# Which AI form builder is cheapest for a small business that gets about 1,000 form responses a month?

Source page: https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/guides/ai-form-builder-small-business-lead-intake-1000-responses-cost/
Published 2026-11-15 · updated 2026-11-15 · AI Tools by Use Case

## Short answer

At about 1,000 responses a month, Tally Free ($0, unlimited forms and submissions within fair use, AI assistant free on every plan) and Fillout Free ($0, exactly 1,000 responses a month, AI form builder) cost nothing. The cheapest paid step-ups are Fillout Starter at $180 a year (2,000 responses) and Tally Pro at $290 a year (no branding). Jotform Bronze is $408 a year; Typeform Plus is $56/month billed yearly.

## Comparison

| Tool | Why it fits (from official info) | Pricing | Official pricing | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Tally](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/tally/) | Cheapest overall. Free is $0 with unlimited forms and submissions within Tally's fair-use policy, plus conditional logic, payments, signatures and file uploads; the in-editor Tally AI assistant builds and edits forms from a prompt and is free on every plan. Pro ($29 monthly or $290/year) removes Tally branding and adds custom domains, partial submissions and drop-off analytics. | Freemium | Free $0 (unlimited forms and submissions within fair use); Pro $29/month or $290/year ($24/month billed yearly); Business $89/month or $890/year ($74/month billed yearly). | 2026-11-15 |
| [Fillout](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/fillout/) | Best AI form generator on a free plan. Describe the form (or upload a PDF) and Fillout's AI, powered by Zite, builds it. Free is $0 with 1,000 responses a month and unlimited seats — exactly this volume. Starter ($15/month billed yearly, $180/year) doubles that to 2,000; Pro ($480/year) removes branding at 5,000 responses. | Freemium | Free $0 (1,000 responses/month, unlimited forms and seats); Starter $15/month billed yearly ($180/year; $228/year monthly) with 2,000 responses/month; Pro $40/month billed yearly ($480/year; $588/year monthly) with 5,000 responses and no branding; Business $75/month billed yearly ($900/year; $1,068/year monthly) with unlimited responses and custom domain. Yearly saves 20%. | 2026-11-15 |
| [Jotform](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/jotform/) | Best if you also want an AI Agent that collects details by chat, voice or SMS. Starter is free but capped at 5 forms and 100 submissions a month, so 1,000 responses needs Bronze: $39 monthly or $408/year (1,000 submissions, 25 forms, 1,000 AI Agent conversations a month). | Freemium | Starter free: 5 forms, 100 submissions and 100 AI Agent conversations a month; Bronze $39/month or $408/year (1,000 submissions/month, 25 forms); Silver $49/month or $468/year (2,500 submissions/month); Gold $129/month or $1,188/year (10,000 submissions/month, HIPAA features); Enterprise custom. | 2026-11-15 |
| [Typeform](https://aitools-zh.pages.dev/en/tools/typeform/) | Most polished one-question-at-a-time forms; Typeform AI form creation is on every plan including Free. But Free allows only 10 responses a month and Basic 100, so 1,000 responses needs Plus: $79 monthly or $56/month billed yearly (our arithmetic: $672/year), with 3 users and no branding. | Freemium | Free: 10 responses/month, includes Typeform AI for building forms; Basic $39/month or $28/month billed yearly (100 responses/month, 1 user); Plus $79/month or $56/month billed yearly (1,000 responses/month, 3 users, no branding); Business $129/month or $91/month billed yearly (10,000 responses/month, 5 users); Enterprise via sales. Yearly saves about 30%. | 2026-11-15 |

## How to do it with AI

1. Count last month's real submissions (quote requests, sign-ups, intake forms) across all forms. Fillout and Typeform count responses per month across the whole account; Jotform caps submissions and active forms.
2. Write a one-paragraph brief of the form (fields, required/optional, what happens after submit) and paste it into Tally's AI assistant or Fillout's AI form builder to get a first draft, then edit by hand.
3. Connect the form to where leads live (Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, HubSpot or your email) and send a test submission end to end.
4. Compare yearly totals at your volume: Tally Free $0 (Pro $290 to remove branding); Fillout Free $0 up to 1,000 a month, Starter $180 for 2,000; Jotform Bronze $408; Typeform Plus $56/month billed yearly.
5. If you are close to a limit, pick the plan one step up or set alerts: Typeform warns at 90% and 100% and then switches forms to private until next month.

