Choosing the enterprise forms automation software that elevates your workflow

Managing business forms manually is a Sisyphean task.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore today’s top choices for enterprise forms automation software — each one an efficient solution that can turn the status quo of manual operations on its head.

You’ll discover how leading options can optimize workflows, facilitate collaboration, and help your business fire on all cylinders.

Let’s dive in!

Key takeaways

• The ability of enterprise form automation software to integrate seamlessly with various CRMs, ERPs, and other systems is a critical factor for smooth data flow and manual intervention reduction.
• Another crucial aspect of this software is its usability and user-friendly nature. Tools with intuitive interfaces and responsive designs are more likely to be adopted across roles, maximizing the return on investment.
• Adherence to compliance standards like HIPAA, SOC 2, or ISO 27001, and features like encryption or access controls, are non-negotiable and integral for some industries like finance and healthcare.
• Advanced automation features and the ability to trigger real-time actions based on predefined rules are vital for quickly addressing issues.
• To achieve better customer relationships and loyalty, consider solutions with personalized customer experiences and real-time data utilization.

Considerations when choosing the best forms automation software

With the market full of options, it pays to be selective when choosing an enterprise forms automation solution. The right fit can supercharge your workflows.

The wrong one can handcuff them.

To find your perfect match, keep these factors in mind:

Mobile responsiveness

In our digital world, forms need to work flawlessly on any device.

Mobile responsiveness is a must-have, not a nice-to-have.

Tablets and smartphones should be first-class citizens, with mobile and web forms adjusting dynamically to any screen size.

Scalability

As your business grows, so do your form needs. Scalable software can handle your expanding workload without disruption.

Usage-based pricing is ideal for balancing costs and flexibility.

Compliance standards

For industries like finance and healthcare, compliance is non-negotiable. Prioritize secure platforms that enable standards like SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA.

Encryption, access controls, and audit trails are par for the course.

Usability

Even the most powerful software is useless if people can’t (or won’t) use it.

Choose tools with modern interfaces optimized for user adoption across roles. The easier it is to create, distribute, complete, and manage forms, the higher the ROI.

Integration capabilities

Your forms automation software should play nice with others.

Seamless integration with CRMs, ERPs, and other systems reduces manual busywork and ensures data flows smoothly across your tech stack.

Prioritize platforms with out-of-the-box integrations and open APIs.

Our approach to sourcing data

While compiling this guide on leading forms automation tools, we took a multifaceted research approach.

Our goal was to provide the most comprehensive and unbiased comparisons possible.

We started by examining official websites to get the most comprehensive view of existing features.

Then, we analyzed the reviews from real-world users across software review platforms like Capterra, G2 Crowd, and Software Advice.

These platforms provided invaluable insight into how different solutions perform in real business scenarios.

Next, we consulted software buyer guides and reports from leading industry analysts. These offered an expert perspective on vendor leadership and emerging trends.

Finally, we considered user statistics and case studies to gauge the full capabilities of each platform and find what wasn’t.

Combining insights from users, experts, and vendors themselves, we aimed to deliver the most complete and objective evaluations of these critical business tools.

Let’s examine the top solutions for enterprise forms automation.

1. PandaDoc

Price: from $19 to $49/user/month paid annually, Enterprise plan available + API pricing

The best for: from SMB to Enterprise businesses

Ease of use: 4.6/5

Functionality: 4.7/5

Key features:

• Drag-and-drop editing with over 1000 ready-to-use templates, providing real-time access to approvals, comments, and version tracking
• Built-in legally binding e-signatures to enhance security and trust
• Native CRM integrations to streamline document workflows
• Compliance with the latest General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards and supports Privacy Shield registrations
• Instant payment collection directly from contracts, potentially increasing close rates by 36%
• Smart features like variables and conditional logic to eliminate document errors and enhance collaboration across various teams

Free trial: yes, 14-day trial

The first system in our comparison is homebrew. PandaDoc is a business product whose features lay far wider than the typical DMS feature set.

The system helps increase the number of documents created per month by 87% on average, reducing the time spent by half.

Here you can find everything you need for enterprise forms automation, especially with Business and Enterprise pricing plans.

It makes it easy to create smart forms, build automated workflows, and integrate with other tools you already use.

Start automating with built-in form builder tools as well as access to any of more than 1,000 beautifully designed templates.

With an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can then easily personalize your template and add a detailed form.

Customize colors, fonts, add images, and have the look of your desired form in minutes — no coding needed.

Next, you want to automate how forms are sent out and routed. This is where the workflows management automation feature set comes in handy.

You can define things like conditional logic, approvals, and signers by role. And the permissions system grants access to the selected documents for certain users.

