Two popular form builders compared on the same 25-row feature matrix and pricing, with FormBuilder shown as a third column so you can see another option to consider.
Overview
SurveyMonkey (owned by Momentive, which returned to the SurveyMonkey name) is one of the oldest and best-known online survey tools. Its core is a survey builder backed by a large question bank, hundreds of expert-written templates (NPS, CSAT, employee engagement, event feedback, market research) and a results dashboard that goes further than most form tools: filters, crosstabs, statistical significance, sentiment and thematic analysis of open-text answers.
Around the builder sits a research and feedback suite: SurveyMonkey Audience for buying respondents from a panel, always-on feedback programs, multilingual surveys, block randomisation, and integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Tableau, Zapier and roughly 200 other apps. Team plans add shared brand assets, roles and permissions; Enterprise adds SSO, governance and regional data centres.
Cognito Forms started as a side product of a software consultancy and still feels like it was built by developers for people who need forms to do real work. Its calculated fields use a spreadsheet-style expression language, repeating sections let respondents add unlimited line items, and data lookups can pull values from other forms. Order forms, event registrations, quotes and applications are its natural habitat.
On top of the builder it layers a workflow engine: entries move through statuses, roles decide who can view or edit which fields, approvals can be routed by email, and Save & Resume plus a Client Portal let people come back to unfinished submissions. Payments (Stripe, Square, PayPal) are first-class, including subscriptions and payment-on-approval, and document generation can merge entries into PDFs.
Pricing
In each vendor's own terms; SurveyMonkey checked 2026-08-17, Cognito Forms checked 2026-08-17. FormBuilder: free plan (5 forms, 100 responses / mo) and Pro at $39 / month or $390 / year.
Feature comparison
25 capabilities across building, design, data workflow and security.
| Feature | SSurveyMonkey | CCognito Forms | FFormBuilder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building | |||
| AI form generation from a prompt | YesBuild with AI, on all plans | PartialAI assist for calculations, not full-form generation | Yes |
| Drag-and-drop visual builder | PartialQuestion-list builder with drag reordering | Yes | Yes |
| Template library | YesHundreds, research-focused | Yes100+ | Yes300+ |
| Conditional logic / branching | YesSkip logic Standard+; advanced logic Advantage+ | YesFormula-based show/hide, require, validate | Yes |
| Multi-page / multi-step forms | Yes | Yes | YesPro |
| Calculations & scoring | PartialQuiz scoring; no calculated fields | YesSpreadsheet-style expressions, repeating sections | YesCalculation field + auto-graded quizzes |
| File uploads | YesPaid plans only | Yes100 MB free · 1 GB Pro · 10 GB Team | Yes100 MB free · 1 GB Pro |
| Payment collection | YesStripe, Advantage+ | YesStripe, Square, PayPal; 1% fee on Individual & Pro | YesStripe — paid to your own account, no platform fee |
| E-signature field | No | YesPro and up | Yes |
| Design | |||
| Custom themes & branding | YesCustom design Standard+; premium themes Advantage+ | YesStyles & CSS on paid plans | YesPro |
| Remove vendor badge | PartialCustom footer on paid; full white-label on Premier, $139 / mo | YesPro, $19 / mo annual | YesPro, $39 |
| Custom domain | PartialCustom subdomain, Enterprise | PartialEmbed on your domain; no custom hosted domain | Yes |
| Embed on any site | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data & workflow | |||
| Free-plan monthly responses | PartialSmall per-survey cap; over-limit responses deleted | Partial100 / mo, overflow locked | Partial100 / mo, overflow held |
| Over-limit responses kept (not rejected) | NoOver-limit responses deleted; $0.15 each on paid plans | PartialLocked 30 days, then deleted unless you upgrade | Yes |
| Email notifications & autoresponders | YesEmail invitations Standard+ | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks | YesVia API / paid plans | YesJSON webhooks + Power Automate | YesAll plans |
| Zapier / native integrations | Yes200+ integrations + Zapier | YesZapier, Make, Power Automate | Yes6,000+ apps |
| Built-in analytics (views, drop-off) | YesStrongest in class: filters, crosstabs, significance | PartialEntry reporting; no view / drop-off funnel | Yes |
| CSV / spreadsheet export | YesPaid plans only | YesExcel, CSV, PDF | Yes |
| Team workspaces & collaboration | YesTeam plans, 3-user minimum | Yes2 users Pro · 5 Team · 20 Enterprise | Yes |
| Security | |||
| Password-protected forms | YesPaid plans | PartialVia workflow roles / private links | YesPro |
| HIPAA / BAA | YesEnterprise only | YesEnterprise, $129 / mo | PartialHIPAA plan coming soon |
| GDPR tooling & DPA | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SSO / SAML | YesEnterprise | YesEnterprise | PartialEnterprise |
Another option to consider
AI-first form builder with a generous free plan, held (never lost) responses, and 6,000+ integrations. Describe the form you need, the AI drafts it, and you refine it with logic, multi-page layouts, uploads, signatures and Stripe payments. Free plan: 5 forms and 100 responses a month with overflow held, never lost. Pro: $39 / month for 100 forms and 10,000 responses with the badge removed.
Questions
Cognito Forms's entry paid plan (Pro at $19 / month (annual, $24 monthly)) is cheaper than SurveyMonkey's (Standard Monthly at $99 / month (monthly)). Both offer a free plan (100 entries / mo · 1 user · 100 MB · Cognito branding · 1% payment fee) and a free plan (Unlimited surveys · 10 questions / survey · limited responses / survey (widely reported as 25) · no exports, logic or custom design) respectively. Note the plans differ in limits — see the tables above. FormBuilder Pro, for reference, is $39 / month for 10,000 responses.
SurveyMonkey offers a free plan (Unlimited surveys · 10 questions / survey · limited responses / survey (widely reported as 25) · no exports, logic or custom design). Individual plans are for 1 user. Advantage and Premier are billed annually; the Standard plan is the only monthly option. Responses over your allowance cost $0.15 each. Team plans (Team Advantage $30 / user / mo, Team Premier $92 / user / mo, 3-user minimum) are billed annually; Enterprise is custom.
Cognito Forms offers a free plan (100 entries / mo · 1 user · 100 MB · Cognito branding · 1% payment fee). Prices shown at annual billing; monthly billing is roughly 20-25% higher. Entry limits are per organisation per month; all plans include unlimited forms.
SurveyMonkey payments: Yes (Stripe, Advantage+). Cognito Forms payments: Yes (Stripe, Square, PayPal; 1% fee on Individual & Pro). FormBuilder collects Stripe payments to your own account with no platform fee on every plan, including free.
SurveyMonkey HIPAA / BAA: Yes (Enterprise only). Cognito Forms HIPAA / BAA: Yes (Enterprise, $129 / mo). FormBuilder's HIPAA plan with BAA ($99 / month) is currently rolling out.
SurveyMonkey is the long-running survey platform for market research, customer feedback and employee engagement, with a large question bank and serious analysis tools. Cognito Forms is a power-user form builder built for order forms, registrations and applications that need calculations, repeating sections, payments and approval workflows. SurveyMonkey is best for market researchers and CX teams who need statistical analysis, crosstabs and open-text theming; Cognito Forms is best for order, quote and registration forms with line items and live totals.
FormBuilder is worth a look if you want an AI generator that drafts forms from a sentence, 100 free responses a month with overflow held rather than lost, Stripe payments with no platform fee, and a flat $39 / month Pro plan for 10,000 responses. See our full FormBuilder vs SurveyMonkey and FormBuilder vs Cognito Forms comparisons.
Last reviewed August 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
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