Paperform

Overview

Paperform is a form builder focused on beautiful design and robust functionality, enabling teams to create forms, surveys, payment pages, and landing pages with conditional logic, calculations, e-signatures, and payment processing. The platform's aesthetic-first approach delivers forms that look custom-designed vs generic form builder templates, while maintaining ease of use through no-code drag-and-drop interface.

Used by 25,000+ businesses including Shopify, Asana, and Canva, Paperform serves SMB marketing teams, creators, coaches, and agencies needing lead generation forms, event registrations, payment collection, and client intake with professional design at accessible pricing.

At a glance:

• Category: Form Builder & Surveys
• Best for: SMB teams and creators needing beautiful forms with payments
• Pricing: $24-159/mo ($240-1,620/year annual billing)
• Free plan: None - 14-day free trial available
• Setup: 1-2 hours to create first form from templates

Ideal For

• Creators selling digital products: Coaches, course creators, and consultants using payment forms to sell digital downloads, course access, and coaching packages with Stripe/PayPal integration, custom pricing (tiered, subscription, one-time), and automated fulfillment.
• SMB event organizers: Marketing teams running webinars, workshops, and conferences using registration forms with conditional ticket pricing, capacity limits, waitlists, and payment processing collecting fees upfront.
• Agencies building client forms: Design and consulting agencies creating professional client intake forms, project proposals, service quotes, and booking forms with e-signatures, file uploads, and conditional logic based on service selection.

Not Ideal For

• Budget-conscious startups: Paperform starts at $24/mo with no free plan vs Google Forms (FREE), Tally (FREE unlimited), or Typeform (FREE for 10 responses/mo) - premium pricing for design aesthetics not justified for basic lead capture.
• High-volume form users: Pro plan has reasonable submission limits, Agency plan ($159/mo) required for high-volume (10K+ submissions monthly) vs Jotform ($34-99/mo unlimited forms/submissions) or Cognito Forms ($15-99/mo unlimited).
• Enterprise workflow automation: Paperform focuses on beautiful forms vs comprehensive automation - teams needing advanced workflows, approvals, and integrations better served by Jotform Enterprise or Formstack.

The Bottom Line

For SMB teams and creators valuing design aesthetics and needing payments/conditional logic, Paperform delivers excellent value at $24-49/mo. The 650+ templates and 26+ question fields (calculations, e-signatures, custom pricing) create professional-looking forms in 1-2 hours without design skills. Downsides: No free plan and entry-level pricing steep vs free alternatives. Essentials ($24/mo or $240/year = $20/mo) best value for lead generation and payments.

Paperform creates forms, surveys, payment pages, landing pages, and booking forms with beautiful design and robust functionality through no-code drag-and-drop builder. The platform handles lead generation, event registration, payment collection, and data capture with conditional logic routing questions based on answers, calculations for dynamic pricing, and payment processing via Stripe/PayPal/Square/Braintree.

Core Capabilities

1. 26+ Question Fields with Logic: Text inputs, multiple choice, dropdowns, file uploads, e-signatures, calculations, conditional logic, rank/rating fields, custom pricing, guided mode - creates sophisticated forms handling complex workflows without code.
2. Payment Processing (All Tiers): Stripe, Square, Braintree, PayPal Business integration across all plans including Essentials - collect one-time payments, subscriptions, deposits, variable pricing with discounts and product variants.
3. 650+ Templates: Pre-built forms for applications, bookings, lead generation, payments, registrations across industries (education, events, marketing, sales, healthcare) - customize design, questions, logic in minutes vs building from scratch.
4. Conditional Logic & Calculations: Show/hide questions based on previous answers, calculate totals dynamically (order forms, quotes, assessments), route respondents through different paths creating personalized experiences.
5. 3,000+ Integrations via Zapier: Connects with CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce), email marketing (Mailchimp, Kit), project management (Asana, Trello), databases (Airtable, Google Sheets) plus 20+ native integrations for payments and automation.