So when someone submits a request, it automatically routes to the right people in the right order and sends all the required reminders. No more ping-ponging with emails!

Finally, integrations take automation to the next level by connecting your forms to tools you already use.

PandaDoc has out-of-the-box integrations with tools like Salesforce, Zapier, PayPal, and more.

You can set up auto-populating your forms with existing data, and you can sync data back to your CRM once the form is completed.

There are many more handy features as well:

• The collaboration feature is aimed at sharing documents among the working group members for simultaneous access and editing.
• PandaDoc keeps all the documents secure thanks to its full compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and FERPA.
• With the eSignature feature, all parties can sign documents right after approval, making the process faster.
• And with available document tracking and analytics, you can always get a complete document audit trail upon request. This can help you identify recipient behaviors and determine the best-performing approaches and templates.

The benefits of PandaDoc as a document management system are evident.

Among them is a huge base of glossy document templates, advanced editing, and collaboration tools, high reliability and security, as well as affordable pricing.

There are, perhaps, some things currently absent from the platform that certain users may like to see when evaluating document management systems — for example, a lack of an offline working mode.

2. Jotform

Price: from $0 to $99/user/month paid monthly, Enterprise plan available

The best for: SMBs to Enterprise businesses

Ease of use: 4.7/5

Functionality: 4.9/5

Key features:

• Creation of professional-looking forms with customizable styling options including logos, fonts, and colors
• Over 150 integrations, enabling the automatic sending of form submissions to various business applications
• Various payment gateways including Apple Pay & Google Pay, allow the direct collection of payments, fees, or donations through forms
• Powerful forms that use conditional logic to perform actions and send notifications based on user responses

Free trial: yes, in the form of a free Starter plan with 5 active forms/100 monthly submissions/1,000 monthly views/100MB upload space limits

Jotform is an online form builder that allows users to create professional-looking forms with no coding required.

It offers easy drag-and-drop functionality to build forms in minutes without technical skills.

With Jotform, you can create custom forms for data collection, registrations, applications, orders, payments, and more.

It has over 5,000 document and form templates to choose from and customize as per needs.

For data integration, Jotform provides over 150+ integrations to connect form submissions automatically to email marketing, project management, CRM, and other tools.

This allows efficient data flow to business systems.

It also enables collecting legally binding digital signatures directly on forms and accepting payments with integrated gateways like PayPal, Stripe, etc.

The conditional logic feature allows the creation of smart forms that change based on user input, improving engagement.

Other key features include access management, form analytics, schedulers, and HIPAA compliance.

While Jotform plans start from a free one, premium plans unlock additional features like priority support, API access, and more.

The software is known for its intuitive drag-and-drop builder that requires no coding skills.

Some limitations include a lack of extensive design templates, attachment restrictions, and limited automation compared to competitors.

But overall it provides good value given its free tier and competitive pricing.
By the way, you can also read our JotForm detailed review.

3. Nintex

Price: from $625 per month, Enterprise plan starts from $1,665 per month

The best for: medium to large enterprises

Ease of use: 4.2/5

Functionality: 4.3/5

Key features:

• Process identification for further automation and optimization
• Allows documentation, mapping, and management of every process in an organization
• Cloud-based apps for connecting people, processes, and data
• Digital forms for displaying or capturing data
• Robotic Process Automation of manual, repetitive tasks
• Automated lifecycle of documents in Salesforce, allowing digital approval and signing of documents
• Grants visibility and insight into automated processes, providing an easy-to-use and powerful intelligent process automation and workflow software

Free trial: yes, 30-day trial

Nintex is a leader in intelligent process automation, offering a comprehensive platform to manage, map, automate, and optimize business workflows.

The key capabilities include process discovery and visualization to identify automation opportunities. It allows the creation of a process inventory and documentation.

For automating workflows, Nintex offers cloud-based apps connecting people, processes, and data. This includes RPA, electronic forms, eSignatures, document generation, etc.

It seamlessly integrates with SharePoint, Salesforce, Office 365, and other systems.

The easy drag-and-drop interface enables rapid app development without coding.

Nintex stands out for its end-to-end automation platform combining powerful capabilities like process mapping, RPA bots, and workflows.

This makes it easier to manage, track, and optimize processes.

Some limitations are potential complexity in navigating the extensive features, and deployment time needed to set up integrations fully.

However, it is among the most complete process automation platforms in the market.

