The Cognito Forms Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Cognito Forms in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Cognito Forms
The Insider’s Guide
Form builder with calculations, payments and approval workflows
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among form and survey tools, read from Cognito Forms’s own pages.
Made by Cognito LLC · checked Oct 9, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Cognito Forms’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Cognito Forms’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 9, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.4
GPA, above 6 of the 30 other form and survey tools we grade
Cognito Forms is an online form builder with conditional logic, an expression language for calculations, online payments and, on higher plans, workflow tasks and approvals. Every plan allows unlimited forms and unlimited payments, and the tiers differ in users, monthly entries, storage and security features. The free Individual plan covers one user, and extra users on paid plans are billed per user.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Cognito Forms, taken from its own pages and our grades.
- 1
Best for forms that do sums and take payments
Cognito Forms is a form builder that does calculations, conditional logic and payments, with unlimited forms on every plan.
- 2
Paid plans start at $19 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $19 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly).
- 3
There is a 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.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
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.
- 6
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.
- 7
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.
- 8
A 2.4 GPA, above 6 of 30
That is against the other form and survey tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace Cognito Forms you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Cognito Forms at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $19 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- 14-day free trial of paid plans, no credit card required; it reverts to the free Individual plan
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Cognito LLC
- Category
- Forms & Surveys
- Our grade
- 2.4 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for forms that do sums and take payments
Cognito Forms is a form builder that does calculations, conditional logic and payments, with unlimited forms on every plan. Paid starts at $19 a month billed yearly for one user. Free stops at 100 entries a month with branding and no integrations, extra users are $5 each, HIPAA and SSO are Enterprise only, and the price list is labeled an experiment.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Pro is $19 a month paid yearly, $24 monthly, which sits between this category's lowest-priced quarter at $16.25 and its middle at $24. Workflow and approvals mean Team at $49. Extra users are $5 each, and Cognito labels the whole lineup a pricing experiment. |
| Free plan and trial | C | Unlimited forms and payments for one user, but 100 entries a month is a cap you'll reach, the forms carry Cognito's branding and no integrations work at all. Paid plans have a 14-day trial with no card. |
| Features | B | It covers the whole forms job: conditional logic, an expression language for calculations, payments on every plan including free, e-signatures, save and resume, then workflow tasks, approvals and data lookups from Team up. |
| Ease of use | C | No store rating on record, and this isn't a press-and-go app: you build each form, wire up the logic and write expressions for the calculations. Nothing to install, at least. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web with integrations: Airtable, Asana, Zapier, Make and Power Automate, plus an API and JSON webhooks. No phone or desktop apps, and none of the connecting works on the free plan. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Cognito Forms is for
- 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
Who it is not for
- 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
Good to know
Good for
- 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
Worth knowing
- 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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$19
A month to start. There is a free plan too
Cognito Forms has a free plan. Paid plans start at $19 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly).
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.
The 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.
Trying it first
14-day free trial of paid plans, no credit card required; it reverts to the free Individual plan
Read from cognitoforms.com on Oct 9, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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.
Stated on cognitoforms.comNonprofit
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.
Stated on cognitoforms.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Form builder with calculations, payments and approval workflows. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, templates, workflow automation, no-code, forms, surveys.
Web with integrations: Airtable, Asana, Zapier, Make and Power Automate, plus an API and JSON webhooks.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Square
- Zapier
- Make
- Power Automate
- Airtable
- Asana
Cognito Forms is made by Cognito LLC.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
6/30
Other form and survey tools it is graded above
Cognito Forms's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 30 other form and survey tools we grade, and level with 12.
It stands best on features (B, above 9 of 30) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $19 a month, against a middle price of $21 for the category: 11 of the 30 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 31 form and survey tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Cognito Forms’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 7 of 30
- CFree plan and trialAbove 1 of 30
- BFeaturesAbove 9 of 30
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 30
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 4 of 30
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 31 form and survey tools. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Cognito Forms is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Cognito Forms you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 12 of the 30 other form and survey tools grade higher. It costs $228 a year.
