Formstack Forms vs. Submittable

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Formstack Forms
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Formstack is an online form building solution. Its drag-and-drop web form creator gives digital marketers a tool for online data collection and engagement. Users can collect payments and pass form data to popular marketing apps through third-party integrations. With Formstack, users can capture responses, store the information and share it with their teams.
$50
per month
Submittable
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Submittable offers tools to launch, measure, and grow social impact programs, locally and globally. From grants and scholarships to awards and CSR programs, Submittable partners with users to make a difference. The vendor states Submittable has supported over 95,000 social impact programs, receiving nearly 20 million applications, and that teams save an average of 12 hours per week and launch in an average of 14 days.
$10,000
per year
Pricing
Formstack FormsSubmittable
Editions & Modules
Enterprise
Contact sales team
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Formstack FormsSubmittable
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPlans start at $50/month (billed annually), including: 20 Digital Forms 1,000 Submissions Per Form 14,400 API Calls Per Day Drag-and-Drop Form Builder Custom Themes Payment Integrations Salesforce Integration SSO User Management Form Prefill
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Formstack FormsSubmittable
Considered Both Products
Formstack Forms

No answer on this topic

Submittable
Chose Submittable
WORLDS better than Wufoo - no contest. Formstack didn't suit our needs.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Formstack FormsSubmittable
Survey Format & Appearance
Comparison of Survey Format & Appearance features of Product A and Product B
Formstack Forms
6.0
61 Ratings
26% below category average
Submittable
-
Ratings
Survey templates9.053 Ratings00 Ratings
Themes4.656 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom logo/branding4.658 Ratings00 Ratings
Survey Content
Comparison of Survey Content features of Product A and Product B
Formstack Forms
7.7
58 Ratings
11% below category average
Submittable
-
Ratings
Changes to live survey6.453 Ratings00 Ratings
Question design help8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple question types8.858 Ratings00 Ratings
Survey Logic
Comparison of Survey Logic features of Product A and Product B
Formstack Forms
7.3
58 Ratings
13% below category average
Submittable
-
Ratings
Survey logic flexibility7.358 Ratings00 Ratings
Survey Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Survey Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Formstack Forms
9.3
59 Ratings
12% above category average
Submittable
-
Ratings
Response tracking10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Data export9.159 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports9.056 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports8.648 Ratings00 Ratings
Analytics10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Survey Administration & Security
Comparison of Survey Administration & Security features of Product A and Product B
Formstack Forms
8.6
57 Ratings
3% above category average
Submittable
-
Ratings
Access controls8.855 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance8.550 Ratings00 Ratings
Survey Distribution
Comparison of Survey Distribution features of Product A and Product B
Formstack Forms
8.0
1 Ratings
1% below category average
Submittable
-
Ratings
Vendor-offered crowdsourcing8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Respondent restrictions8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
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User Ratings
Formstack FormsSubmittable
Likelihood to Recommend
7.2
(74 ratings)
9.0
(73 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(12 ratings)
9.9
(5 ratings)
Usability
6.9
(6 ratings)
8.4
(69 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
3.4
(5 ratings)
9.9
(4 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Formstack FormsSubmittable
Likelihood to Recommend
Formstack
Formstack makes it easy to create a variety of forms. I have used it for event interest and registrations, email list sign-ups, and surveys. I have found it easy to customize, and easy to export data for import into other systems (e.g., CRM).
Read full review
Submittable
We love using Submittable for our grant applications. Sometimes, we've run into issues with filters inside the system not clearing -- and we lose access to some of our information. Submittable Customer Service is quick to respond and assist us in solving our problems quickly to get back up and running. We find their training videos to help us learn new ways to use the system.
Read full review
Pros
Formstack
  • 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).
Read full review
Submittable
  • Applicant (submitter) experience is positive, user-friendly.
  • The ability to message directly with submitters within the portal in relation to their submission is a great feature.
  • Application creation is very easy.
  • Adding labels to submissions makes filtering simple and customizable to our needs.
Read full review
Cons
Formstack
  • Setting up our multi-step form took some getting used to. Some of the branching logic configuration wasn't as intuitive as would be ideal.
  • Since we were pushing data directly into Hubspot, I found it cumbersome to deal with data storage limits within Formstack. I would get frequent notices that new responses were not being stored in Formstack and that I needed to upgrade or delete data. I got tired of that.
  • More/easier support for custom fonts would have been a huge plus. We were able to customize the form's appearance, but had to make some concessions in that regard.
Read full review
Submittable
  • Advanced reporting is far from advanced. There are SO many limitations and the need to manually do so many things in order to get the report structure you want, and it is not intuitive. The reporting is by far the most frustrating thing about Submittable and actually adds on staff time instead of cutting it down.
  • PDFs of submissions should include all supplemental files uploaded in the submission. You should not have to do massive exports with zip files and then merge everything manually to get one PDF of submitted content for simplified records or sharing.
  • We should be able to see the account emails and names of individuals who have started a draft submission. In our former system (GIFTS online via Blackbaud), we could see that information and could reach out personally to applicants to ensure they didn't miss deadlines and could remove emails from our reminder communications from those we knew already submitted and simply opened up an accidental additional draft. When we send reminders in Submittable to draft submissions, without fail, we get 5-10 people who reach out and are upset because they already submitted but think this means they didn't, regardless of how we word the email and tell them they may have an extra draft if they think they already submitted.
