pdfFiller Alternative for PDF Intake: PlatoForms vs pdfFiller

Quick answer

Both pdfFiller and PlatoForms support document editing, sharing, and online signing, with different editing tools. pdfFiller edits imported PDFs. PlatoForms’ PDF Document Creator lets you create and edit document designs with AI assistance, then export a fillable PDF or publish an online form. For existing PDFs, PlatoForms can preserve the original appearance for online filling or present a responsive web form that maps answers back to the PDF. You can then collect signatures, route approval steps, and automatically save completed PDFs to cloud storage. Master Forms add shared answers across multiple documents when you need a packet; a single document can use PlatoForms too.

Best for

Pricing: What Do You Get for the Cost?

PlatoForms also includes a PDF Document Creator for designing and editing documents and exporting fillable PDFs. Its free PDF tools handle tasks such as merging, splitting, and rearranging pages without an account.

Prices are in USD. The annual column shows the monthly equivalent: PlatoForms Bronze is billed at $120/year and Silver at $360/year. Month-to-month subscriptions do not require an annual commitment.

For the supplier workflow described below, compare pdfFiller Premium and PlatoForms Bronze. pdfFiller Premium adds web forms and signNow-powered signing. PlatoForms Bronze lets suppliers fill and sign online, routes the form through configured approval steps, and automatically sends completed PDFs to connected cloud storage. It includes 5 team members, 2 published forms, and 1,000 submissions per month; count the forms required for your workflow when choosing a plan.

PlatoForms Free supports turning an existing PDF into an online form and receiving up to 100 submissions per month on one published form. Choose Bronze when you need signing, approval workflows, and automatic PDF delivery to cloud storage. Silver increases capacity and offers HIPAA team activation with a BAA for organizations that need it.

Feature comparison

A downloadable fillable PDF and a published online form are different outputs. PlatoForms’ Document Creator supports file export; its existing-PDF form builders support browser completion and generated PDF output. Form logic, participant routing, and cloud delivery belong to the online process. Feature availability depends on the selected plan and configuration.

PlatoForms’ optional signature certificate records signing details and the submitted PDF’s checksum. Its free PDF tools also include compression and password tools, alongside the page operations listed above.

pdfFiller pros

• Edit and convert documents before sending them.
• Collect separate responses through LinkToFill.
• Use signature packages and cloud-export integrations.

pdfFiller plan and setup considerations

• Online collection is a higher-tier purchase than Basic editing.
• Do not assume every airSlate or signNow feature is included in your pdfFiller plan.
• Shared-data document generation and external automation need their own configuration; a package of documents for signing does not, by itself, define field reuse.

PlatoForms pros

• Convert PDFs into original-layout or responsive online forms with AI-assisted field setup.
• Build new web forms or create and edit document designs in PDF Document Creator for fillable PDF export.
• Collect online signatures and manage submission records for review and export.
• Map shared answers to multiple PDFs with Master Forms.
• Route participant steps and send submitted PDFs to a configured cloud folder.

PlatoForms scope and plan considerations

• Online completion requires an internet connection. Downloadable fillable PDFs exported from Document Creator are a separate output for a compatible PDF viewer.
• Plans specify published-form, submission, storage, and team-member allowances; signing, Workflow, and cloud-drive integration are paid features.
• Document Creator edits its own designs; rewriting the original text of an imported PDF requires a separate editor.

For either product, review form fields and completed output before distribution. Participant steps and delivery destinations also need configuration.

Choose pdfFiller if

Your main task is editing text and content in imported PDFs, and you want to share those documents and request signatures within the same service. Choose the plan that includes the form-sharing and signing features you need.

Choose PlatoForms if

You want to create and edit a document with AI assistance, export a fillable PDF, or turn existing paperwork into an online form. For an uploaded PDF, you can keep its original appearance or offer a mobile-friendly question layout that writes answers back to the PDF.

When the document needs more than completion, connect online signing, approval steps, and automatic PDF delivery to cloud storage. This helps your team manage the work from the first response to the finished record, with less manual forwarding and saving. For several documents, Master Forms reuse the same answers across the packet.

For example, a supplier completes and signs an application online. The next participant reviews it and records an approval in a configured Workflow step, then the completed PDF is sent to the purchasing team’s connected cloud folder. If the application includes several PDFs, shared details can populate them through Master Forms.

How Will People Complete the Form—and What Happens Next?

Both pdfFiller and PlatoForms let you share forms for others to complete. Compare the experience for respondents and the work your team handles after submission: receiving answers and signed PDFs, reviewing them, and saving the completed documents where staff can find them. These needs can apply to a single form as well as a larger packet.

