According to the Sierra Club and Reduce.org, the average office employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year which is equivalent to one tree and in plenty of cases costs an estimated $725 USD. Data collection software promises a paper-less environment and many more benefits for your business. However, your success depends on choosing the appropriate software for your business’ needs.
To help you pick a data collection software suitable for your needs, we’ve compiled a list of the 8 best data collection tools available in 2021, along with the pros and cons of each.
Top 8 Best Data Collection Tools
- monday.com – Best for versatile project management.
- Device Magic – Best for pre-filling from data.
- Zonka Feedback – Best for customer feedback.
- Trello – Best project management tool for small projects.
- JotForm – Best for form building options.
- Fulcrum – Best for mobile data collection.
- KoBo Toolbox – Best for humanitarian organizations.
- Fastfield – Best for field data collection.
1. monday.com – Best for versatile project management
Pricing: Dependent on team size. Basic package is $14 per team member, Standard package is $17 per team member, Pro package is $27 per seat, and Enterprise requires you to contact Monday for a personalized quote.
Known for its ease of use and functionality, Monday has become a favorite among entrepreneurs. Monday is a project management tool that includes built-in time tracking features, collaboration options, timeline and calendar views, and allows for the integration of several other apps such as Excel, Twitter, Shopify, Dropbox, and more.
| Pros | Cons |
| Can be integrated with several apps such as Excel, Google Drive, MailChimp, Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, and more. | Basic package does not include most of the features by the product. |
| Well organized and categorized interface. | Pricing can be high for your business if you have a smaller team. |
| Customizable for your personalized needs. | Slow customer support for users experiencing issues with the software. |
| Includes metrics for each team members. | – |
| Available on iOS, Android, and Desktop. | – |
2. Device Magic – Best pre-filling from data
Pricing: Free 14-day trial of all features. Free plan includes unlimited forms and submission only for one device. The Professional plan is $25 per device with a minimum of three devices. The Enterprise plan requires contacting Device Magic for a custom quote.
Device Magic focuses on digitizing your data collection process by three easy steps: create your forms, complete and submit your forms, and distribute your data. This product is easy to use and is equipped with customization options and tools for your needs.
| Pros | Cons |
| Available on desktop, iOS, and Android devices. | Professional plan does not allow for Excel, JSON, and XML submission formats. |
| Can be used among various industries such as energy, agriculture, construction, facility management, enterprises and telecoms. | Dispatch feature and Zapier submission destination is only for Enterprise plan users. |
| Provides a wide range of features such as form builder, offline access, intelligent fields, dispatches, automated workflows, delivery formats, device compatibility, user groups, custom reports, analytics, geomapping, and hosting options. | Enhanced security options are only for Enterprise plan users. |
| Integrating Device Magic with Zapier allows you to automatically send a Slack message or add new Google Sheets rows. | – |
| The feature, Dispatches, offers a quick and efficient process to distribute data via pre-populated forms to any number of destinations. | – |
3. Zonka – Best for customer feedback
Pricing: Free trial for 15 days and no credit card required. Pricing is divided into two categories — Personal and Business — and also divided among monthly and yearly plan. For the monthly business plan there are four options: Professional at $99/mo, Growth at $199/mo, Enterprise $499/mo, and a custom personalized quote. For the yearly business plan there are four options: Professional $79/mo, Growth $168/mo, Enterprise $429/mo.
Zonka provides your business with customer and employee feedback via surveys and feedback forms through multiple channels such as Kiosk, iPads, Android Tablets, Smartphones, Emails, SMS, Website, QR code, and much more. This app will equip your business with real-time reports, insightful analytics, and instant feedback alerts.
| Pros | Cons |
| Does not require internet connection to collect feedback information. | Complicated pricing structure. |
| Several customizable and pre-made templates available for your choice. | Users may experience problems with text and layout design. |
| Available on iPhones, iPads, Android Tablets and Smartphones, and desktop. | – |
4. Trello – Best project management tool for small projects
Pricing: Free, Standard: $5.00 per month, Premium: $10.00 per month, Enterprise: $17.50 per month.
Trello helps organize your projects into boards. It’s a tool that promotes collaboration for your business and provides information about who is working on what, current work process of team members, and what is being worked on. Trello is a popular and trusted solution for your business since it has over 4.75 million users which include Google and Costco to name a few.
| Pros | Cons |
| Available on iOS, Android, and desktop. | Does not allow managing tasks offline on desktop. |
| The pricing is affordable for your business and even includes a free option. | Difficult to handle large and complex projects. |
| Collaboration features allows users to easily communicate with other project members. | Needs to improve the reporting and analytics feature for more practical insights. |
| Allows integration with Slack. | – |
| Features are simple and easy to use. | – |
| Mobile app promises similar functionality, ease of use, and efficiency compared to the desktop version. | – |
5. JotForm – Best for form building options
Pricing: Pricing is divided into monthly and yearly categories and five different packages — Starter: Free, Bronze: $29/monthly or $24/monthly for the yearly option, Silver: $39 per month or $29 per month for the yearly option, Gold: $99 per month or $79 per month for the yearly option. Enterprise requires contacting sales for a personalize quote.