How It Works

1. Choose template from 650+ options or start blank canvas
2. Add questions using 26+ field types with drag-and-drop builder - customize design (colors, fonts, images, branding)
3. Configure logic with conditional show/hide, calculations for dynamic pricing, guided mode for step-by-step multi-page forms
4. Enable payments connecting Stripe/PayPal/Square for one-time or subscription billing with custom pricing rules
5. Set up integrations sending submissions to CRM, email marketing, Google Sheets, or Zapier for custom workflows
6. Publish form via direct link, embed on website, or create standalone landing page - track submissions in dashboard with analytics

Our Take: Paperform is excellent for teams and creators prioritizing design aesthetics in forms, surveys, and payment pages. The 650+ templates and visual builder create professional-looking forms in 1-2 hours without design skills - significantly better looking than Typeform or Google Forms out-of-box. Payments across all tiers (including $24/mo Essentials) is strong value vs competitors charging premium for payment features. Downsides: No free plan means 14-day trial must prove value quickly, and entry-level pricing ($24/mo) steep for basic lead capture vs free alternatives. Best value at Essentials ($240/year = $20/mo) for creators selling digital products or SMB teams running paid events.

1. Beautiful Design Out-of-Box

Paperform's aesthetic-first approach delivers forms that look custom-designed vs generic form builder templates. Choose from 650+ professionally-designed templates across industries, customize colors/fonts/images matching brand, add hero images and rich media - creates forms users want to complete vs utilitarian Google Forms appearance.

Why it matters: Form abandonment rates decrease 20-30% with professional design vs generic templates - beautiful forms build trust and credibility. Paperform's templates save 2-4 hours of design work per form vs starting from scratch in Typeform or hiring designer for custom forms.

2. Payments Across All Plans (Including $24/mo Essentials)

Unlike competitors charging premium for payments, Paperform includes Stripe, Square, Braintree, and PayPal Business integration on all plans including entry-level Essentials. Collect one-time payments, subscriptions, deposits, and variable pricing with discounts, product variants, and quantity adjustments built into form logic.

Why it matters: Typeform charges $25-83/mo for payments (vs $24/mo Paperform Essentials with payments), Jotform requires Bronze+ ($34/mo) for payments. Paperform's payment inclusion at $24/mo delivers strong value for creators and event organizers monetizing through forms without upgrading to premium tiers.

3. Conditional Logic & Calculations

Show/hide questions based on previous answers creating personalized form experiences, calculate totals dynamically for order forms/quotes/assessments, route respondents through different paths. Example: "Which service?" answer determines next questions shown, pricing calculates based on service selection + add-ons + quantity.

Why it matters: Static forms frustrate users with irrelevant questions - conditional logic reduces form length 30-50% by only showing relevant fields, increasing completion rates. Calculations eliminate manual quote generation for services/products with variable pricing, reducing sales cycle time and errors.

4. 650+ Templates Across Industries

Pre-built templates for applications, bookings, contact forms, event registration, feedback surveys, lead generation, order forms, payments, quizzes, and registrations across 20+ industries. Each template includes suggested questions, conditional logic, payment setup, and design - customize in minutes vs building from scratch.

Why it matters: Starting from blank canvas takes 2-4 hours to design form, write questions, configure logic - templates reduce time-to-launch to 30-60 minutes. Industry-specific templates (healthcare intake, education applications, event registration) include best-practice questions and compliance considerations vs generic forms.

5. E-Signatures & File Uploads

Collect legally-binding e-signatures on contracts, agreements, waivers, and consent forms integrated into multi-step forms. File upload fields accept PDFs, images, documents with size limits and file type restrictions - useful for applications, resumes, project briefs, and client documents.

Why it matters: Eliminates separate e-signature tools (DocuSign $10-40/user/mo, HelloSign $15-40/user/mo) for simple signing workflows - Paperform includes e-signatures on all plans. File uploads centralize document collection with form submissions vs email attachments scattered across inbox.

1. Creator Course Sales & Payment Collection

Scenario: Online course creator with 2,000 email subscribers wants to sell $497 course with payment plans (1-pay $497 or 3-pay $197/mo) using beautiful order form that builds trust and maximizes conversion.