  • You should be able to simply build one report in whatever format you need and be able to switch between different projects that use the same exact form fields. My team has the same exact form used for nine different grant programs because they are the same programs, just for different local communities, but we have to build out the same report manually each cycle for each community.
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Likelihood to Renew
Formstack
Our user base has come to rely on Formstack to get forms done. The Formstack tools make it easy to start from scratch or copy an existing form to "quick start" a new, similar form. The price is right and frees up IT staff to do more transformative work.
Read full review
Submittable
We use this software annually to help with our grant processes. Without it, I'd be so lost! Our team relies on the data from our past years to sift applications and we try to prioritize those who have applied and been a finalist but perhaps didn't win in years prior
Read full review
Usability
Formstack
I give it this rating because Ali feel like just about anyone can use this. Now with 7 billion people in the work I understand that’s not the case but I feel like Formstack get it pretty simple where a majority of humans could use it and navigate through. The only reason I didn’t give it a higher rating is because I think Google Forms is a little easier to use and that it’s pretty much impossible for any product to get a 10 on usability in my opinion.
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Submittable
Submittable is very user friendly. Even our less tech-savvy team members were able to navigate Submittable and achieve what was necessary. The single limitation is that it is not easy to move information/documents/applications from the Submittable platform into other platforms, or even to download documents from Submittable into a separate storage system
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Reliability and Availability
Formstack
No answers on this topic
Submittable
We have thankfully never experienced an outage nor been affected by a technology issue on Submittable's side that has delayed our grant process. We have instead been able to distribute over $6M in donated dollars to AAPI small business owners because Submittable is trustworthy and available
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Performance
Formstack
No answers on this topic
Submittable
We've had a quick and efficient submittable experience that has always been easy to use. When we need a report it downloads within seconds, even the larger reports are 30 seconds or less to download. Pages are quick to load and reports complete in a more than reasonable time frame
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Support Rating
Formstack
The agents in the original group, especially the ones in cahoots with the developers, are really solid and know what they're talking about--I'm looking at you, Collin. The 'Tier 1' support agents that typically reply to the tickets are really spotty. If you have an overly technical question, i.e. bugfix, or describe a feature from a few years back that randomly disappeared, these agents typically will give you what feels like a generic reply and not know what you're talking about.
Read full review
Submittable
I think that they are good at answering our questions and solving our problems. We occasionally get reports from applicants about problems the Submittable team has not solved, but I do not know what the applicant has done to get the problem solved.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Formstack
No answers on this topic
Submittable
We did not receive in-person training technically, it was virtual but it was one on one with a specialist. They were very patient and skilled - she knew everything about the program and honed in on features that would help make our jobs easier. We are so grateful for the training!
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Online Training
Formstack
No answers on this topic
Submittable
10/10 because we were able to meet virtually and still get all of our questions answered! Online was effective too because we could easily record the sessions and review them later. Since we had to onboard our reviewers virtually, it was actually convenient that this was the same method we learned how to use the entire program virtually too.
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Implementation Rating
Formstack
We implemented on one of the earlier versions. Through continuous engineering improvements, the interface keeps getting easier and more intuitive. Therefore, later implementations keep getting easier and better.
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Submittable
I would say, provide Submittable as much detailed information on your planned use of the platform and your desires with the platform as possible, and the implementation will be tailored to accommodate your organization with minimal lag time and issues/problems.
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Alternatives Considered
Formstack
Drupal is a much more customizable platform, however you must have someone build the forms first and then you can work with them if you do not have the programming knowledge. If you have any changes to make, it can sometimes be both a time consuming and difficult process. Formstack is much more efficient if you do not have an in house programmer.
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Submittable
When it comes to collecting applications, no one beats Submittable in terms of features and functionality. With other software we used, there were far too many limitations, including having to manually download data, inability to use logic for fields, and no analytics. The other products we used for application collection could not compare to Submittable.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Formstack
No answers on this topic
Submittable
Pricing is fair for the product and support received, and we are content with the billing being annual in order to save overall. Contract terms are fair, and don't seem inflated for any reason. Pricing per application is also fair, and you can actually have the applicant absorb the cost if necessary
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Scalability
Formstack
No answers on this topic
Submittable
We were happy to use this for many projects, but sometimes it can be hard to filter for a specific applicant and see how many of our projects and grants they have applied to without filtering by project. We're also hoping to have the feature added where reviewers can only see one project at a time if they don't have clearance to view all of the projects
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Return on Investment
Formstack
  • Positive - ability to analyze submission trends - e.g. when a marketing email is sent, looking at increased form viewing and submissions in relation to the sending of the campaign.
  • Immediate response - those that submit forms receive immediate response that their form has been submitted.
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Submittable
  • Ease of training new employees with the system, simple interface and similar to other CRMs, etc.
  • We can launch a new grant fairly quickly now that we have the processes down and templates created
  • Ability to respond quickly to provider questions/needs
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ScreenShots