Cognito Forms vs Tally
The Tally Alternative
Built for Real Work
Love Tally's simplicity, but need more power? Cognito Forms combines intuitive form creation with advanced features, HIPAA compliance, flexible payments, document generation, and workflow automation.
Why Cognito Forms?
Forms That Drive Your Processes - Not Just Collect Responses
Workflows for any process
From submission to completion, automate every step—assign tasks, trigger notifications, and track progress in one platform. Teams streamline internal processes and eliminate manual handoffs.
Built for business
Go beyond basic data collection with advanced logic, calculations, and workflows—perfect for internal approvals, order forms, and multi-step applications.
Secure your data
Tailor access by role and step, making it easier to run approvals, internal processes, and client follow-ups with the right visibility every time.
Why Customers Choose Cognito Forms
All the capabilities you need, without the limitations.
With Tally:
With Cognito Forms:
Tally
Not designed for HIPAA use cases—no BAA for collecting protected health information, which can make healthcare workflows a non-starter.
Cognito Forms
HIPAA-ready option on Enterprise with a signed BAA and stronger controls for sensitive data collection.
Run patient intake, consent, and healthcare workflows with role-based access and audit-friendly process tracking.
Tally
Stripe-only payments and free-plan payments can include a commission, limiting flexibility as you scale fundraising or sales.
Cognito Forms
Accept payments through Stripe, PayPal, or Square, with 0% commission on Team/Enterprise plans.
Choose the processor your customers prefer for donations, event registration, invoices, and order forms—without losing a cut.
Tally
No native document generation—submissions don’t automatically become contracts, receipts, or PDF reports without external tools.
Cognito Forms
Built-in document generation merges form data into Word/PDF templates automatically.
Generate receipts, agreements, summaries, and branded PDFs instantly on submission to eliminate manual copy/paste.
Tally
Conditional logic is helpful, but there’s no built-in way to assign tasks, track statuses, or route approvals across a team.
Cognito Forms
Advanced workflow automation with roles, statuses, assignments, and triggered notifications.
Build approvals and handoffs that move from “Submitted” to “Approved” to “Completed” with clear ownership at every step.
Tally
No true Save & Resume flow for long forms—respondents can drop off when they can’t reliably pause and return later.
Cognito Forms
Save & Resume lets users pause and return later via a secure resume link.
Increase completion rates for long applications and intake forms, and recover in-progress submissions instead of losing them.
Tally
“Unlimited” submissions can run into fair-use thresholds at higher volume—creating uncertainty as traffic grows.
Cognito Forms
Predictable scaling with higher tiers, including an Enterprise option with unlimited entries.
Run high-volume campaigns and operational workflows without worrying about hitting a hidden ceiling.
Where Power Meets Simplicity
You shouldn't have to choose between powerful functionality and ease of use—with the right platform, you get both. See how the features stack up.
| Cognito Forms Team Plan $39/mo | Tally Pro Plan $29/mo | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting plan level | Free | Free |
| No coding required | ||
| Integrations & API access | ||
| Workflow automation with forms Create automated workflows with automatic notifications, custom workflow statuses, and advanced logic. Require fields for certain roles or workflow steps. | Basic conditional logic only | |
| Client portals | 5 guests/mo included; Additional guest tiers start at $25/mo for 50 guests | |
| Conditional logic Show and hide fields based on other form fields, the current workflow status, or who is accessing the form. | With limitations | |
| Lookup fields Use entry data from other forms to populate dropdowns, perform calculations, or display text in a new form. | ||
| Save & resume capabilities Allows form users to save their progress and finish an incomplete form at a later time. | ||
| Payment collection Built-in payment integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Square) for collecting payments directly from forms. | Stripe, PayPal, Square | Stripe |
| Payment processing fee on Free plans | 2% | 5% |
| Electronic signatures Collect electronic signatures on any form or any device by simply adding a signature field. | ||
| Advanced calculations | ||
| Document generation Create and generate documents directly from your form data, and download them instantly for easy sharing. | $4/template/mo Unlimited generations | |
No credit card required |
No credit card required
departments
processing
their previous form-builder
"It was easy to squeeze in the cost of Cognito Forms Enterprise. It was a no-brainer, especially with no long-term contract."
card delivery time
since implementation
"Cognito Forms is great for any small business that can't necessarily afford a developer. It reduces staff labor, which is a savings cost, and improves the client experience."
onboarding time
over three years
"There was no way we could have grown so much if we didn't have Cognito Forms. Really, it has become the backbone for managing the entire organization."
member selection
duplicate data entry
"Cognito Forms allows us to create processes that we have full control over. We have so much flexibility compared to other SaaS products."
portal and receive
automatic reminders
and inefficiencies
"Cognito Forms’ Guest Access and Task Reminders almost completely eliminate the need for my staff to make manual follow-up calls."
Forms that Power Your Processes
Go beyond collecting responses—automate the busywork, connect every step of your process, and create workflows that keep your clients and team in sync.
Build custom forms with Workflow statuses, actions, and roles to automate approvals, route submissions, and trigger next steps, without manual handoffs or bottlenecks.
Assign tasks with deadlines, send automatic reminder emails on schedule, and ensure your work moves forward without constant oversight.
Create secure, self-service portals for your customers to submit forms, view previous submissions, complete assigned tasks, and track form status, all without your help.
Automatically create new entries in other forms when a new submission comes in, populating fields and connecting related information across your forms and workflows.
Online Form Builder
Simple enough
for quick setup,
customizable
for power users
- Repeating Sections
- Data Lookups
- Calculations
- Integrations
- Conditional Logic
- Custom Themes
Integrate with Platforms You Already Use
Our data integrations make connecting your data with your existing tools easy - for maximum impact.
Ready to Choose Cognito Forms?
Start your free trial today and experience advanced form features without the premium price. No credit card required.