Quick verdict
Google Forms is free and familiar. It's also basic, ugly, and dumps everything into a spreadsheet. If you're sending forms to clients or need to actually manage submissions, ioZen is the upgrade. And it's also free to start.
Quick comparison
| Feature | ioZen | Google Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Professional appearance | Basic | |
| Conversational flow | All at once | |
| AI intelligence | ||
| Built-in workflow | ||
| Built-in CRM | ||
| Custom branding | Very limited | |
| Free tier |
Why teams switch
"Client-facing embarrassment"
"I couldn't send clients a Google Form. It looked like a student project. The Google branding, the bland layout, the lack of any personality. When I switched to ioZen, clients started commenting on how professional the intake process looked. That first impression matters."
"Spreadsheet chaos"
"Everything dumped into a Google Sheet. Then what? We'd color-code rows, add columns for status, try to remember who was handling what. It was a mess. With ioZen, submissions automatically become cards on a board. We can see exactly where everything stands without a spreadsheet."
"Missing features"
"No real conditional logic, no file uploads that work well, no follow-up questions. Every time we needed something slightly more than basic, we hit a wall. ioZen does conditional logic, file uploads with AI analysis, and asks smart follow-ups. The gap is huge."
Feature-by-feature breakdown
Appearance
Google Forms looks like Google Forms. There's no getting around the bland, generic layout. ioZen gives you full branding control: your logo, your colors, your CSS. It looks like your business, not a free tool.
Data collection
Google Forms shows every field at once. People scroll, skim, and leave incomplete answers. ioZen presents questions one at a time in a conversation, with AI follow-ups that get complete information.
AI capabilities
Google Forms has zero AI. ioZen generates forms from descriptions, asks intelligent follow-ups, validates data quality, and extracts information from uploaded documents and photos.
What happens after submission
Google Forms puts data in a spreadsheet. That's the end. ioZen creates workflow cards, assigns to team members, tracks progress through stages, and keeps a full history. Submissions become actionable work.
Contact management
Google Forms doesn't track who submitted what. ioZen automatically creates contact profiles, links submissions to contacts, and gives you tags, segments, and interaction history across all forms.
Pricing
Both are free to start. Google Forms is completely free (because you're the product). ioZen has a generous free tier with 1,000 AI credits and paid plans when you need more. Both cost $0 to try.
Who should use what
Choose Google Forms if...
- Internal surveys only (team polls, quick feedback)
- You truly don't care how it looks
- You just need data dumped into a spreadsheet
Choose ioZen if...
- Anything client-facing where appearance matters
- You need to track and manage submissions, not just collect them
- You want AI follow-ups that get complete information
- You've outgrown spreadsheets as a workflow tool