Typeform vs MakeForms: Which Is Right for Modern Businesses in 2026?

The most popular platform that consistently comes up in Typeform alternatives lists is MakeForms. Both excel in design and usability, but only one offers the flexibility, compliance, and automation that modern businesses truly need.

So today we’re putting them to the test. We’re making Typeform and Makeforms go head-to-head to find out which one’s the better fit for your business.

1. Form-Building Experience: How Does MakeForms Compare to Typeform?

When it comes to first impressions, Typeform vs MakeForms take very different approaches, and it shows right from the login screen.

Typeform immediately asks several setup questions before you even see the dashboard, questions that might make sense later, but feel intrusive when all you want to do is try the product. It then nudges you straight into creating a form with AI - which is a very new feature on Typeform. The only alternative is “Start From Scratch,” which opens another pop-up asking you to choose your first field (like Name or Contact) and it directly opens with that field on the form maker.

Source: Typeform

The result? A slightly confusing start that feels more like the platform collecting data than helping you build it.
MakeForms, on the other hand, is refreshingly straightforward. The login process is quick, just one step and you’re inside your dashboard. When you hit “Create Form,” you’re clearly shown multiple paths:

• Standard layout
• Create with AI
• One-at-a-time conversational form
• Lead form
• Choose from templates

Source: Makeforms

This structure immediately gives you a sense of control and flexibility. You can decide your form type first, and then open up into a very clean drag and drop UI. 
Once you actually start building the form, the difference in design experience becomes even clearer.

In Typeform, every time you want to add a new field, you need to click Add Content, which opens a full-screen pop-up that interrupts your workflow. 

Source: Typeform

You then have to choose your field type, like Date Picker or Address, before you can continue. The same thing happens when you open form settings; it expands into another large overlay that takes over the entire screen. It’s functional, but not fluid, especially when you’re trying to move fast or visualize your form structure.

MakeForms takes a cleaner, more modern approach. On the left panel, you have all your available fields, simply click to drop them in. On the right panel, you’ll find your field settings, logic, and design options, all accessible on the same screen. 

Source: Makeforms

Nothing opens in a new overlay or pop-up, and you can make changes while keeping your full form view visible.
This side-by-side editing experience makes MakeForms’ UI feel more cohesive, intuitive, and less interruptive, giving you a smoother, faster build process overall.

Verdict: Typeform’s form-building process looks sleek at first glance but feels overstructured, too many pop-ups and guided steps slow you down when all you want to do is build. MakeForms delivers a far smoother experience with its one-step login, clear creation options, and clean drag-and-drop interface that keeps everything visible on one screen. It’s faster, more intuitive, and gives you real control from the very start.

2. Design Flexibility: Does this Typeform Alternative Let You Stay On Brand?

Once you get past the setup, the next big differentiator is how much creative control each platform gives you over the look and feel of your form.

With Typeform, the design tools are visually appealing but somewhat limiting, especially if you’re trying to maintain strict brand consistency. You can customize your font, button style, and background, but you can’t upload your logo in the trial version. That’s a premium-only feature.
Another thing that slows the process is the interface, every time you open a design option, it expands into a large pop-up overlay that covers the screen, so you can’t really see your edits in real time.

That said, Typeform does deserve credit for what originally made it famous, its vibrant gallery of pre-designed themes. These come with thoughtfully matched color palettes and backgrounds that instantly make any form look polished. 

Source: Typeform

MakeForms, on the other hand, offers a more open and practical approach to customization. You can upload your logo right away, tweak colors, fonts, question and answer styles, and backgrounds, and even use custom CSS for granular control. All edits happen right within the same screen, no pop-ups, no interruptions. The overall experience feels smoother and more brand-ready, especially for businesses that want their forms to look cohesive across campaigns and touchpoints.
 

Source: Makeforms

Verdict: Typeform has great ready-made aesthetic themes, but MakeForms wins on true design flexibility, offering full creative control from logo to code. They also do have templates with themes to choose from. But this can be especially useful for organizations that want their forms to look professional and feel native to their own brand experience, instead of aesthetics that scream ‘typeform!’

3. Smart Automation & AI: Does Typeform Fall Short?

When it comes to AI capabilities, Typeform and MakeForms both have AI Form generation. We put them to the test with one prompt “Create a registration form for a workshop “Finance for Founders”. And one was definitely better than the other. Here’s how it went. 

Typeform’s AI Form Generation Performance

Typeform understood the prompt quickly and generated a clean eight-question form. The sequence was logical, name, address, phone number, company, and current role, followed by a self-assessment question on the participant’s financial experience. However, it included an open-ended question asking, “Are there specific financial topics or areas you'd like to explore in this workshop?” While thoughtful, such open-ended questions can make it harder for respondents to think on the spot or complete the form quickly. The AI-generated structure opened seamlessly in Typeform’s usual editor, ready for further tweaking.

Source: Typeform

MakeForms’ AI Form Generation Performance:

MakeForms’ AI prompt generation was just as fast, but its output went a step deeper. It followed the same basic structure, name, email, phone number, company, startup name, and role, but enhanced the experience with a dropdown menu for roles, making the form more structured and user-friendly. 

Beyond that, MakeForms demonstrated contextual understanding by adding a “Stage of your startup” question with multiple choices like, idea stage, pre-seed, seed, series A, or established business), and another multiple-choice question on finance topics like fundraising, planning, capital management, and unit economics. 
 