How Each Product Handles Online Responses

LinkToFill turns a pdfFiller document into a shareable form link. Each respondent completes a separate copy, and your account receives the completed document and data. Its response collection guide describes tracking responses and extracting data in bulk. This connects form sharing with pdfFiller’s document-editing tools.

With PlatoForms, upload your existing PDF and choose how respondents complete it: fill directly over the original PDF layout or answer a responsive web form that maps their entries back to the PDF. Share a link, embed the form, or send an invitation. Responses are stored as submissions, and you can receive completed PDFs through configured email notifications.

For the supplier application, PlatoForms can then route the submission to the next participant for review or approval and automatically save completed PDFs to connected cloud storage. Configure these steps and the output destination so staff can review the application without manually forwarding and saving every attachment. When several PDFs need the same supplier details, Master Forms reuse those answers across the documents.

How AI Helps Prepare the Supplier Form

pdfFiller’s AI Assistant drafts documents, translates and summarizes text, and answers questions about a PDF. It can also ask questions to populate a selected form template. Include those capabilities when evaluating how much preparation and filling work each product removes.

In PlatoForms, AI field detection identifies fields on uploaded PDFs for review, while AI Form Generator drafts an editable web form from a description. Teams can also review AI-generated conditional rules and suggested translations before publishing. For a new document, PDF Document Creator supports AI-assisted design and editing, static or fillable PDF export, and conversion to an online form.

For a new online supplier application, PlatoForms’ application form templates provide a starting structure. Adapt the questions to the company, contact, and purchasing details your team needs.

For the supplier application, PlatoForms’ Voice Filling maps spoken answers to fields for the respondent to review and submit. After collection, AI in Insights helps teams ask questions about reports, summarize results, and classify text responses. Staff still review the record and make any required approval decision. The AI feature guide explains feature scope, including translation and connected AI assistants; access, credits, and data handling depend on the feature.

Compare the process, starting with the supplier

Both tools collect completed PDFs. In PlatoForms, each submission has its own record, so your team can find responses without sorting returned attachments.

How do signatures differ from a review step?

pdfFiller’s SendToSign supports signing in order or simultaneously and sending multiple documents as a package. That can fit a supplier packet that needs signatures from both parties.

The current pdfFiller plan comparison also lists signNow Premium within pdfFiller Premium, alongside web form collection. Include that bundled workflow capability in the comparison if you are evaluating Premium. Do not assume that a capability described for another airSlate product is included in your pdfFiller subscription.

PlatoForms also lets respondents sign online. Optional signature certificates provide a record of signing details and the submitted PDF’s checksum. You can collect a supplier’s signature as part of the application, then use Workflow to send the next participant the form configured for their role.

A signature records the person’s signing action; a review step can also collect a decision, an internal reference, or notes about missing information. For example, the supplier fills and signs the application, then a purchasing manager reviews it, records an approval, and adds their own signature if required. In PlatoForms, configure those fields for each participant and enable the relevant signature certificate settings when certificates are needed.

If those roles complete different sections of the same PDF, Combine data across steps carries the generated PDF forward. Use that setting only when the steps share the same PDF template.

What if one application needs several PDFs?

With PlatoForms’ Master Forms, a supplier enters shared information once, and one submission populates several linked PDFs. For example, the company name, address, and contact details can appear in both the supplier application and your internal setup sheet. The supplier does not have to repeat those answers, and staff do not have to copy them between documents.

During setup, link the PDFs and map each shared field to its locations in those documents. Each PDF keeps its original layout, so your team receives the completed documents in the formats it already uses.

pdfFiller’s feature overview also lists spreadsheet-data merging into multiple documents. Compare that data source and mapping process with a Master Form collecting answers directly from a supplier; multi-document data reuse is not exclusive to PlatoForms. Confirm the required entitlement during a trial.

Both products support Zapier. pdfFiller’s Zapier integration can create completed documents from CRM or database data. PlatoForms’ Zapier integration can trigger actions after a submission, such as adding answers to Google Sheets or uploading generated PDFs to Amazon S3. It also exposes PDFs generated by Master Forms, so the completed packet can feed into connected apps.

Master Forms provides the built-in step of filling several PDFs from one set of answers; Zapier connects that submission and its outputs to other services. You can use them together. Compare the triggers and actions needed for your process in each product’s integration.

To check the result, submit one sample supplier response and open each generated PDF. Confirm that shared details appear in the correct places and that document-specific fields contain the intended information.

