Paperform
Paperform is a bootstrapped SaaS company that provides an online form builder with AI features, payments, e-signatures, and workflow automation for 500,000+ small and growing businesses globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersSydney, Australia
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Paperform does
Paperform is a private, bootstrapped software company that builds an online form builder targeting small and growing businesses that need to collect information, take payments, onboard clients, and trigger workflows without engineering resources. Founded in 2015 by Dean McPherson (CTO) and Diony McPherson (COO) and headquartered in Sydney, Australia with legal domicile in California, the company serves 500,000+ businesses and hundreds of millions of respondents globally. The platform centers on a document-style editor with slash commands, conditional logic, live calculations, guided mode, custom branding, and SOC 2 Type II compliance, layered with AI form generation and AI-driven response insights.
The product portfolio has expanded from the core Paperform form builder into three adjacent modules: Papersign (electronic signatures), Agency+ (agency-tier client management), and Stepper (AI-native workflow automation launched November 2025). The platform connects to over 2,000 native integrations spanning productivity, CRM, marketing automation, payments (Stripe), and automation hubs (Zapier, Make), supported by a public API and webhook infrastructure and a 30,000+ pre-built template library.
Commercially, Paperform operates a freemium and self-serve subscription model with monthly and annual billing, a usage-based plan option, and a 7-day unrestricted trial with no credit card required. Distribution is product-led via the paperform.co website, complemented by aggressive SEO through competitor comparison pages, content marketing, and customer reviews averaging 4.8/5 across Capterra, Trustpilot, and G2. The company has scaled to 11–50 employees with a distributed global team and no disclosed institutional funding rounds.
Paperform firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Paperform
- Legal name
- Paperform
- Website
- https://paperform.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Paperform is a bootstrapped SaaS company that provides an online form builder with AI features, payments, e-signatures, and workflow automation for 500,000+ small and growing businesses globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Paperform industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Form Builder Software
- akta.pro primary industry
- eSignature, Forms & Digital Workflow Platforms (HDAEAHAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Data Entry & Form Processing (Manual Keying, Validation) (BPAAAKAC)
Keywords
Where Paperform is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sydney
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Paperform business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Plans: Flat-fee subscription plans with monthly or annual billing. Users can upgrade when they need more responses, automation and collaboration. Also offers usage-based plans where users pay per use.
- Freemium Free Plan: Free plan for simple forms and workflows. Serves as acquisition funnel for paid upgrades.
- Usage-based Pricing: Usage plan where users pay at a set rate per use for certain services.
- Agency+: Specialized plan for agencies to manage and scale forms for clients and brands.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free plan for basic form creation |
| Subscription | Annual | Paid subscription tiers |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Usage-based plan |
| Subscription | Monthly | Agency+ for agency clients |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Paperform product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Paperform is an online form builder that lets small and growing businesses create branded forms, surveys, payment flows, booking experiences, and workflows through a document-style editor enhanced by AI. The platform bundles form creation, conditional logic, calculations, payment processing, electronic signatures (Papersign), agency client management (Agency+), and AI-native workflow automation (Stepper) into one no-code product. It is sold as a self-serve SaaS subscription with a free plan, usage-based options, and tiered monthly or annual billing for SMBs.
Product overview
Paperform operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core product is Paperform, an online form builder that has expanded beyond basic form creation to include comprehensive workflow capabilities. Supporting products include Papersign (electronic signature), Agency+ (agency client management), and Stepper (AI-native workflow automation). The platform is designed for SMBs to run everyday forms and workflows without developers or multiple tools.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Papersign: Simplify document signing so you can spend less time in email chains and more time on the important stuff.
- Agency+
- Stepper
Products and services
- Paperform Online form builder that lets small and growing businesses create branded forms, surveys, payment flows, booking experiences, and workflows with conditional logic, live calculations, custom branding, and native integrations. Sold as a self-serve SaaS with a free plan and paid subscriptions.
- Papersign
Quantifiable outcome
- 91% conversion rate increase with Guided Mode (one question at a time)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Paperform
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Paperform technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration15 records
AI capability6 records
Feature10 records
Paperform partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Google SheetscoreNative integration allowing form submissions to sync directly into Google Sheets for data management and analysis.
- MailchimpcoreNative integration to add subscribers to email lists and sync lead data with Mailchimp campaigns.