JotForm is an online form builder that allows you to create online forms and collect important data. It is trusted by over 10 million users worldwide and is used among non-profits, educational institutions, small businesses, and enterprises. JotForm allows you to create surveys, reports, and other forms that can collect various sorts of information such as online payments with forms.
| Pros | Cons |
| Available on Android, iOS, and desktop. | Pricing structure can be complex. |
| Over 100 plus integrations. Some include but are not limited to: PayPal, Dropbox, Google Calendar, Slack, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Adobe Sign, Zoom and Google Sheets. | Needs more instructions and guidance for new users to maximize their access to features. |
| Easy to use and navigate on the platform. | Slow customer support for users experiencing issues with the software. |
| Well designed user-interface. | – |
6. Fulcrum – Best for mobile data collection
Pricing: Pricing is divided into yearly and monthly categories with three packages to choose from — Essentials: $31 per user or $24 per user/month if you choose to pay annually, Professional: $42 per user, $33 per user/month if you choose to pay annually, and Enterprise requires you to contact sales for a personalized quote and to have minimum of 25 users. Additional service includes the additional storage for $2.20/monthly and the Developer Pack — $149/monthly — which includes programming tools such as REST API, Query API and Webhooks.
Fulcrum focuses on providing non-developers the tools to build custom applications and data-driven automation that support business processes. Fulcrum is trusted by more than 30,000 users across 180+ countries and has proven to achieve results. Some features that will streamline your business include a form builder, export and import options and real-time tracking/reporting.
| Pros | Cons |
| Allows a free trial for Essential and Standard package. | Pricing structure can be complex. |
| Available on iOS and Android devices. | Features can be limited depending on your business’ needs. For example, there are no Polygon/Linear features and only being able to attach one picture at a time for some tasks. |
| Offers integrations with other software solutions such as Zapier, ArcGIS Online, and CARTO. | – |
| Easy to use and navigate on the platform. | – |
| Offline access to collect and input data. | – |
7. KoBo Toolbox – Best for humanitarian organizations.
Pricing: Free.
KoBo Toolbox is an open-source tool for field data collection. Its tools are built to thrive in humanitarian emergencies around the world. Features of KoBo Toolbox include a comprehensive form builder, collection of data online and offline, creation of summary reports with graphs and tables, and much more.
| Pros | Cons |
| Free to use | Unavailable on iOS devices. |
| Online and offline access to collect data. | – |
| Able to translate documents with ease. | – |
8. Fastfield – Best for field data collection
Pricing: 14-day free trial no credit card required. One package — $20 per user/per month.
Fastfield is a cloud-based data entry solution that streamlines your business processes. It enables businesses to have a paperless environment through their complete customizable solutions that save you time and money.
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable price and simple pricing structure. | Can be a difficult and frustrating user experience on the mobile application for Android and iOS users. |
| Available on desktop and mobile applications available for Android and iOS devices. | – |
| Offline data collection. | – |
| Allows users to capture images and annotate. | – |
| Includes a dashboard with performance indicators, statistics, and trends. | – |
| Integration with email, Dropbox, Amazon Web Services, Zapier, API, Google Drive, HTTP, FTP, SQL, and Power BI. | – |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a data collection software?
Data collection software discards the use of paper based surveys and forms and enables the electronic collection and storage of quantitative and qualitative data on a desktop or a mobile application.
Why should I use data collection software?
The benefits for data collection software are undeniable. Data collection software has the potential to lower cost, save time, increase access to business analytics and metrics, equips workers with tools to make informed and fast decisions, organizes all the tools you need in one place, and standardize business processes.
How do I know what data collection software to buy for my business?
Based upon your business needs and industry you can find a data collection software that accomplishes your goals. Researching data collection software by industry and needs significantly reduces the pool of software available on the market and ultimately software you can choose from. Comparing pricing, features, usability, and customer reviews can be helpful in making an official decision to use particular data collection software to streamline your business processes.
According to Array there are seven questions that you can ask when evaluating Data collection software. The questions are: what’s the average adoption rate among the users of the app? What does the training and setup process look like? How many supporting tools will my team need to interact with each day? Are there any limitations when collecting on all devices? Will I get spreadsheets, or will I get insights? How easily can it connect to my company’s existing systems? What resources does the vendor offer to support long-term success? These questions can be helpful in evaluating multiple data collection products and also choosing a data collection software for your business.
Why is data collection important?
Data collection allows your business to store and analyze information about your customers which can help your business make informed and accurate business decisions. Not only does data collection help formulate accurate theories about your business, but it also enables you to identify problems and inefficiencies.
Can I purchase more than one data collection software for my business?
If necessary for your business, then you can purchase more than one data collection software. Although some of the features may overlap with each other, it is possible to have more than one data collection software for your business and even to switch from one data collection software to another.
Is there any data collection software that is free?
Yes, KoBo Toolbox is a free data collection software and is included above in our list. However, there are plenty of other free data collection software on the market such as SurveyMonkey, GetFeedback, and many more. Please be aware of the fact that some of these software may charge for added features. Furthermore, there are data collection software on the market that include free trials which can help in making sure the software is the right fit for your business.