TrustRadius Insights for Formstack Forms are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Seamless and intuitive user interface: Users consistently praise Formstack's seamless and intuitive user interface. They find it provides a positive experience for end users, with the lack of coding knowledge required and minimal learning curve making form creation and management accessible to a wide range of users.
Easy-to-use form builder: Many users appreciate how easy it is to use Formstack's form builder. Even those without explicit training find the process fairly easy, thanks to features such as moving different parts of the form, changing question order, and managing options within forms, which add flexibility and customization options.
Integration capabilities with other platforms: Users highly value Formstack's integration capabilities. The wide range of supported integrations enables them to easily connect their data with other platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce. This seamless data transfer and workflow management are seen as strong advantages. Additionally, the integration with Google Docs simplifies collecting and managing form data, enhancing collaboration and data organization.
We use it to track memberships, facility use, evaluations, signups for free events, post event surveys, and more. We have 6 departments using it for different things.
Pros
Creating a database and graphics to communicate information from external sources.
Integration in to assorted software.
Creation of online forms that is easy and customizable for our programs.
Cons
It would be great if the name of the field was more customizable and allowed for special formatting without a call out or other minimized things.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you are looking for a bit more complexity in your form then I prefer Formstack to other programs.
The whole organization. We use it to track applications, conferences, and nearly everything internal when it comes to online paperwork.
Pros
Allows for unique situations. As a school, we don't have the luxury of being cookie cutter. Neither do our forms.
Support. If we don't know how to do it, their support team has been very helpful and actually attempts to understand the issue on hand.
User friendliness. In our field we have a phrase: "what if you get hit by a bus?" With Formstack, you can "get hit by the bus" and someone else can jump in and still keep things running (this is used as a phrase for illness, not termination).
Cons
The overall look. I couldn't get it on brand until I used the embed section and had the website take it over.
There are times that the integrations haven't worked, and the only way we'd know is when we log in. There is now a field to notify you if this happens, but that does't help us if the third-party is down.
I would like to see the unique field and the required field work together better. We want to force someone to select a spot, but have many spots at varying times. If you fill out one section and make the unique spaces required, that shuts down the form - and any remaining, supposed to be unaffected, areas.
Likelihood to Recommend
I would use it for Admissions, HR, and Administrative purposes. It automates and streamlines processes like no other. However, I would not recommend it for someone unaware of the third party integrations. You can pull a CSV, but that can become burdensome. If you know Google Sheets, you can create a filter to make the data manageable. For someone who knows how to do this, Formstack is wonderful; if you don't, be prepared to feel lost on data until you get the hang of it.
Formstack is being used across our entire organization as our online forms solution. It is heavily used by enrollment services and has replaced all paper forms that were previously in use. The approval functionality makes it easy for us to distribute completed forms to the proper approvers and allows final approvers the opportunity to review all decisions made. Very helpful and efficient!
Pros
Intuitive and simple forms editor.
Approval process works really well in our environment.
Integration into website is seamless.
Cons
Formatting within the editor can sometimes be a challenge.
Likelihood to Recommend
Works beautifully within a student services environment as a forms solution. Allows for creativity on use and has been instrumental in data collection from students.
Formstack is being used across our entire university. It is our enterprise form creation and workflow tool used by various departments across the campus to create forms and workflow.
Pros
Easy & intuitive form builder that allows users to create forms
Branding of forms with your company logo
Logic within forms to show and hide fields
Logic with email triggers to only send notifications when certain answers are filled out in the form
Cons
Their workflow feature is still half-baked. Lacks enhanced features like logic & ending the workflow mid-step
Some of their integrations are outdated and no longer supported so basically useless to our organization: ie.: Zendesk Integration
No integration with Active Directory so user management is a pain
Likelihood to Recommend
It has great features and they continue to add features. Formstack works great for standard forms but has many limitations with workflow forms, the biggest limitation being you can only route forms to Formstack users.
We use Formstack in all 6 schools and at all levels of Administration. We use it for simple tasks like surveys and minor purchases, to complex forms like a 20-course, logic based summer program. We integrate with Google Drive, Authorize.net and a few other components. Its helped us move off of paper, reduce the need to collect cash, and automate many processes. We use it to build Help Desk tickets, and trigger workflows. We have nearly 300 forms, with approximately half of those active at any given time.
Pros
Conditional Logic: Formstack beats most form editors when it comes to "if, this, then let that happen"
Integrations: Formstack integrates with a ton of third party applications, and if Formstack doesn't directly, then its Zapier integration probably does
Embed: while its not the prettiest form output, it does embed nearly anywhere
Cons
Buggy Updates: Formstack tends to make on-the-fly updates that break features. We run into this about once a year
Appearance: the forms are starting to look dated compared to some of the competitors (looking at you, Typeform)
Dynamic Data: passing data from one field to another is not-exactly doable
Paid Add-Ons: the price for Formstack is already an arm and a leg; the fact that they have additional monthly paid add-ons is frustrating
User Limits: user accounts barely do anything outside of 'view/edit' permissions, thus the low volume allocated seems a bit greedy at $10/user/mo for more
Likelihood to Recommend
Formstack is great at most things in bulk. It supports multiple users, lots of forms, lots of submissions, lots of addons, and lots of lots - you get the point. If you're looking to get a bunch of content off of dated systems, and into an online system/email workflow/crm, etc., Formstack will do just that.