4. Formstack Forms

Price: from $50/month paid annually, Enterprise plan available

The best for: SMBs to Enterprise businesses

Ease of use: 4.1/5

Functionality: 4.9/5

Key features:

• Quick creation of custom online forms with a user-friendly interface, allowing users to build digital forms with ease, by coding, with low code or even no code
• Smart online forms that react to the user’s input, personalizing the form experience and offering a solid amount of flexibility for different use cases
• Streamlines approval processes and the flow of data across teams with automated workflows, saving teams an average of 18 hours per week and allowing focus on more impactful work
• Advanced integration capabilities with hundreds of popular web applications, automating data collection and improving workplace productivity. It provides seamless Salesforce data collection, enabling powerful form building directly in Salesforce without any mapping required
• Facilitated capture of electronic signatures from any device, ensuring a safe and secure form experience
• Fully responsive mobile-friendly forms that adjust to any device, enhancing accessibility and offering features like “Save and Resume” to reduce friction on longer forms
• Enhanced data security tools that protect and encrypt data, ensuring compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR
• Secure and reliable payment processing by connecting preferred gateways to online transaction forms

Free trial: yes, 14-day trial

Formstack Forms is an online form builder that allows users to create custom forms and workflows without coding. It streamlines data collection and automation.

The drag-and-drop form builder and range of templates help quickly create personalized online forms.

Conditional logic creates smart forms reacting to user input.

For workflows, Formstack automates approvals and data routing across teams and systems. It connects to apps like Salesforce, MailChimp, Slack, and QuickBooks with advanced integrations.

Form security is ensured through HIPAA compliance, encrypted data, and reCAPTCHA spam protection. Formstack Sign enables legally binding eSignatures.

While starter plans are affordable starting at $50/month, higher tiers unlock more features like priority support, custom branding, logic, and calculations.

The known limitations of this software based on user reviews are a lack of phone support at lower tiers and insufficient pre-built templates.

Compared to the alternatives, Formstack Forms provides a versatile online form builder with a strong focus on productivity, automation, and integrations.

Check our full review of Formstack for more details.

5. ProntoForms

Price: from $15/month paid annually, Enterprise plan available

The best for: medium to large enterprises

Ease of use: 4.5/5

Functionality: 4.7/5

Key features:

• Pre-populated smart fields with known data to save time and track progress with powerful visualizations and customizable layouts
• Creation of branded documents that include links and QR codes
• Assignment and reassignment of tasks to extended teams on the go
• A platform for simple and convenient e-signatures
• Pricing and cost calculations
• Monitoring of all equipment, vehicles, and staff at any given moment
• Taking, editing, and attaching photos as progress reports
• Checking of equipment in and out of inventory with barcode scanning
• Faster payment processes with mobile payments enablement
• 100+ out-of-the-box integrations to connect ERP, CRM, and more

Free trial: yes, 30-day trial

ProntoForms enables teams to convert paper forms into digital mobile forms for conducting inspections, audits, and field assessments.

It allows the creation of custom checklists and forms that field teams can complete using mobile devices. Data is collected in real-time even when offline.

The platform integrates field workflows with back-office systems like ERPs, CRMs, accounting tools, etc., for seamless data sharing across the organization.

The vendor offers solutions tailored for asset-intensive industries like energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, etc. requiring compliance and regulatory standards.

A lack of email support in lower tiers and dependence on partner implementation for complex deployments are what users mention as the limitations.

However, ProntoForms provides an easy-to-use enterprise mobility software solution for field teams.

6. Formaloo

Price: from $9 to $48/user/month paid monthly

The best for: SMBs to large enterprises

Ease of use: 4.6/5

Functionality: 4.9/5

Key features:

• A variety of building blocks including forms, tables, lists, charts, reports, widgets, and wizards enable the creation of powerful relational databases and applications
• Creation of beautiful, powerful online forms for capturing leads, creating workflows, collecting payments, and administering surveys, without any coding requirements
• Workspace can be organized into different teams, departments, clients, and projects, managing secure access and enabling real-time collaboration
• Development of powerful, customized interfaces for business data swiftly, eliminating the need for developers
• Over 3,000+ integrations with various applications and services like Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft, Shopify, and more, along with access to powerful SDK & APIs and webhooks.

Free trial: yes, 14-day trial + free plan limited by one member, 5 forms & apps, unlimited records, 50MB of cloud storage, API, Webhook, and 3,000+ integrations

Formaloo empowers users to create customizable business apps, forms, workflows, and portals without coding through an intuitive drag-and-drop builder.

Whether it’s building online forms, customer portals, internal databases, or full-fledged apps, Formaloo provides the flexibility to bring ideas to life efficiently.

The form builder offers a wide array of field types from text, number, media, location, and more to capture diverse data.

These online forms can be made public or restricted to certain teams or users.

