Google Forms vs Jotform: Which Is Better for Approvals?

Morgan Hopkins, Customer Success Manager

Last Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Jotform is one of the most popular alternatives to Google Forms, and unlike Google Forms, it has built-in approval workflows. So if you need form-based approvals, is Jotform the obvious choice? Not necessarily. The answer depends on your budget, your tech stack, and how many people will be using the system.

Jotform's Approval Workflow

Jotform offers a native "Approval Flow" feature that lets you build multi-step approval workflows directly within the Jotform platform. You can:

• Add approve/reject steps to any form
• Set up sequential or parallel approval chains
• Send automated email notifications
• Track approval status within Jotform

It's a capable system, and for organizations already paying for Jotform, it may be a natural choice. But there are significant trade-offs to consider.

The Cost Problem

Jotform's free plan is limited to 5 forms and 100 monthly submissions. For any meaningful business use, you'll need a paid plan. As of March 2026, Jotform's pricing is:

• Bronze: $39/month — 25 forms, 1,000 submissions
• Silver: $49/month — 50 forms, 2,500 submissions
• Gold: $129/month — 100 forms, 10,000 submissions
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

These prices are per user. If multiple people in your organization need to create and manage approval workflows, costs multiply quickly.

By comparison, Google Forms is completely free (included with any Google account), and the Form Approvals add-on starts at $36 for 3 months with no per-seat pricing and no submission limits on paid plans.

Feature Comparison

The Data Ownership Question

With Jotform, your form response data lives on Jotform's servers. You can export it, but it's not natively in your ecosystem. If you stop paying, you lose access to the platform and your data.

With Google Forms + Form Approvals, your data lives in Google Sheets within your own Google Workspace domain. You own it, you control access, and it's available regardless of whether you continue using the Form Approvals add-on. The add-on adds approval functionality on top of your data — it doesn't lock your data in.

When Jotform Makes Sense

• You need advanced form features like payment collection, e-signatures, or conditional logic that goes beyond what Google Forms offers
• You're not a Google Workspace organization
• You need Jotform's extensive template library for industry-specific forms
• Budget is not a primary concern

When Google Forms + Form Approvals Makes Sense

• Your organization already uses Google Workspace — staff know Google Forms
• You want the most cost-effective approval workflow solution
• You want data stored in Google Sheets under your control
• You need a simple setup that non-technical staff can manage
• You want to avoid per-user pricing that scales with your organization

For most Google Workspace organizations that need approval workflows, Google Forms + Form Approvals delivers the same core functionality as Jotform at a fraction of the cost — without asking your team to learn a new platform.

Get Started

Try Google Forms + Form Approvals free with 20 responses per month. View pricing or get started today.