- SlackcoreNative integration to send notifications and updates to Slack channels when forms are submitted.
- HubSpotcoreNative CRM integration to send leads directly into HubSpot for sales and marketing workflows.
- NotioncoreNative integration to sync form data with Notion databases and workspaces.
- AirtablecoreNative integration to connect form submissions with Airtable bases and tables.
- AsanacoreNative integration to create tasks and projects in Asana from form submissions.
- IntercomcoreNative integration to connect form data with Intercom for customer communication.
- DropboxcoreNative integration to save form submissions and files to Dropbox.
- ConvertKitcoreNative integration to add subscribers to ConvertKit email marketing platform.
- StripecorePayment processor integration for processing payments directly through forms.
- ZapiercoreIntegration platform connecting Paperform to thousands of additional apps through automated workflows.
- Make (formerly Integromat)coreAutomation platform connecting Paperform with other tools for complex workflow automation.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Paperform competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Typeform: Typeform is a direct competitor offering conversational online form and survey builder for SMBs and enterprises, with a strong design-led brand and similar PLG/SMB targeting. Paperform's own comparison pages explicitly position against Typeform.
- Jotform: Jotform is a long-established direct competitor in the online form builder market with similar SMB targeting, drag-and-drop builder, payment integrations, and a large template library. Paperform actively targets Jotform users via SEO comparison pages.
- Formstack: Formstack is a direct competitor in online form building with a comparable product surface (forms, documents, eSignature, workflow) targeting SMB and mid-market. Paperform explicitly markets against Formstack.
- Cognito Forms: Cognito Forms is a direct SMB-focused competitor offering a form builder with conditional logic, calculations, and payment processing at a similar price point to Paperform.
Broad incumbents
- Google Forms: Google Forms is the dominant free, broad-incumbent form tool bundled into Google Workspace, serving the same SMB and individual user segment. It competes heavily on price (free) and ecosystem convenience.
- SurveyMonkey: SurveyMonkey is a broader incumbent in online survey and form software with strong enterprise penetration and a freemium motion targeting the same SMB base as Paperform.
- Microsoft Forms: Microsoft Forms is a broad-incumbent form builder bundled into Microsoft 365, targeting the same enterprise and SMB customer base with deep ecosystem lock-in.
Emerging players
- Tally: Tally is an emerging PLG form builder with a similar minimalist, document-style UX and generous free tier, attracting the same SMB and creator audience as Paperform.
- Fillout: Fillout is an emerging PLG form and survey builder with strong native integrations and AI features, competing for the same SMB and mid-market form-building workload as Paperform.
Others
- Zapier: Zapier is an ecosystem partner to Paperform but also an emerging competitor in workflow automation, which Stepper directly enters. Relevant as both integration partner and adjacent platform risk.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Paperform social profiles
Digital presencePaperform compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Paperform financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Paperform leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Paperform subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Paperform funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Paperform M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Paperform
What does Paperform do?
Paperform is an online form builder that lets small and growing businesses create branded forms, surveys, payment flows, booking experiences, and workflows through a document-style editor enhanced by AI. The platform bundles form creation, conditional logic, calculations, payment processing, electronic signatures (Papersign), agency client management (Agency+), and AI-native workflow automation (Stepper) into one no-code product. It is sold as a self-serve SaaS subscription with a free plan, usage-based options, and tiered monthly or annual billing for SMBs.
Is Paperform a public or private company?
Paperform is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Paperform founded?
Paperform was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Paperform based?
Paperform is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Paperform make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Plans are the primary driver. The others are freemium Free Plan, usage-based Pricing and agency+.
Who are Paperform's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Typeform, Jotform, Formstack and Cognito Forms. Broad incumbents are Google Forms, SurveyMonkey and Microsoft Forms. Emerging players are Tally and Fillout. Zapier is listed as an others.
Does Paperform have an API?
Yes. Paperform provides a public API and webhook capabilities. The platform supports native integrations, Stepper workflows, webhooks, and connectivity with automation tools like Zapier and Make. API documentation is available at paperform.readme.io. Developer documentation is at paperform.readme.io.
What industry is Paperform in?
Paperform's product category is Online Form Builder Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAHAJ, eSignature, Forms & Digital Workflow Platforms, with a secondary code of BPAAAKAC, Data Entry & Form Processing (Manual Keying, Validation).