## Form brief you can paste into Tally AI, Fillout AI or Typeform AI (our suggested wording, not a test output)

```
Build a quote-request form for my small cleaning company. Fields: name, email, phone (optional), postcode, type of service (regular home cleaning, deep clean, move-out clean, office), number of bedrooms (only show if a home service is chosen), preferred start date, how often (one-off, weekly, every two weeks, monthly), and a free-text box for anything else. Make email and postcode required. Thank-you page: say we reply within one business day. Keep it to one page, plain English, no marketing claims, and do not add prices.
```

## Hands-on log

- 2026-11-15 · Not tested: Not tested hands-on yet. Tally lets you create a form without an account, but we did not run its AI assistant for this page; Fillout, Jotform and Typeform need an account before you can use their AI builders. Facts on this page come from the official pricing and product pages; yearly totals are our arithmetic from the published rates.

## China-made vs Western: Jinshuju next to Tally, Fillout, Jotform and Typeform

Jinshuju is listed in our mainland China section. It is the long-running form and survey platform used in mainland China for registrations, payments and surveys, now with a built-in AI agent; the Western tools above are self-serve form builders with public USD pricing.

| Need | Jinshuju | Tally / Fillout / Jotform / Typeform |
|---|---|---|
| AI form creation | Built-in AI agent Jiri builds forms or organizes data from a one-sentence request; AI exam question generation | Tally AI assistant (all plans), Fillout AI form builder, Typeform AI (all plans), Jotform AI Agents for conversational collection |
| Free volume | 50,000 entries a month on the free plan | Tally unlimited (fair use); Fillout 1,000; Jotform 100; Typeform 10 responses a month |
| Payments | WeChat payments on paid plans | Payments on Tally and Fillout free plans; Jotform payment submissions capped per plan; Typeform via Stripe |
| Price | Paid plan prices shown on its plans page; 7-day Enterprise trial | Public USD pricing, e.g. Fillout Starter $180/year, Tally Pro $290/year |
| Connect your own AI assistant | MCP for Claude, ChatGPT and Chinese assistants | Tally API and MCP server; Typeform MCP |

## FAQ

### What is the cheapest AI form builder for 1,000 responses a month?

Tally and Fillout both cost $0 at this volume. Tally Free has unlimited forms and submissions within fair use and its AI assistant is free on every plan; Fillout Free includes 1,000 responses a month and its AI form builder.
Sources: https://tally.so/pricing, https://tally.so/ai-info, https://www.fillout.com/pricing, https://www.fillout.com/ai-form-builder

### Is Tally really free?

Tally says its free plan has unlimited forms and submissions within its fair-use guidelines, including logic, calculations, payments, signatures and file uploads. Pro ($29 monthly or $290 a year) adds branding removal, custom domains and analytics.
Sources: https://tally.so/pricing

### How many responses does Typeform's free plan allow?

10 responses a month across all forms; Basic allows 100 and Plus 1,000. The allowance resets monthly and unused responses don't roll over. Typeform AI for building forms is included on Free.
Sources: https://www.typeform.com/pricing/

### How much does Jotform cost for 1,000 submissions a month?

Bronze: $39 monthly or $408 a year, with 1,000 monthly submissions, 25 active forms and 1,000 AI Agent conversations a month. The free Starter plan allows 100 submissions and 5 forms.
Sources: https://www.jotform.com/pricing/

### Does Fillout charge per user?

No. Every Fillout plan, including Free, has unlimited seats; plans differ by monthly responses and features (Free 1,000, Starter 2,000, Pro 5,000, Business unlimited).
Sources: https://www.fillout.com/pricing

### Is there a mainland China alternative?

Jinshuju (jinshuju.net) is a form, survey, registration and payment platform with a built-in AI agent, Jiri. Its free plan collects 50,000 entries a month and paid plans add WeChat payments, bookings and data lookup. See our mainland China section.
Sources: https://jinshuju.net/, https://jinshuju.net/plans

## Sources

- https://tally.so/pricing
- https://tally.so/ai-info
- https://www.fillout.com/pricing
- https://www.fillout.com/ai-form-builder
- https://www.jotform.com/pricing/
- https://www.typeform.com/pricing/
- https://jinshuju.net/
- https://jinshuju.net/plans

Prices and features can change; check each official site. No ratings, no affiliate links.