Celebrating 12 Years of Cognito Forms
"Coming from a non-technical background myself, I love seeing how Cognito Forms empowers everyday people to build custom software that actually solves real problems. I've conducted several customer interviews over the past 3 years and have seen firsthand the innovative ways our customers use our product. Seeing the real impact of our product makes work genuinely enjoyable."
Bethany Little
We’re proud to celebrate our 12th birthday today, and all that’s been accomplished since that first line of code written back in 2012.
If you didn’t know, Cognito Forms is a powerful form builder that enables users to create, manage, and automate their data collection. Our simple interface, combined with advanced features, has earned us recognition as one of the best form builders out there—but that’s never been what drives us.
Cognito Forms started as a product designed for companies with real business needs. A group of software engineers who developed custom software for businesses noticed companies requesting the same thing over and over again. They were developing custom form code to build a form that allowed companies to collect basic data from their clients.
This was costing companies a significant amount of time and money.
These innovative pioneers recognized the need for businesses to build their own form - a custom solution that fits their unique data collection needs. From its inception, Cognito Forms has grown from a simple drag-and-drop builder to a platform with conditional logic, integrations, and other advanced features.
Some people from the original core group still lead Cognito Forms today, and their passion hasn’t dimmed one bit.
One of the most inspiring things about working here is that they talk about why they do what they do. Jamie, Co-founder and CEO, has mentioned that Cognito Forms is a passion project for him. It’s not a way to make big bucks, but a place where he can innovate and collaborate to build software that genuinely fits people and their needs.
That people-first mindset permeates everything we do. It’s in the features we build, the support we provide, and the community we’ve cultivated over the past 12 years.
Working at Cognito Forms, I genuinely feel that my work is valued by the company and our customers. The culture here is unmatched!
Blake Bailey
12 Celebrations for Our 12th Birthday
To mark this milestone, we’re celebrating 12 things our incredible team accomplished to make Cognito Forms even better for our users:
1. Create a better experience for your clients - We added localized language on client portals, QR codes for easy sharing, and added images in choice fields to make forms more visual and accessible.
2. Build forms easier with AI assistance - We developed our AI calculator helper and updated our AI workflow generator to make building forms even easier.
3. Get started faster - We made it easier to begin with form creation from spreadsheet . We added new industry-specific template bundles, including the essential HR template bundle and new construction templates.
4. Give your clients a self-service hub - We introduced the client portal, where patients, clients, students, and others can find their forms, complete tasks, and view important information in one place.
5. Streamline your team’s workflow - We elevated workflow tasks with automated reminders, a task dashboard, and the ability to assign tasks to guests.
6. Make your forms match your brand - We expanded customization options with custom appearance and custom form names and links.
7. Learn how to get the most from Cognito Forms - Our product marketing team hosted two live webinars to help you master Workflows (parts I and II) and the new client portal.
8. Connect your favorite tools - We launched our integration directory and added OData to make data flow seamlessly across your tech stack.
9. Enjoy a sleeker, more intuitive interface - We launched a new Cognito Forms UI and introduced dark mode for easier work at any time of day.
10. Learn at your own pace with video tutorials - We expanded our YouTube library with step-by-step guides you can watch anytime, making it easier to master features on your own time.
11. Keep your data safer - We introduced API key rotation and made other behind-the-scenes security improvements to protect your information.
12. Work in a space that inspires us - More central to our team, we spent our first full-year in our new office, creating an environment where we can do our best work for you!
Working at Cognito has been a dream come true for me. I love the vision and values of this company, and I'm stoked to see where we are headed in the future. Here's to a dozen years, and dozens more to come!
Grayson Peterson
Thank You
As we blow out the candles on year 12, we’re more excited than ever about what’s ahead. The forms industry continues to evolve, and so do we. But one thing remains constant: our commitment to building a platform that empowers people to collect data their way, without compromise.
To our customers who’ve built thousands of forms, collected millions of entries, and trusted us with your critical business processes—thank you. You inspire us to keep improving, keep innovating, and keep pushing the boundaries of what a form builder can do.
To our team members, past and present, who’ve poured out their creativity, expertise, and passion into this platform—thank you. You’ve built something remarkable.