Workflow:

1. Creator builds order form from Paperform payment template, customizes with course branding (colors, logo, hero image of course creator)
2. Adds conditional pricing: radio button "Payment Plan?" shows $497 one-time or $197/mo for 3 months options
3. Connects Stripe for payment processing with automatic subscription setup for 3-pay option
4. Configures Zapier integration sending purchaser email/name to Teachable granting course access automatically
5. Embeds form on sales page, shares direct link in launch emails to 2,000 subscribers
6. Form converts 8% of traffic (160 sales) vs 4% with generic Stripe checkout (80 sales projected) - beautiful design builds trust doubling conversion

Outcome: Collected $79,360 in course sales (120 one-pay + 40 three-pay) through Paperform vs projected $39,680 with generic checkout - beautiful form design doubled conversion rate from 4% to 8% by building trust and reducing purchase friction.

2. Event Registration with Conditional Ticketing

Scenario: SMB marketing team running annual user conference with 500 attendees needs registration form collecting early-bird tickets ($299 until Nov 1), regular tickets ($399 Nov 2-30), late tickets ($499 Dec 1+), plus workshop add-ons ($99 each) with payment processing.

Workflow:

1. Marketing team creates registration form from Paperform event template with multi-step guided mode (attendee info → ticket selection → workshop add-ons → payment)
2. Configures conditional pricing: calculation field shows $299 early-bird rate until Nov 1, automatically switches to $399 regular rate Nov 2, then $499 late rate Dec 1
3. Adds workshop selection (multiple choice "Which workshops?" with $99/workshop calculation added to ticket price)
4. Sets capacity limit of 500 registrations, enables waitlist after capacity reached
5. Connects Stripe for payment processing, integrates Google Sheets tracking registrations real-time for planning
6. Tracks 450 registrations in first 2 weeks (320 early-bird, 130 regular) collecting $142,280 ($95,680 tickets + $46,600 workshops)

Outcome: Managed 450 conference registrations through single form with automated capacity limits, conditional pricing by date, workshop add-ons, and payment processing - eliminated manual coordination and payment collection saving 20+ hours of admin work.

Free Trial: 14-day free trial, no credit card required

Annual Savings: 17% discount on annual billing

What We Recommend

For creators and solopreneurs: Essentials ($24/mo or $240/year = $20/mo) delivers excellent value with unlimited submissions, payments across all processors, 650+ templates, conditional logic - sufficient for course sales, client intake, and booking forms.

For SMB teams 2-5 people: Pro ($49/mo or $480/year = $40/mo) adds 3 users, removes branding for professional appearance, includes advanced integrations (HubSpot, Salesforce) for CRM sync - worth upgrade for lead generation and event registration at scale.

For agencies managing client forms: Agency ($159/mo or $1,620/year = $135/mo) provides 5 users, white-label capabilities, custom HTML/CSS, API access, and priority support - justifies cost when billing clients for form development and management.

1. Sign up for 14-day free trial at paperform.co - no credit card required, access all features including payments and integrations

2. Choose template from 650+ options matching use case (lead generation, event registration, payment form, survey) or start blank

3. Customize form using drag-and-drop builder - add/remove/reorder questions, configure conditional logic, set up calculations for dynamic pricing

4. Enable payments connecting Stripe/PayPal/Square account for payment collection (if needed)

5. Set up integrations sending submissions to CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce), email marketing (Mailchimp), or Google Sheets

6. Publish form via direct link, embed on website, or create standalone landing page - track submissions in dashboard with real-time analytics

Pro tip: Start with Essentials plan ($24/mo or $240/year) testing payments and conditional logic for 1-2 months before upgrading to Pro. Most creators and small teams find Essentials sufficient for course sales, event registration, and client intake - only upgrade to Pro ($49/mo) when you need multiple users (3 vs 1) or want to remove Paperform branding for professional appearance. Save 17% with annual billing ($240/year = $20/mo vs $24/mo monthly).

• Paperform Website
• Pricing & Plans
• 14-Day Free Trial
• Template Gallery
• Website Planet Review
• G2 Reviews
• Capterra Reviews

• Stripe: Payment processor powering Paperform's payment collection - connects natively for one-time payments, subscriptions, and variable pricing without coding
• Zapier: Automation platform connecting Paperform to 3,000+ apps including CRM, email marketing, project management for custom workflows beyond native integrations
• Typeform: Conversational form alternative with stronger mobile UX - use alongside Paperform for different form types (Typeform for surveys, Paperform for payments/registrations)