Formstack Documents vs. HotDocs by CARET

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Formstack Documents
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Formstack Documents (formerly WebMerge, acquired by Formstack April 2019) is an online service that automates the document creation process. It allows users to create customized PDF and Word documents for contracts, applications, government forms, and more.N/A
HotDocs by CARET
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
HotDocs is a document automation and assembly software product, acquired and now supported by AbacusNext since 2017.
$25
per user/per month
Pricing
Formstack DocumentsHotDocs by CARET
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic
$25
per user/per month
Enterprise
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Formstack DocumentsHotDocs by CARET
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Formstack DocumentsHotDocs by CARET
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Formstack DocumentsHotDocs by CARET
Small Businesses
Jotform
Jotform
Score 8.7 out of 10
Jotform
Jotform
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Responsive
Responsive
Score 6.4 out of 10
Responsive
Responsive
Score 6.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Responsive
Responsive
Score 6.4 out of 10
Responsive
Responsive
Score 6.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Formstack DocumentsHotDocs by CARET
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(9 ratings)
7.4
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(3 ratings)
8.5
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
4.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Formstack DocumentsHotDocs by CARET
Likelihood to Recommend
Formstack
[Formstack Documents (formerly WebMerge) is] well suited for a mid-size organization that has multiple data inputs and needs to provide structure and professional document generation. As helpful as it is, the cost would prevent smaller businesses from realizing the cost savings that a larger one will.
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
It is well suited in the organisations which deals with lots of paper work like legal, teaching, research, etc as they need similar kind of documents again and again. In a typical office set up it is of great use by human resource, marketing and legal department. Hot docs is not suitable if you have a proprietary or solo business as it do not caters to them.
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Pros
Formstack
  • Excellent integration with other popular platforms
  • Clear and usable documentation to walk through setup in a number of scenarios
  • Responsive support that provided appropriate answers when we had questions
  • Flexibility in use cases that support multiple modes of use
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
  • Personalized training. We were able to get an expert on a video call who walked us through solutions to each of our unique problems (i.e. all fifty states have different notary blocks, how can we auto-populate it when the state of the deal is selected?).
  • Team access. Multiple people can work with the templates at once, thus allowing the members of our team who deal with financials to work on their documents while others focus on the organizational and legal documents.
  • Once you have successfully drafted your templates, it runs incredibly smooth (barring any minor hiccups that happen with software updates) and efficiently.
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Cons
Formstack
  • We've had some issues with document formatting when the Formstack document comes through. Nothing outrageous, but it has been very inconvenient and annoying.
  • The Formstack website is not attractive or user friendly.
  • I think it could be clearer to Formstack users that it is a tool that needs another tool, not a tool all its own.
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
  • Most HotDocs templates demand high-level code. This includes complicated Word codes
  • Using HotDocs is incredibly user-friendly. Creating and maintaining templates is a programming task
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Likelihood to Renew
Formstack
Ease of use, nice functionality that saves time
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
No answers on this topic
Usability
Formstack
No answers on this topic
CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
Could be more intuitive - could even "suggest" fill-ins with the option to take or not take the suggestion.
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Support Rating
Formstack
Support was always readily available and happy to assist whenever I had a question or needed help. Great experience every time.
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
I haven't had to contact HotDocs very often for support. I suppose I rated them mid-level simply because I would like to see more online training options or white papers to view to assist with learning. I want to understand how to do something versus having it done for me.
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Implementation Rating
Formstack
No answers on this topic
CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
If you use WordPerfect X9 - choose"no word-processing software."
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Alternatives Considered
Formstack
Each of the programs above answered a specific call to action. While each addressed a small portion of our need, they never quite fit the bill for what we needed. It was actually a representative from three of the ones above which selected WebMerge. They wanted to sell their product, but knew that we would be unfulfilled if we went with them
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
I haven't evaluated other products. We are so used to HotDocs that it would be difficult for us to switch to something else. We continue to use HotDocs because switching cost is high once you have already started. Be careful before beginning to use this program, as it is hard to breakaway.
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Return on Investment
Formstack
  • The return on investment has been very good. It's very cost effective product. Our service team is on the phone and it takes away from the customer service if they are having to input the same information on applications. Web Merge eliminates additional key strokes while giving customers more time to run their business.
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CARET (Abacus Data Systems, Inc. )
  • Time savings by employees when generating documents mean better ROI efficiency for labor.
  • Faster, more accurate turnaround for documents needing to be generated from templates.
  • Large capital expenditure depending on the number of users and developers.
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