Cognito Forms vs. Google Forms

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cognito Forms
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Cognito Forms, from the company of the same name in South Carolina, is presented by the vendor as an easy-to-use online form builder, allowing anyone to create, publish, and manage forms, with free and paid plans. With it, users can create unlimited forms including registration forms, payment forms, and surveys without coding. Forms can be embedded directly into a website, and form submissions can be viewed from any device, any time.
$19
per month 2 users
Google Forms
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Google Forms is an app for creating forms and surveys, and is part of Google Apps for Work. The product focuses on ease of use; the interface is similar to a document editor, with drop down lists of options and drag and drop question re-ordering. Users can embed images and video into surveys. Users can also program the question flow with custom logic. Google sends users basic summaries of the survey results automatically, or users can export the raw survey results data and analyze it via…N/A
Pricing
Cognito FormsGoogle Forms
Editions & Modules
Free
$0
1 user
Pro
$19
per month 2 users
Team
$39
per month 5 users
Enterprise
$129
per month 20 users
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cognito FormsGoogle Forms
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cognito FormsGoogle Forms
Considered Both Products
Cognito Forms

No answer on this topic

Google Forms
Chose Google Forms
Cognito Forms are really great because of the high degree of customisation that can be done. You can seriously build some amazing workflows using them which we do use for more intricate projects
Features
Cognito FormsGoogle Forms
Survey Format & Appearance
Comparison of Survey Format & Appearance features of Product A and Product B
Cognito Forms
8.3
4 Ratings
4% above category average
Google Forms
7.4
112 Ratings
7% below category average
Survey templates8.54 Ratings8.0104 Ratings
Themes7.04 Ratings6.7103 Ratings
Custom logo/branding9.54 Ratings7.589 Ratings
Survey Content
Comparison of Survey Content features of Product A and Product B
Cognito Forms
8.7
4 Ratings
3% above category average
Google Forms
8.8
110 Ratings
4% above category average
Changes to live survey8.53 Ratings9.4104 Ratings
Question design help8.54 Ratings8.590 Ratings
Multiple question types9.04 Ratings8.5109 Ratings
Survey Logic
Comparison of Survey Logic features of Product A and Product B
Cognito Forms
9.5
4 Ratings
15% above category average
Google Forms
8.0
100 Ratings
2% below category average
Survey logic flexibility9.54 Ratings8.0100 Ratings
Survey Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Survey Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Cognito Forms
9.5
4 Ratings
17% above category average
Google Forms
8.7
111 Ratings
8% above category average
Response tracking9.03 Ratings8.3109 Ratings
Data export9.54 Ratings8.7105 Ratings
Standard reports10.04 Ratings8.4103 Ratings
Custom reports9.54 Ratings9.579 Ratings
Analytics9.54 Ratings8.785 Ratings
Survey Administration & Security
Comparison of Survey Administration & Security features of Product A and Product B
Cognito Forms
9.8
4 Ratings
13% above category average
Google Forms
9.4
105 Ratings
9% above category average
Access controls9.54 Ratings9.1103 Ratings
Compliance10.04 Ratings9.681 Ratings
Survey Distribution
Comparison of Survey Distribution features of Product A and Product B
Cognito Forms
9.3
3 Ratings
15% above category average
Google Forms
8.9
79 Ratings
10% above category average
Vendor-offered crowdsourcing9.53 Ratings9.037 Ratings
Respondent restrictions9.03 Ratings8.877 Ratings
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User Ratings
Cognito FormsGoogle Forms
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(6 ratings)
9.7
(116 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(5 ratings)
9.3
(56 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(3 ratings)
8.0
(48 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cognito FormsGoogle Forms
Likelihood to Recommend
Cognito Forms
It's excellent for small sets of forms, from simple to highly complex It's not good at scale. With over 170 forms now, we desperately need some way to manage and maintain shared content once Cognito does not help. Their approach is that you can copy a working form (great) and modify it to create the next one. That's how we've got so many forms...
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Google
Google Forms works really well when you need to quickly gather information and store it in a standardized format. It also works well if your organization is already using other Google products.
If you don't use other Google products, another service may be a better fit for you. Additionally, if you need your forms to be highly customized for marketing purposes, for example, you might have an easier time with other tools.
That being said, Google Forms is well supported and is highly flexible and would likely work well for many companies.
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Pros
Cognito Forms
  • New Hire Form - It announces the new hire and provides direction to several departments on their needs, computer, phone, security level, etc.
  • Terminations - We use it to shut off security, badges, computers, track phone, electronics, etc.
  • Temp Form - It provides an avenue to enter them into our payroll system for tracking hours, also, for the start and end dates.
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Google
  • Live results: When a user completes the form the results are added instantly.
  • Easy to create: Google Forms has a simple interface that allows for a wide range of question types. Google will even try to guess the question type based on the question (but this can be overridden).
  • Answers export to Google Sheets: It is easy to have each response to your form add a row to a Google Sheet, allowing for further analysis or processing.
