketgenius Inc. | Paperform |
| Price read from | gravityforms.com | paperform.co |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Gravity Forms
- WordPress site owners who want forms and entries kept on their own site
- Agencies that build forms across many client sites
- Payment, registration and order forms with calculated totals
Paperform
- Small businesses selling services, bookings or products through a form
- Teams that want unlimited users on a flat-priced plan
- Forms that have to match the look of a brand's landing pages
Worth knowing
Gravity Forms
- It runs only as a WordPress plugin, so you need a self-hosted WordPress site, or a WordPress.com Business plan with a custom domain.
- There is no free version and no trial; the vendor offers an online demo instead.
- Stripe, PayPal and Zapier need Pro, and surveys, quizzes, signatures, user registration and webhooks need the $259 Elite license.
- Refunds are given within 30 days of a payment, and requesting one deactivates the license immediately.
Paperform
- The Free plan accepts 30 submissions a month, and its Paperform badge cannot be turned off.
- Webhooks, REST API access, custom PDFs, partial submissions and hidden fields all need a paid plan.
- A custom domain costs an extra $20 per month on Pro; Business includes one.
- SAML SSO, roles and multiple workspaces start at Business, at $124 per month billed annually.
Key features
Gravity Forms
- Drag-and-drop builder
- Build forms inside WordPress from 30+ field types, a template library and layouts of up to four columns per row, then embed them on any page.
- Conditional logic and multi-page forms
- Show or hide fields, sections and pages based on answers, split long forms into pages, and route notification emails by what was submitted.
- Calculations and payments
- Fields can be calculated from a formula. The Stripe, PayPal Checkout and Square add-ons, which handle subscriptions, need Pro; discount codes need Elite.
- Surveys, quizzes and polls
- Elite adds add-ons for surveys, graded quizzes, polls, signatures, partial entries from abandoned forms and conversational one-question-at-a-time forms.
- Entries stored on your own site
- Entries and uploaded files are saved to your WordPress database and server, with unlimited forms and entries, CSV export and tools for handling personal data and consent.
- REST API and hooks
- A REST API, 500+ actions and filters and an add-on framework let developers build their own integrations; the Webhooks add-on needs Elite.
Paperform
- Doc-style editor and templates
- Edit a form like a document, adding questions with slash commands, or start from one of 30,000+ templates. A one-at-a-time mode shows a single question per screen.
- Payments and subscriptions
- Take payments through Stripe, Square or Braintree with no Paperform transaction fee on any plan. Subscriptions and coupon codes need a paid plan.
- Appointment bookings
- An appointment field takes bookings inside a form, manages availability and syncs events to Google Calendar. Booking submissions are unlimited on every plan.
- Logic, scoring and calculations
- Conditional logic shows or hides questions, content and emails, and scoring works on every plan. The calculation field is one of five paid-only field types.
- AI form creation and insights
- Describe a form in plain language and AI drafts it, which is included in the Free plan. AI help with calculations and AI report insights need a paid plan.
- Papersign and Stepper workflows
- Each plan includes documents signed through Papersign, 3 a month on Free and 25 on Pro, and multi-step workflow automations built in Stepper.
Plans
Gravity Forms
Basic$59
per year
1 site, standard support, and the Basic add-ons for email marketing tools such as Mailchimp, HubSpot and ActiveCampaign, plus reCAPTCHA and Akismet.
Pro$159
per year
3 sites and standard support. Adds the Pro add-ons, including Stripe, PayPal Checkout, Square, Zapier, Slack, Dropbox and Trello.
Elite$259
per year
Unlimited sites, WordPress Multisite, priority support and every add-on, including surveys, quizzes, polls, signatures, user registration and webhooks.
Paperform
Free$0
Unlimited forms and users with 30 submissions a month, 200 workflow steps and 3 signed documents a month. Forms show a Paperform badge.
Pro$49
per month, billed annually ($59 month-to-month)
Unlimited submissions under fair use, no Paperform branding, custom HTML and CSS, 25 signed documents a month and 10 GB of upload storage.
Business$124
per month, billed annually ($149 month-to-month)
10 workspaces, admin and user roles, SAML SSO, 1 custom domain, 100 signed documents a month and 100 GB of upload storage.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited workspaces, custom domains and signed documents, custom roles, audit trails, local data residency, an SLA and a dedicated CSM.
Ways to pay less
Gravity Forms
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit License at $129 a year
Registered nonprofits can apply for a $129-a-year license covering 3 sites with add-ons such as Stripe, PayPal, Survey and User Registration. It renews at the same price.
Paperform
- Annual discount
About 17% off with annual billing
Paperform says paying annually saves roughly 17%: Pro is $49 per month billed annually versus $59 month-to-month, and Business is $124 versus $149.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit discounts on Business and Enterprise
Paperform offers nonprofit discounts on the Business and Enterprise plans, arranged by emailing its support team. No percentage is published.
