Creating PHP Website Forms are sometimes very tedious jobs if you don’t have the right tools, and more often when you need the form created within hours. Unless and until you have your resources and scripts ready it can take hours or long. For those who knows basic HTML/CSS and want to have web forms in their websites it may become a problem. This problems are overcome by online php form generator.
I have found 3 or mixed kinds of php form generators online,
- Form generators which created only the HTML/CSS for the forms. This type of form generators are viable for those who have the scripts ready and only need a stylish well arranged HTML/CSS with form validation.
- PHP Form generator which create both HTML/CSS and the scripts required to run the form successfully in your website. This are better options for those who doesn’t have much programming skills or does’nt want to go through the tedious process of creating a script.
- The last kind of php form generator are those which does both processing, creating and hosting of the form in their server, this type is specifically suited for those having 100′ds of responses daily, this will make the server load of the original site to be low, as well the companies which offers this service also implements many kinds of anti spam techniques which can be very useful for large sites. Can also be used by those sites which doesn’t want to have any kind of backend processing or doesn’t know implementing.
The 1st kind of form generators are mostly free, but the 2nd and 3rd types are generally in most cases premium, though they have free options with less frills and wow factors. In this article I’ll round you up with all kinds of form creators and only those which are free or have free basic option. I’m pretty sure you won’t need to even look more after going through this article.
Instant Form Creator (Best Premium)
Instant form creator is the best php form generator i have found so far, It has numerous features, is fast and quick and very easy to use, i have used it in several projects and best thing is it does’nt hide the codes or try to host and control your source files, you can have the full source code at your option.
Pros
- Drag and Drop Interface
- Easy Form Manager
- MYSQL Db integration
- Validation
- File Upload
- Show/Hide field based on user level
- IP Limit
- Full PHP Source Code
- Affiliate Integration
Cons
- None !!
Wufoo Form Builder
One of the best form builders out there, this ones type 3 php form generator and very user friendly with drag and drop interface anyone even a n00b can use it without any problem. Wufoo is premium form builder with free basic option with some very good features.
Pros :
- User Friendly Interface
- Easy Integration
- Vast Features
Cons :
- No backend script download
- No file upload facilities (and many other features) for free users
- 100 entries/month
JotForm Form Builder
Easy drag drop interface with some free premium features like file upload, payment integration, PDF forms, and many more. This one definitely sucks when it comes to submissions as it does’nt let you download the script and host in in your server
Pros :
- User Friendly Interface
- Many premium features for free
- Free SSL forms
Cons :
- 1oo submissions/month
- 10Mb Upload Limit
Form Site Form Builder
Another Type 3 Form Builder, with moderate user interface, this ones particularly good if you want multipage or login based forms. Though the interface looks very complex it has many really good features hidden in its complex interface.
Pros :
- Multipage Forms
- Login Based Secure Forms
- 50 Items Support
Cons :
- 1oo submissions/month
- 50Mb File Storage Limit
- 10 results/form storage only
Accessify Form Creator
Simple XHTML/HTML Form builder with very minimal features with no script support. Suitable for creating quick XHTML/CSS forms for the site.
Pros :
- Very Simple User Interface
- XHTML Makrup
Cons :
- No Backend Script
- Not Many Features
Form Spring Form Builder
Form Creator with very limited options for free users, only reason its worth trying is it supports straight redirect of form data to users email and no submission monthly limit which is really a very good thing.
Pros :
- Good User Interface
- Fast Creation & Integration
- No Submission Limit
Cons :
- No File Upload
- No Script Download
EmailMe Form Builder
The best thing in EmailMe form builder comes with premium account where you can download the html and the php script of the form for installing it to your webserver otherwise its pretty same as others except for the free spam filtering and uplaod
Pros :
- Unlimited Submissions
- Spam Filter
- 50 Max Field
Cons :
- Slow Interface
- No Script Download for free users
Kontactr Contact Form Creator
This is just what it say, contact form creator for your site, with no frills, no option to edit fields or whatsoever just a robust contact form creator.
Pros :
- Super Fast
Cons :
- No Options to Modify
Formmail Maker Form Creator
Another free php form generator creator fully ready with down loadable scripts and admin panel for your form. This also hosts your form for you if you want so. Overall this is another simple type 2 form creator.
Pros :
- Free Script Download
- Admin panel
Cons :
- Bad Interface
- No Multipage Support
pForm Form Builder
This is only HTML/CSS builder very fast with web 2.0 looking forms and validation integrated with buckets of options. very good one if you are looking for something to create the HTML/CSS creator for free.