Where Are Completed Supplier PDFs Saved?

pdfFiller documents cloud export through Save As, including Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Box. For automated delivery, its Zapier integration supports sending completed documents to cloud storage. Check the trigger and output action for your specific form process, along with any Zapier subscription requirements.

PlatoForms’ built-in Cloud Drive integration automatically saves PDFs generated from form submissions to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box. Connect the form and choose a destination folder once; subsequent submissions send their generated PDFs there without staff downloading and uploading each file. You can name subfolders using submission fields, such as the supplier’s company name, or use a submission number or date to organize the records.

For a supplier approval process, connect the form that produces the completed PDF at the final Workflow step. This links online completion and staff review to automatic PDF delivery to the chosen folder. Run a sample through every step to confirm that the saved PDF includes the required entries and signatures.

PlatoForms also supports Zapier when you want submission data or PDFs to trigger actions in other apps—for example, sending a generated PDF to Amazon S3. The four cloud-drive connections above work directly within PlatoForms; Zapier provides an additional route for other destinations and automations.

Decide who can access that destination and how your team will handle revisions.

Which Plans Cover Signing, Approval, and PDF Delivery?

For the supplier process described here, start by comparing pdfFiller Premium and PlatoForms Bronze, then check the capacity your team needs. On pdfFiller’s plan page, Plus includes reusable templates and basic fillable fields; Premium adds web form data collection and signNow Premium for signature workflows.

PlatoForms Bronze includes online signing, Workflow for participant and approval steps, and direct cloud-drive integration. That lets you configure a supplier form, a staff review step, and automatic delivery of the generated PDF to your connected cloud folder. Bronze includes two live forms, so count the forms required by your workflow; Silver provides more capacity when your process needs additional forms or submissions.

PlatoForms Free lets you publish one online form and receive up to 100 submissions per month, including testing how answers appear in your PDF. Use Bronze or above for the signing, Workflow, and cloud-drive features described here. Compare the same billing period and include any external automation costs in the setup you choose.

Test the Supplier Process Before Choosing a Plan

Use the same sample application in both products. Create two sample supplier submissions, revise an answer in one, and complete the signing and review steps your team needs. Check that each final PDF contains the right answers and signatures, reaches the chosen storage destination, and is easy for purchasing staff to find.

In PlatoForms, also try the filling layout your suppliers will use: the original PDF layout or a mobile-friendly web form that populates the PDF. If the application includes several documents, test Master Forms with those PDFs to see how entering shared details once reduces repeated work.

For a downloadable fillable PDF, compare the file-creation options separately. PlatoForms’ PDF Document Creator supports creating and editing document designs and exporting fillable PDFs. The fillable PDF creator comparison covers that task across several tools.

Which Should Your Team Choose?

Choose pdfFiller when editing text and other content in imported PDFs is central to your work, and its document-sharing, response collection, and signing tools fit your process.

Choose PlatoForms when you want to turn an existing PDF into an online form with either the original document layout or a mobile-friendly question layout, while receiving answers in the original PDF. You can also create and edit a new document with AI assistance in PDF Document Creator, then export a fillable PDF or turn the design into an online form.

For the supplier process in this article, PlatoForms connects online signing, optional signature certificates, staff approval through Workflow, and automatic PDF delivery to cloud storage. Once configured, the same process can handle each new supplier application, reducing manual forwarding and uploading. When several PDFs need the same details, Master Forms lets the supplier enter them once for the linked documents.

Base your choice on the document you need to prepare, how people will complete it, and the staff work required afterward. The comparison hub covers other document and form tools.

Frequently asked questions

When is PlatoForms a useful pdfFiller alternative?

PlatoForms is useful when you want to turn an existing PDF into an online form, keeping its original layout or offering mobile-friendly questions that populate the PDF. PDF Document Creator also lets you create and edit new document designs with AI assistance and export fillable PDFs. Online forms can collect signatures and connect to staff approval steps and automatic PDF delivery to cloud storage.

Can a supplier complete one PlatoForms form for several documents?

Yes. With Master Forms, a supplier enters shared details once, and one submission populates the PDFs you have linked and mapped, such as a supplier application and an account setup sheet. Each PDF retains its own layout, reducing repeated entry for suppliers and manual copying for staff.

Can PlatoForms route a supplier application for review and save the PDF?

Yes. A supplier can complete and sign the online form, then Workflow passes the process to staff to record a decision, add notes, or sign. Optional signature certificates provide supporting signature records. Connect the form that generates the final PDF to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box to save it automatically in your chosen folder after that step is submitted.

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