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123FormBuilder vs. Formstack: The Best Formstack Alternative

The world of form builders is highly competitive, meaning you – the client – have many, many options to try out. Let’s say you’ve already tried some options out there and even like a few of them. We’re here to tell you that 123FormBuilder is an excellent Formstack alternative, and we will attempt to prove that in this article. So, let’s begin!

Pricing Tiers

We will start with pricing options, as that is the first detail you will likely look at when investigating a product. 

You can start with a FREE 123FormBuilder account, where you can access thousands of form templates you can customize to your liking – we’re already talking about a free Formstack alternative! Three paid plans, starting with Gold at $37/month, allow you to access top-level features like conditional logic, payments, and more. Our other paid plans are Platinum ($49/month) and Diamond ($99/month). An additional Enterprise plan is available for on-demand, personalized advice and technical support. 

Gold, our lowest pricing plan, gives you 25 forms with 250 fields per form and 1,000 submissions. Our Platinum plan increases access to 100 forms, and our Diamond plan provides 200. You start with +1,900 form templates to use as-is or customize with our drag-and-drop editor. The only limitation of this plan is having no access to some advanced features like custom email notifications, multiply field group, formula field, or removing the 123FormBuilder brand and adding your own. 

Formstack offers a 14-day free trial and three Forms plans, the cheapest one being Starter at $59/month. If you require specific add-ons, such as e-signature or Salesforce integration, you must add extra plans, namely eSign ($20/month) and Salesforce Native plans starting at $250/month. Moreover, Formstack offers certain add-ons for an extra fee: Forms Portals, Forms Workflows, and Forms Conversion Kit. The price varies depending on your current subscription and your needs. 

So, if you are looking for a cost-effective option with generous features, 123FormBuilder is the way to go. Now, let’s have an in-depth look at features and customization differences. 

Form Creation and Customization Features

123FormBuilder’s editor uses the drag-and-drop feature to make it easy and intuitive for all types of users to customize their form. You have a top-side menu with four aptly named sections: Create, Set up, Publish, and Results. When you click on any of them, you will open a left-side menu with additional features you can drag and drop in your form, grouped in additional subsections. 

123formbuilder editor menu
123FormBuilder Editor Menu

When clicking on a field, for example, Single Choice, it will be added to your form, and a quick setup menu will pop up on the right. There, you can further customize your field. 

Formstack uses the same drag-and-drop principle with a left-side menu where you can see your available features. Some fields can be confusing to use, though. For example, when setting up a multiple-choice question, you must click on the question and wait for a new menu to open on the left sidebar, then scroll to view or modify your question choices. 

Formstack editor interface
Formstack’s Editor Interface

Both products offer a variety of question types for your online forms: multiple-choice, matrix fields, short-answer and long-answer questions, and more. 

However, our Formstack alternative shines when it comes to advanced features. You can choose Date Picker and add Products/Services, product fields, GDPR agreements, digital signatures, formulas, prices, fees, or discount codes

Formstack offers +350 templates, with only 200 accessible on the Starter plan, whereas with 123FormBuilder, you get a respectable selection of +1,900 templates on the Gold plan so that you can find the perfect form for your needs with just a search. 

123formbuilder form templates
123FormBuilder Form Template Gallery

Both platforms provide generous options for personalizing your forms to match your brand identity. Add images, create thank-you pages, and automate emails to improve customer interaction. For further customization flexibility when it comes to custom styles or elements, you can use HTML. 

Payment Integrations

Adding payment options to your forms can significantly benefit your business. After all, you are more likely to attract more clients with straightforward order forms than by sending them through various pages during the purchasing process. 

Both Formstack and our Formstack alternative allow the selling of products and services. However, accepting payments through the form is done differently. 

123FormBuilder has native integration with +15 payment processors and supports multiple payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Square, and Authorize.Net. Due to the built-in integrations, you can easily manage product inventory, add payments, and generate tax calculations, discount and shipping fees, or receipts from the form editor. 

123FormBuilder also offers a variety of order form templates created for e-commerce, shops, and restaurants, as well as other businesses that sell their products and services via the Internet. 

With Formstack, you only get one payment option per form; you can add more only by using conditional logic, which can be somewhat of a hassle if you’re not exactly tech-savvy. The form builder integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net, and because the integration is not built-in, there are limitations to using it for complex transactions (invoices, refunds, inventory management, etc.). 

Analytics, Integrations, and Automation

The world of form performance is complex, and having more options at your disposal is always better, as you can more easily make changes along the way to improve your form performance. 

Formstack allows users to check data trends and obtain user behavior insights.

Formstack analytics interface sample
Formstack Analytics Interface Sample

123FormBuilder offers three types of form analytics. You can access basic form analytics starting with the free plan (to check views, submissions, submission rate, and average time to complete a form). Beginning with the Platinum plan, you can also check the type of device responders use, their location, and referrer and get new field insights, with data related to views, drop-off, and time spent on the field. 

Form insights for survey
123FormBuilder Form Insights Feature

Both 123FormBuilder and Formstack let users filter through submissions and export their data in CSV or PDF formats. 

When you need more connection with your favorite third-party apps, 123FormBuilder allows you to use any of the +3,000 integrations available, making it one of the best Formstack alternatives on the market. Send forms data to Google Sheets, add Asana tasks, build Salesforce databases, and more. Formstack is a bit more limited in this area, with limited integrations.

As previously mentioned, Formstack offers distinct plans for Salesforce Native forms, starting at $250/month per user, with 1,000 submissions per month. 

123FormBuilder allows users to access forms from Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Sales, and Salesforce Experience, starting with the Diamond plan. For in-depth Salesforce integration with forms with two-way dynamic prefill and data linking, you have the Enterprise plan, starting at $225 per month, and Salesforce AppExchange Plans, starting at $99/month. Our Enterprise plan also gets you a virtual database manager, priority support, and a dedicated account manager. 

Security & Privacy

Both formbuilders prioritize security and compliance with international laws, employing features like SSL encryption and CAPTCHA. However, if you require HIPAA compliance, things change a little bit.

With 123FormBuilder, you are getting HIPAA-compliant forms for healthcare with the Enterprise plan, whereas with Formstack, you need to purchase the feature for an extra fee. You could say it’s one of the best alternatives to Formstack regarding security and law compliance.

123FormBuilder – An Innovative Formstack Alternative

Now that you know how 123FormBuilder fares as a Formstack free alternative, we encourage you to try it yourself. Create visually stunning forms and collect all the data you need. Turn our templates into beautiful, fun, and friendly conversations with your audience, drive sales, and increase your revenue. Adapt our forms to your workflows and gain time and resources with our integrations. Start with a free account, and go up from there! 

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