For collaboration, Formaloo facilitates managing user roles and permissions. Real-time commenting and activity tracking also enables seamless teamwork.

Formaloo also allows you to build customized front-end interfaces for business data.

The various widgets and views allow the creation of interactive portals and CRMs that can be white-labeled.

Integration with 3000+ apps via Zapier allows connecting workflows across tools. Developers can leverage the APIs and SDKs for advanced customization.

Potential limitations are that the extensive customization and integration options may involve a learning curve for some users.

The pricing tiers also limit certain features for lower plans.

7. Zoho Forms

Price: from $9 to $75/month paid annually

The best for: SMBs to Enterprises

Ease of use: 4.5/5

Functionality: 4.9/5

Key features:

• A feature-rich form builder with over 30 field types, customizable themes, and situation-specific templates, allowing the creation of functional forms without coding
• Embedding of forms on web pages and sharing on social media or through email campaigns, reaching a wider audience
• Conditional email or SMS notifications and instant updates on chat platforms for collaborative work
• Enables an in-depth data analysis, including sorting, viewing, and exporting of form entries as spreadsheets, and offers UTM tracking and form analytics for optimizing the form’s performance
• Seamless integrations with various applications like Zoho Sheet, Zoho CRM, Salesforce, Zoho Sign, Google Drive, and more, serving as a reliable front-end data collection system

Free trial: yes, 14-day trial + free plan limited by 3 forms, 500 submissions per month, and 200 MB storage

Zoho Forms provides an extensive online form builder to create customized forms and workflows for data collection and automation.

Users can build forms rapidly by using a wide variety of field types and pre-made templates.

For collaboration, teams can build forms together with role-based access control.

Settings like conditional logic help personalize the form experience based on user responses.

The integrated form analytics provide insights into form performance. Heat maps indicate how users interact with forms to improve conversions.

Zoho Forms seamlessly integrates with other Zoho apps like CRM as well as over 3000 external apps via Zapier. The native mobile apps allow managing forms on the go.

Potential limitations are that the extensive customization and integration options may involve a learning curve.

Some users have also faced issues with the speed of form loading.

8. GoCanvas

Price: from $45 to $75/user/month paid annually

The best for: field service, construction, transportation

Ease of use: 4.5/5

Functionality: 4.7/5

Key features:

• Intuitive form builder to create mobile forms and checklists, enhancing field data collection
• Real-time synchronization across devices, ensuring seamless data flow even in offline mode
• Advanced field capabilities like image, sketch, barcode, and location capture that adapt to diverse fieldwork needs
• Integrations with over 100+ apps like QuickBooks, Salesforce, and Slack, optimizing workflow and data management
• Fully customizable forms and branding to match business needs, enhancing user experience
• Dashboards to view form analytics and statuses, aiding in real-time decision-making

Free trial: yes, 10-day trial

GoCanvas enables complete digitization of paper forms, checklists, and processes for field teams across industries like construction, energy services, transportation, and more.

With an easy drag-and-drop form builder, you can create mobile-ready forms with conditional logic, calculations, image capture, and other smart field capabilities without IT help.

Custom themes and branding options deliver forms tailored to business needs.

For field workers, forms are easily accessible on mobile devices with real-time data sync across the team, even when working offline in areas with no connectivity.

Location capture, barcode scanning, and other features fit fieldwork needs.

Collected data flows back into central management software like ERPs, CRMs, and accounting platforms.

Dashboards provide real-time analytics and status tracking of field operations.

Access permissions allow control over forms while role-based views enable field workers to see only relevant forms and managers to get required reports.

Jobs and tasks can also be scheduled or dispatched to personnel based on demand.

While pricing is custom quoted, GoCanvas offers a free trial for hands-on experience.

The combination of usability, customization, and seamless integration makes it suitable for field teams across the construction, energy, and transportation sectors.

Users highlight the intuitive interface, real-time sync capabilities, and extensive integration options as notable benefits of GoCanvas.

The ability to fully customize forms and branding to match business needs is seen as a major plus.

When compared to PandaDoc, however, the potential limitations of GoCanvas are readily present: dependence on partner implementation for complex workflows and a steep learning curve for administrators in setting up form logic.

Furthermore, while the mobile access is praised, some GoCanvas users faced issues with the web dashboard lacking in responsiveness and performance compared to the mobile experience.

However, users acknowledge regular updates from GoCanvas for optimization.