Pros :
- Very Good User Interface
- Very Fast Creator
Cons :
- None (considering its type 1)
Visitor Contact Contact form Creator
This is the 11th one but i thought i should add this on the list. A web 2.0 no frills contact form creator complete with google maps, captha and other features with floatable button. Very good one if you are looking for only a simple contact form.
Pros :
- Good Styling
- Simple Interface
Cons :
- Fields can’t be modified
So What Should You Use
It ultimately your decision and you yourself should check out the features which you want and you find usefull, but in my opinion i found instant form creater to be allrounder with most features, no code hiding, unlimited form creation, unlimited domain and easy creation and embedding.
- All rounder form builder Instant Form Creator
Nimit Kashyap
I was looking for a good contact form…thanks.. i found instant form most suitable and best for my needs, thanks again without you i’d not have know about it.
.-= Nimit Kashyap´s last blog ..WordPress ecommerce plugin GetShopped =-.
Subhadeep
your welcome
Subhadeep
Thanks for notifying about your site..
twapt
will come in handy, please addd twapt.net – mobile form builder . Very helpful! Thanks for sharing ,
Vivek
thanks ur info is great
Marion
Thank you but are these reviews from January 11 of 2010? 2000? 1995?
Subhadeep
2010 (updated 2011)
Crason
I found that the best one was:
instant form and woofo
Subhadeep
thanks
Crason
i tried http://www.emailmeform.com they got down next day
Maybe if you dont start paying them for their services they just cut you off with no email warning or anything.
Rongen Robles
Thanks for this.. It’s top on the google rank when I search for “Best free online form builder”.
This summarizes all.
.-= Rongen Robles´s last blog ..iBanking =-.
Jayant
Thanks mahn.I was trying to find this information only.
Russ Michaels
I’m surprised you did not mention http://www.formassembly.com which has been round a long time and is a very powerful solution.
The FREE version gives you quite a bit and is sufficient for creating most forms, which you can either download, link to, put in an IFRAME or call via a REST interface.
One feature it has which other do not seem to is dynamic display options, so you can say only display a section or a field depending on the answer given in another field. This is a must have feature for complex forms or where you need to only get responses base don previous answers.
You also have th option to customise the CSS, emails, auto responders.
I have not personally tried all the other form builders, but they going by their feature list I think they do not have what Form Assembly does.
Subhadeep
its little pricy with $39/month , instead i prefer instant form
Melissa Lewis
Fantastic info!! Do you have a website for FormSpring? When I search for it, all I get is a 1 question form/social media type site. Thanks! <
Jitendra
THanks for this most helpful post! I am creating a profiling form for my website now and yr list above will really help me
Linda
Thanks for all the helpful information both in your post and in the replies. I have an issue I hope you can address – or perhaps direct me to where I can find the answer!
Background
We are trying to find a program that can create a multi-page planning and reference on-line fill-in form as a “real life” application exercise for business skills learned in our cloud based learning program.
The form isn’t needed to collect data for us, but just to allow the user to fill in and use as a practical planner.
Do you know if one of the form software packages can:
- Let user access the completed parts of the form the next time s/he is in our program to learn the next skill?
- Allow the user to print the form at any time as a record and hard copy planner?
- Let the user access a new form to use when planning for a different customer?
So far, I’ve checked out Wufoo and even Survey Monkey without success.
Many thanks for any suggestions!
Subhadeep
try instant form, i tried it it can create multipage database forms.
Tom
Hey thanks for the great info, I have tried a few of them out and they seem to work great.
The one downfall is that I can find one that allows me to get the form sent as a PDF so I can download and print, it is just included within the email. Any idea on a form builder that will allow me to create a form and have it emailed as a PDF attachment? I am happy to pay for the site builder.
Cheers,
Tom
MadMAX
Great choice.My favorite is cloudcontactforms.com but also like woofo…
sergio
I found another good free online form builder. tuclouds.com is my favorite.
Ni
How can I create a payment form which has the function of adding the total purchases made?
Jons
Jotform is good free form builder in my opinion, but it has several issues with firefox.. so instant form wins hands down
tfulladosa
Hey! Thanks a bunch for this info. I was searching form building sites one at a time and this saved me a lot of time. Just wish I came across it a little sooner. Peace!
runchik
Can you give an advice about RTL form builders?