Source: Makeforms

Verdict:
MakeForms clearly wins in terms of AI depth and contextual awareness. It interpreted the intent behind the prompt and produced questions that would make the form both easier to fill and more insightful for the organize
But the highlight has to be that MakeForms supports AI automated translation of forms in 25+ languages, which you can select right after you write your prompt. So you can view and publish forms in different languages immediately.

4. Pricing Comparison: Typeform vs MakeForms

When it comes to pricing, Typeform and MakeForms take two completely different approaches, one prioritizes tiered limitations, and the other focuses on simplicity and scale.

Typeform Pricing Overview

Typeform structures its plans by user type, Individuals, Teams, and Enterprise, with six tiers in total.

Breakdown:

• Starter (Individuals) – $25/month
  - 1 seat
  - 100 responses/month
• Basic Team Plan – $50/month
  - 3 seats
  - 1,000 responses/month
• Team Plan (Advanced) – $83/month
  - 5 seats
  - 10,000 responses/month
• HR Team Plan – $125/month
  - 3 seats
  - 3,000 responses/month
• Marketing Team Plans – $166 to $291/month
  - 5 seats
  - Around 10,000 responses/month

Key Observations:

Even at higher tiers, Typeform limits the number of monthly responses.
The maximum team size caps at 5 users, even for top-tier plans.
Specialized pricing for HR and marketing adds complexity and higher costs.

Verdict: Typeform’s pricing can add up quickly as your response volume and team size grow. Paying nearly $300/month and still being limited to 10,000 responses can be restrictive for data-heavy teams.

MakeForms Pricing Overview

MakeForms keeps its pricing refreshingly simple and transparent, just three plans, with very generous response limits, which is to say - unlimited.

Breakdown:

• Essentials – $25/month
• Pro – $59/month
• Agency – $129/month (up to 10 users)

Key Observations:

• Unlimited responses on all plans, no monthly caps.
• Unlimited submissions, even on the base plan.
• Generous user limits, with up to 10 users on the Agency plan.
• Straightforward structure, no specialized plans for departments, and no hidden costs.

Verdict: MakeForms pricing far better value for teams that expect high response volumes or need more flexibility. You pay for access, not limits.

5. Compliance Comparison: Can Typeform compete with MakeForms comprehensive compliance?

Typeform’s compliance structure is surprisingly restrictive, especially for a product at its price point.

Typeform, here’s what you get (and don’t):

• HIPAA compliance: Available only on custom enterprise plans.
• GDPR compliance: By default for all users (as an EU-based platform).
• Data Residency: No option to choose between US/EU data centers unless on enterprise.

Even users paying $291/month don’t get HIPAA, or regional data residency controls, these are reserved for large, custom enterprise contracts.

MakeForms Compliance

MakeForms takes a radically different stance, it offers global data residency options available from the first plan itself

• US & EU (Essentials Plan)
• US, EU, Canada, Australia, Singapore, India (Pro & Agency Plans)
• Extended global coverage for Enterprise: UAE, UK, South Africa, Brazil, Israel, Japan, and more

It also has a much larger roster of regulatory compliances covered:

• HIPAA – for healthcare and patient data security
• GDPR – for EU user privacy
• PIPEDA – for Canadian data compliance
• SOC 2 Type II – for audit-grade data handling and controls
• CCPA – for California consumer data protection
• Australia DPA – for Australian data privacy standards
• UK GDPR – for UK data protection compliance

With built-In security features across plans:

• Data encryption (at rest and in transit)
• OTP verification to prevent spam and fake submissions
• Inbuilt spam protection and bot filtering
• Automated real-time data backups

Verdict: In practicality, for even a growing business that anticipates international reach, MakeForms is the only viable option. If you are based in the US but planning to receive sign ups on your forms from Australia, India, Canada, you won’t be able to use Typeform, especially if you are collecting personal information. Your form maker has to be compliant with the data regulations there.

6. Customer Support: Typeform vs MakeForms who has better service?

When you’re paying for a form builder, you want to know that the team behind the product has your back. Whether it’s a form glitch, an integration issue, or just a setup question, good customer support is always preferred.

The good news is that both Typeform and MakeForms offer chat support, so you can reach out directly to their teams when you need help. But the real difference lies in how proactive and responsive that support is once you do reach out. 
So we did a little digging into the reviews, and we’ll leave you to come up with the verdict. 

Typeform Reviews that mention ‘Customer Support’

“What’s worse is their absolutely abysmal customer service.”

“I have to get customer support help with on more than half the occasions I use it.”

“Actual bad customer support. I reached out in regards to canceling a subscription and not one person was able to understand why I needed to cancel and wouldn’t cancel it.”

Source - TrustPilot

MakeForms Reviews that mention ‘Customer Support’

“The support I was given along the way was awesome.”

“Customer support is responsive and easy to contact, providing timely assistance.”

“I have a lot of respect for the Founder, he is always attentive to the user's every need, and continually improves the product to keep it competitive and modern. “

Source: G2.com

Typeform vs MakeForms go head-to-head in 2026

Which Is the Best Typeform Alternative for Businesses in 2026?

Both Typeform and MakeForms are impressive online form builders, but they serve very different audiences.

Choose Typeform if you’re a solo creator or designer who values visual storytelling and aesthetics over compliance and scalability.
 
But choose MakeForms if you’re running a growing business, startup, or enterprise that needs automation, global compliance, and unlimited responses, without paying enterprise-level prices. It’s a modern Typeform alternative built for scalability, data security, and AI-powered workflows.

Final Verdict: For 2026’s digital-first landscape, where compliance, automation, and brand control define success, MakeForms clearly stands out as the smarter, long-term Typeform alternative.
 

Start your free trial with MakeForms today - build your first AI-powered form in minutes.