9. Cognito Forms

Price: from $10 to $99 per month paid annually

The best for: SMBs and nonprofits

Ease of use: 4.5/5

Functionality: 4.1/5

Key features:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop form builder, enabling the creation of multi-page online forms without coding knowledge
• Conditional logic for smart forms, personalizing the form experience based on user responses.
• Integrated payments via Stripe, Square, and PayPal, streamlining financial transactions
• Advanced analytics and reports, offering insights into form engagement and conversions
• Support integrations for over 1000+ apps like MailChimp, Slack, and Zendesk via Zapier, connecting workflows efficiently
• Granular access permissions, form access management, and two-factor authentication, ensuring secure and controlled data handling

Free trial: yes, 30-day trial + free plan with payment accepting support, limited by 1 user, 500 monthly entries, and 100 MB storage

Cognito Forms empowers SMBs and nonprofits to easily create multi-page online forms and workflows to engage customers and teams.

The intuitive drag-and-drop editor enables anyone to build forms without coding knowledge.

Various field types like text, number, email, signature, and more allow for capturing diverse information.

Conditional logic helps personalize the form experience based on user responses.

Accepting payments is seamless with native Stripe, Square, and PayPal integration.

Workflows can be automated with validations, notifications, and data routing to designated teams.

Granular access permissions enable control over form visibility. Detailed analytics provide insights into form engagement and conversions.

Custom CSS and themes allow embedding branded forms on websites.

Cognito Forms integrates with over 1000+ apps via Zapier to connect workflows. The API enables deeper customization for developers.

A complex form of logic, being a powerful aspect, can however entail a learning curve. The lack of native mobile apps is also a potential limitation.

However, users praise Cognito Forms for its ease of use and functionality. It remains a valuable solution for SMBs and nonprofits.

Check our Cognito Forms review for more details.

10. IntouchCheck

Price: starts at $19.99 per month

The best for: food & beverage, hospitality, healthcare

Ease of use: 4.8/5

Functionality: 4.9/5

Key features:

• Intelligent automation features to streamline processes, drive action, and boost productivity allow the creation of simple solutions for complex scenarios
• Real-time notifications and alerts based on predefined rules and conditions, ensuring immediate response to critical issues
• Event-based surveys triggered by real-time customer data to improve data accuracy, build loyalty, and personalize experiences
• Good behavior reinforcement and addressed skill gaps by automating the recognition of high performers and providing automated feedback
• Advanced hierarchy and role configurations to manage data across locations effectively, ensuring that the right data reaches the right people
• Automated integrations eliminate the manual effort required to push data to and from different systems and consolidate customer resolution activities with automated case management

Free trial: yes, 14-day trial

IntouchCheck enables the complete digitization of paper checklists, forms, and auditing processes by equipping field teams with powerful mobile capabilities.

The intuitive drag-and-drop editor allows the creation of customized multi-page forms and checklists on the web dashboard without coding knowledge.

Various field types like single select, multi-select, signatures, images, and more can be added to capture diverse data.

For field personnel, the mobile app provides capabilities like photo capture, location stamping, voice notes, and more to simplify audits and inspections.

Data is synced across the team in real-time, enabling managers to track progress remotely.

Collected information flows back into central management platforms like Salesforce and QuickBooks seamlessly via integration.

This allows back-office teams to combine field data with business systems for streamlined reporting.

Role-based permissions provide control over who can access, edit, or submit forms. Dashboards offer centralized visibility into field team productivity and form analytics.

While powerful, some IntouchCheck users faced complexity in form setup and wished for more customizable analytics.

This is unlike the experience with PandaDoc, where setting up forms is simple and analytics can be easily customized.

That said, with its strong usability ratings, IntouchCheck by Intouch Insight provides an efficient mobile solution to digitize audit workflows.

Conclusion

As paper-based forms give way to smart digital processes, it’s clear that enterprise forms automation delivers immense value.

PandaDoc provides a wide range of features beyond just form building, including document creation, eSignatures, workflows, payments, and more.

It offers an end-to-end solution for digitizing documents and workflows.

To implement enterprise forms automation using the platform, follow these steps:

• Start with the form builder software, and access 100+ pre-made form templates and drag-and-drop editors to easily create forms.
• Set up automated workflows for routing, approvals, signatures. For example, assign signers to specific roles. Enable features like data validation and e-signatures to streamline form completion.
• Integrate forms with other tools like CRMs to payment systems to auto-populate fields. Share forms via links or embed on websites for easy access. Finally, configure notifications and analytics to track form performance.

Start your streamlined forms journey with PandaDoc — a platform that requires no initial investment.

You can sign up for a trial or request a demo, right now at no cost. 

Disclaimer

PandaDoc is not a law firm, or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. This page is not intended to and does not provide legal advice. Should you have legal questions on the validity of e-signatures or digital signatures and the enforceability thereof, please consult with an attorney or law firm. Use of PandaDoc services are governed by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.