Here’s the thing about form software in 2026: most form builders assume you’re starting from scratch. Pick a template, drag some fields, share it. Done.
But we kept hearing a different story from our customers:
“We have hundreds of PDFs. They’re not pretty, but they’re what we use. Can you help us without losing our layout?”
PlatoForms has always been an online form builder—but with a superpower: PDF-first, workflow-ready form automation. While other tools force you to abandon existing documents, we let you keep them.
And along the way, we’ve evolved from a PDF-focused form builder into an AI-powered platform—now supported by a multilingual website experience for teams around the world.
In this post, we’ll cover:
Everything started with one question
We shipped 18+ major features in 2025. Each one was a different answer to the same question: how do we reduce the distance between “we need this form online” and “it’s live and working”?
- Going global — making PlatoForms usable for teams outside English-speaking regions
- Customer stories — moving beyond abstract use cases to show real workflows
- Form templates — reducing setup time for the most common document types
- AI field recognition — turning existing PDFs into structured forms without rebuilding
- AI form generation — getting from idea to working form without starting from scratch
- Website refresh — reducing confusion for first-time visitors
Going global: Seven languages and counting
Forms don’t stop at borders. And neither do the teams using PlatoForms.
Over the past year, we’ve seen more customers coming from outside English-speaking regions—especially from Japan, Europe, and Latin America. So we took a practical first step toward going global: making the PlatoForms website experience available in seven languages.
Today, you can browse PlatoForms in:
- English
- Chinese (Simplified & Traditional)
- Japanese
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- German
- French
This means key pages—product overviews, documentation, and learning resources—are now easier to read and navigate in your preferred language.
Why this matters: When you’re evaluating tools, setting up workflows, or learning how a feature works, language shouldn’t be the thing slowing you down. Being able to explore PlatoForms in your own language makes it easier to understand what’s possible—and decide if it’s the right fit—before you even build your first form.
Real stories from real customers
We launched a Customer Stories section to show how PlatoForms is actually used—not just how it’s described.
Instead of abstract use cases, these stories focus on real teams and real constraints: healthcare providers digitizing long intake forms, schools moving enrollment online, or legal teams working with existing contracts and approval flows.
Each story walks through the problem, the setup, and the outcome—what they kept, what they changed, and where PlatoForms fit into their workflow.
Why we did this: “Build any form you want” is vague. Seeing how another team solved a similar problem makes it easier to decide whether PlatoForms fits your reality.
Form templates: Stop starting from zero
Many form builders assume you’re starting from a blank canvas.
Our customers often aren’t.
In 2025, we expanded the PlatoForms template library to help teams get started faster—especially for common workflows like registrations, applications, approvals, and internal requests.
Templates are meant as starting points, not rigid structures. You can customize them freely or combine them with existing PDFs and workflows.
Why this matters: Speed matters—but so does flexibility. Templates should help you move faster without forcing you into someone else’s process.
📖 Browse over 1,000+ professional templates at templates.platoforms.com
AI field recognition: From hours to minutes
Upload an existing PDF—whether it’s a government form, a legal contract, or an industry-specific application—and PlatoForms’ AI will automatically detect form fields for you.
Text inputs, checkboxes, radio buttons, signatures, dates, and even tables. The system analyzes layout, labels, and surrounding context to understand what each field represents.
Results aren’t always perfect, but the detection reliably gets you most of the way there — without manually placing every field one by one. What’s left is review and adjustment, not rebuilding from scratch.
Real example: One compliance-focused customer needed to digitize more than 200 existing PDF forms under a tight deadline. They originally estimated the project would take several months. By using AI field recognition as a starting point, they completed the bulk of the work in a few weeks instead—and focused their time on validation rather than setup.
🛠️ Ready to try it? Check out our step-by-step guide on using AI Field Recognition to auto-detect fields in your first PDF.
AI form generation: Describe it, get it
Sometimes you don’t have a PDF. You just have an idea.
“I need a customer feedback form for our restaurant.”
“Create a job application for software engineers.”
“Build an event registration with ticket tiers.”
Describe what you need in plain language, and PlatoForms’ AI generates a ready-to-use form as a starting point—with appropriate fields, a logical structure, and sensible defaults.
Adjustments are just as easy — describe what to change (“add a section for dietary restrictions”, “make the phone number optional”, “split this into two steps”), and the form updates instantly. You stay fully in control.
Why this works: The AI is trained on common form patterns and real-world use cases, giving you a strong first draft that you can refine with your own rules, logic, and workflows.
Website experience refresh: Clearer, faster, easier to navigate
In 2025, we didn’t just ship new features—we also spent time reworking how people experience PlatoForms on the web.
That means the marketing site, docs, blog, and resources—not the form builder itself.
What changed:
- Clearer navigation
- Better structure around real use cases
- Improved documentation flow
- Multi-language website support, switchable from the top-right corner
The goal wasn’t a visual makeover for its own sake—it was to reduce confusion, especially for first-time visitors.
2025 in review
In 2025, everything we shipped pointed in the same direction: reduce the manual work of getting a real document workflow online. AI recognized fields from existing PDFs and generated forms from prompts, removing the need to build from scratch. Templates and multi-language support lowered the barrier for more teams. The website refresh made it easier to understand what PlatoForms does before signing up.
The common thread: less friction between “we need this form online” and “it’s live and working.”
What’s new in 2026
In 2026, we continued along the same line — but AI moved further into the workflow itself. Two themes run through everything that’s landed.
AI moved from building forms to running workflows
Where 2025 AI helped you create the form, 2026 AI started doing more of the work after the form is submitted.
The AI Logic Builder lets you write conditional rules in plain English — describe the condition, and the logic writes itself. Logic-based Email Notifications route submissions to the right person automatically based on what someone answered — no manual forwarding, no “did you see this?” emails. Custom PDF Template gives you full control over what the generated PDF looks like — static layout, dynamic variables, your branding. And Conditional Logic PDF Print means the PDF only includes what’s relevant — blank optional sections disappear automatically.
The through-line: the form is no longer just a data collection step. It’s the trigger for a complete document workflow.
More ways to start without starting from scratch
The second theme is reducing rebuild work — meeting people where their forms already exist.
Import Google Forms brings your existing Google Forms structure directly into PlatoForms, then lets you add what Google Forms doesn’t support: PDF output, e-signatures, conditional routing, and payments. The Canva App does the same for design-first users — export a Canva form layout, and AI maps the fields automatically. Bulk Pre-fill via CSV removes the manual work of sending personalized invitations at scale.
On the payments side: PayPal is now natively supported inside forms alongside Stripe, which added Apple Pay, Google Pay, and an in-form widget. Collecting payment no longer means a separate checkout step.
Built for real workflows, powered by AI
PlatoForms started as a tool for getting PDFs online without losing the document. It became an AI-powered platform for running the workflows that documents live inside — from the first field to the final signed output. The same question has driven every feature since: how do we reduce the distance between “we have this document” and “it works online”?
If that’s the problem you’re trying to solve, start a free trial and see how far we’ve come.
📚 Want the full feature history? Check out our 2025 Year in Review.