What it won't do - it won't wow the end user with a beautiful form, though you can skin it to look native to your website.
Good for Midsize to Enterprise, doesn't need a programmer: Aside from the semi-complex Wordpress integration, Formstack is really easy to use. Secretary types without coding experience would have no problem building a form and sharing it. Technically minded folk will enjoy the complex conditional logic and the support it provides with third party addons and payment systems.
Bad for small businesses: Formstack's not economical, and with the budget-friendly competition, most small businesses are out. Formstack does a good job at complex integrations and spends a sizeable amount of effort on its paid addons rather than improving its core product, so unless you plan on spending a lot monthly and need a bunch of forms, you probably can look elsewhere (Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, etc).
VU
Verified User
Director in Information Technology (Education Management company, 201-500 employees)
Cairn University uses Formstack for the majority of our online forms - from simple event registrations to our Application for Admission and everything in between. Formstack has been an integral part of our initiative to migrate many of our forms and applications to the web, which has - among many other things - greatly increased the speed at which we are able to move students through the enrollment process.
Pros
Very intuitive and simple use, while offering a lot of advanced features that offer a lot of control.
The conditional logic features allow us to build complex forms that walk users through a process, dynamically showing or hiding fields based on their previous selections.
Simple and seamless payment integrations.
Cons
The Wordpress plugin had been a bit fickle (but I think they have improved this recently).
Date and time fields cannot be used to trigger conditions (would come in VERY handy for an institution working with a lot of
The number of clicks in and out of different screen to finish setting up, say a custom email response, can be a bit tedious sometimes.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you have a need for advanced forms with conditional logic and payment integrations, Formstack is a great pick. If you only need a handful of simple contact forms, there are more affordable solutions. Likewise, if you need a much more robust solution with front-end user accounts (to login and complete a form) or bulletproof integrations with an existing CMS, you might want to find a different dedicated enterprise solution. Formstack can fill in a pretty wide space between the two ends of the spectrum.
It is used across our whole company to be able to do our business - forms are created and used by each department. It enables us to be more efficient and gives our students a smoother and more user-friendly process. It is one piece that we are using to transition from paper to all electronic.
Pros
It enables our students to do most of their admission process electronically.
It enables future athletes to apply by filling out the appropriate form stack forms and allows us to make an immediate evaluation.
It allows my department to keep track of student information electronically.
It gives flexibility to be able to create whatever electronic forms are needed.
Cons
The creation process could be made so that anyone could do it.
The use of electronic signatures and the writing of notes.
Likelihood to Recommend
It has helped my department the best making it easier for us to collect student information and to be able to create the forms we need. It is also helpful with inter-office communication of information that other offices need.
Formstack is managed by several people within the university's public relations department, but the forms are used for everything from registrar, event registration, admissions, service requests and many others. Using Formstack allows us to have a centralized place where we can create and host easy-to-build and easy-to-use forms that provide simple and reliable assessment for the back-end user.
Pros
Formstack allows for basic customization of templates
Formstack is pretty intuitive and easy to use
Formstack allows for assessment of information
Easy to duplicate forms for annual, regular use
Cons
Simple to use, but looks just as simple to the end user
Scheduled training, especially after any updates are made, would be a nice added feature
Price is a bit high, especially if you are considering add-ons
Likelihood to Recommend
Formstack is good for basic event registration and information gathering, particularly if the information will be collected on a regular basis.
Formstack is used across our entire institution. Its uses vary from event registration to lead generation, data collection, applications and more. Departments who get the most use of Formstack are marketing/communications, alumni relations, fundraising, admissions, and human resources. As a preK-12 school, Formstack has saved countless hours for several employees as we have eliminated many paper forms. The convenience of being able to submit a form quickly at any time of day is also a great benefit to our users.
Pros
Easy drag and drop form-builder
Share links that allow anyone without a login to view the data in real-time
Customizable notification and confirmation emails
Cons
More visual reporting in the submissions
Would like an easy way to batch send pre-filled forms (name, email, etc.)
Likelihood to Recommend
Formstack is a premier online form solution. They are always working to improve their product and make it applicable to any organization, whether it's a small business, local nonprofit, or global industry leader. The various integrations for payment processing, email marketing, documents and more can really amp up your automation, saving you time and money. They've made a product that's easy to use for both Formstack users who build the forms and users who complete the forms.