  • Ability to automatically collect email addresses within a domain: If you have a form that has been shared with users in your domain, you can set it to automatically collect the users' email addresses without them needing to type it in. Makes checking whether all students have completed the form easy.
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Cons
Cognito Forms
  • It isnt the most user friendly if you have someone who isnt experienced
  • Learning curve is pretty high
  • Should be easier to customise the formatting
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Google
  • Sometimes finding the output -- a Google Sheet with all responses-- is a little difficult. It's also sometimes confusing to figure out how to get back into the Google Form Survey itself.
  • As always, sharing among an institutional Google account and your personal Google account can be frustrating. You have to make a copy and can't share across the two different accounts very easily.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cognito Forms
No answers on this topic
Google
I will definitely renew my use of Google Forms because I really like the ease of use and the number of tools that Google forms provide. I also love that I can administer a test in real-time and get results in a timely manner
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Usability
Cognito Forms
We have been using Cognito Forms for over 5 years. We find it very easy use and it is part of the programs we use on a daily basis.
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Google
Google Forms is a very intuitive and easy to use tool, it is not necessary to have a complex knowledge to create advanced forms, it is enough with the functions and aids that the tool offers for the creation of these, even children and students can do it, also the way to export the data is really simple, simply an incredible tool.
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Reliability and Availability
Cognito Forms
No answers on this topic
Google
In the years I've used GoogleForms I've never ran into any issues with the reliability or availability. Google is a gigantic company with essentially limitless resources which makes it very easy to trust that I will continue to be able to enjoy the same reliability I've come to know and expect from GoogleForms
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Performance
Cognito Forms
No answers on this topic
Google
One of the things that comes as a benefit of the lack to create complex logic branching and truly custom design is that there isn't lot of room to bog down the software. GoogleForms has always loaded just as fast as my internet service and device would allow it. I'm not sure about front end integrations or integrations into the form itself, as I've never explored it, but on the backend, I've never had any issues with integrations channeling from GoogleForms from the GoogleForms's end of things.
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Support Rating
Cognito Forms
Very friendly and helpful, but typically takes at least one day to respond. However, when they do respond they dive right into the specific form I ask about and tell me exactly how to fix what I need help with
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Google
Google has a support team but it isn't the most helpful with Forms. I find most of my answers by searching online and watching tutorial videos. I would recommend utilizing online resources before contacting their live support team for help. Just make sure that they are recent videos or directions. Google is constantly updating their interfaces so it is easy for things to get out of date
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Alternatives Considered
Cognito Forms
I have not used any other programs like Cognito Forms. I have been with my company for almost two years. I very much like the ease of this system and its capabilities. I like knowing everyone is using the same thing. I do not foresee us making any changes to our current use of Cognito Forms.
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Google
We have also used FormAssembly, which is far more advanced with security, analytics, and functionality, but is also more expensive and takes a greater resource investment to train others to use. While FormAssembly can provide a lot more features, and is definitely the better choice for more complex surveys, forms, and applications, Google Forms is a very approachable and easy to use platform. We would recommend Google Forms for smaller businesses with simpler processes, and everyday use for any organization.
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Scalability
Cognito Forms
No answers on this topic
Google
GoogleForms lacks the ability for complex logic branching and the ability to truly design it in a custom manner. It's pretty obvious when you land on a GoogleForm that it is in fact a GoogleForm. This rating solely reflects the lack of flexibility which in turn makes it something that wouldn't usually be scaled. That being said, if needing to scale a simple solution, GoogleForms would be up for the job.
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Return on Investment
Cognito Forms
  • We've been able to get away from Word and pdf forms and build a functionality that is conditional on form content
  • The speed of getting a good-enough version up and running to meet an immediate business need is outstanding
  • The cost of improving a set of almost good-enough forms or propagating a change in business rules is depressing
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Google
  • It's difficult to track ROI since Google Forms is used less formally
  • [The] positive impact is the actionable results we receive from surveys
  • [The] impact is highly dependent on how well the questions are asked, and how seriously the survey is taken by employees
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ScreenShots