What you could make
- Forms, surveys and templates: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- A builder that other people can use without writing code.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Cognito Forms’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Jotform, Formstack, Zoho Forms, Wufoo and Paperform
The 5 tools Cognito Forms is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.0GPA
Jotform
Free plan · from $34/mo
No-code form builder with payments, e-signatures and workflows.
- Only Jotform lists iOS and Android apps.
- Cognito Forms also covers no-code and surveys.
- Jotform also covers AI agents and app builder.
- 2.2GPA
Formstack
Free trial · from $83/mo
No-code forms with document generation and eSignatures.
- Cognito Forms has a free plan. Formstack does not, though it has a free trial.
- Cognito Forms also covers surveys.
- 2.8GPA
Zoho Forms
Free plan · from $10/mo
No-code form builder with approvals, payments and mobile apps.
- Only Zoho Forms lists iOS and Android apps.
- Cognito Forms also covers surveys.
- Zoho Forms also covers reports.
- 2.4GPA
Wufoo
Free plan · from $16.25/mo
Drag-and-drop online form builder from SurveyMonkey.
- Cognito Forms also covers workflow automation.
- Wufoo also covers reports.
- 2.4GPA
Paperform
Free plan · from $49/mo
Form builder for payments, bookings, signatures and workflows.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
15
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Cognito Forms free?
Cognito Forms has a free plan. Individual plan, always free: 1 user, unlimited forms, 100 entries a month and 100 MB of storage, with payments.
How much does Cognito Forms cost?
Cognito Forms lists 5 plans. Individual: $0.
What platforms does Cognito Forms work on?
Cognito Forms is available on Web.
Does Cognito Forms offer any discounts?
Cognito Forms publicly lists the following: Lower rates on annual plans; Discounted rates for 501(c)(3) non-profits.
Does Cognito Forms have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 9, 2026. Cognito Forms is listed for Web.
Does Cognito Forms have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 9, 2026. Cognito Forms is listed for Web.
Is Cognito Forms open source?
Cognito Forms is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 9, 2026.
Does Cognito Forms have an API?
Yes. Cognito Forms offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Cognito Forms integrate with?
Cognito Forms's listing names Stripe, PayPal, Square, Zapier, Make, Power Automate, Airtable and Asana.
Does Cognito Forms have a free trial?
Yes. 14-day free trial of paid plans, no credit card required; it reverts to the free Individual plan.
Who makes Cognito Forms?
Cognito Forms is made by Cognito LLC.
What are the alternatives to Cognito Forms?
The closest alternatives to Cognito Forms in our directory are Jotform, Formstack, Zoho Forms, Wufoo and Paperform.
How does Cognito Forms compare with other form and survey tools?
Cognito Forms's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 6 of the 30 other form and survey tools we grade, and level with 12.
Is Cognito Forms good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Cognito Forms C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $19 a month, against a middle price of $21 for the category: 11 of the 30 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of Cognito Forms?
To replace Cognito Forms you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Cognito Forms’s own pages on Oct 9, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Cognito Forms' own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-06-21.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Cognito LLC. Prices change, so check cognitoforms.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Cognito Forms, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/cognito-forms
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Cognito Forms: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 9, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/cognito-forms
Know someone choosing between form and survey tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/cognito-forms/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded form and survey tools after Cognito Forms, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Forms & Surveys Insider's GuideEvery one of the 31 form and survey tools we grade, compared
- Google Forms Insider's GuideForm, survey and quiz builder that comes with a Google Account3.2 GPA
- Jotform Insider's GuideNo-code form builder with payments, e-signatures and workflows3.0 GPA
- Fillout Insider's GuideForm builder with unlimited seats, payments and scheduling2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Cognito Forms’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Cognito Forms is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Cognito LLC. Prices and plans change: check cognitoforms.com before you buy.