You’re not the only one who feels like your brain is going numb from data entry—we all dread it. The endless copy-paste. The checking, and double-checking, and triple-checking that all the data is where it should be (did you spell that one middle name right?).
And then, after all the rechecking, you’re still worried that you might have missed something. But thanks to data entry apps, things don’t have to be this way anymore. Some great news: for free data entry software comparisons in 2024, we did all the heavy lifting for you.
We’ve put together a list of five free data entry software that leverage AI and automation to take care of the heavy lifting for you. The days of boring, manual data entry are almost behind you.
Why should you automate your data entry processes?
Freeing yourself up from boredom isn’t the only reason to consider data entry automation. Here are three more reasons why you’ll want to leave manual data entry in the past.
1. They’re time consuming and they can cost you
If you’ve tried to clean up data before, you know how quickly an hour can turn into a day, or even a week. Manual data processes are really time consuming, and having people involved makes them massively prone to errors (we all make typos, right?). 80% of businesses consider data entry automation crucial for operational efficiency, and automated data entry can reduce processing time by up to 70%.
According to IT management professor Raymond Panko, around 88% of Excel spreadsheet formulas have mistakes in them. Yikes. This problem only gets worse as your spreadsheets become larger and more complex, and as more people start contributing to them.
What’s more, trying to weed these problems out is expensive. The 1-10-100 rule developed by authors George Labovitz and Yu Sang Chang assesses how much compromised data can cost a business.
In the first phase, it costs $1 to capture accurate data. But when you hit phase 2—which is when incorrect data has been left unchecked for some time—cleaning it up will cost you $10. And in phase three, when you do nothing at all, it’ll cost you as much as $100. The costs really add up.
2. Your employees get demotivated
Capturing data manually is teeeedious, and it can cause employees to feel stressed and burnt out. If you’re an employer, manager, or team leader, you’ll want to free your employees from stressful tasks wherever you can. You don’t want your hard-working, talent employees getting fatigued from mundane, boring jobs.
Data entry clerks spend an average of 30% of their workday on manual data entry tasks.
3. AI just does a better job
Old-fashioned data entry tools take time to set up, might not serve all your needs, and can be difficult to configure. AI-powered software, however, can take complex inputs, sort them, and categorize them quickly and accurately, and give you the data you need to make informed business decisions.
(Psst: With Magical AI for example, you can even pull data from search results, such as LinkedIn or Crunchbase with just one click—you’ve never created a spreadsheet this lightning fast. We’ll tell you more in a minute.)
The bottom line? It’s time to ditch manual data entry processes. A better way is possible. Here are the best free tools, software, and apps that can help.
The top 8 free data entry tools
Every tool on this list of data entry software is free to use—they don’t just limit you to a free trial, which many other data entry tools and software have. They might have a tiered approach, where you can spend a bit if you want to add more people or unlock additional functionality, but at the very least, their basic plans are completely free.
Let’s dive in.
1. Magical
Magical is an AI-powered data entry app that's loved by teams at Disney, PayPal, Salesforce, and lots of other companies. It's easy to use, requires no coding knowledge, and works directly in your browser. What sets Magical apart is its ability to automate data transfers across virtually any website or platform without needing API connections.
Magical boasts loads of helpful features for data entry automation. While its text expander helps you to program shortcuts that expand as you type, its transfer features let you move data from one website or app to another with just a few clicks. You can also create automation rules that trigger specific actions based on certain conditions.
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With Magical, you simply open all your source tabs and your destination tab (this could be your CRM, HRM, or a Google Sheet) to allow the transfers feature to easily grab data from one tab and populate it in another. This works across any web application without complex integrations or setup.
With Magical AI, you can take your workflow automation even further by creating messages from scratch, updating forms with ease, and automating irritating admin tasks. The AI assistant can even pull structured data directly from search results or web pages, making research and lead generation significantly faster.
Magical is designed to save you hours every week. Give it a try by adding it to Chrome for free.
As Vaibhab notes on Capterra:"The best tool to improve daily operations. It's an amazing product that has helped to increase our productivity by more than 30%. The great thing is that it works anywhere on the web, unlike other tools that are limited to specific websites."
2. Form Tools
Form Tools is a versatile, open source, web-based data entry software for forms and data. It uses a PHP/MySQL script that is super simple and intuitive to set up, so you can keep control of your forms and the data they collect.
The forms in Form Tools come in lots of different shapes and sizes. You can use the platform to create your own forms directly on your website, develop forms offline using PHP, or even connect to existing forms. You can gather all sorts of data, download and visualize it, export it to your CRM, HRM, or analytics tools, or just keep track of it in Form Tools.
You're allowed to have as many accounts as you like, with each user having their own language settings if you wish (there are over 50 languages to choose from). You can also set up accounts for your clients so that they can view only the submissions assigned to them. For multilingual organizations, this feature is particularly valuable as it allows team members to work in their preferred language while still maintaining a unified data collection system.
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3. EmailMeForm
EmailMeForm is another free data entry app that's really well known, and with good reason. It advertises itself as the only PCI-certified form builder that you can find, which makes it a brilliant choice for organizations that handle credit card information and other sensitive data.
Like other data entry tools we've reviewed, EmailMeForm lets you choose from creating online forms and surveys from scratch, or getting started with existing templates. Plus, you can edit the forms you already have by adding, removing, and moving form fields about. This flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of data collection needs.
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EmailMeForm lets you create truly beautiful forms, but customizing them to your liking can take some time. The forms are also compatible with any device and offer electronic signatures, payment integrations, and enhanced security measures. This makes it an especially good choice if you work in sales and need to process orders or customer information securely.
EmailMeForm's free version offers unlimited forms for one user, together with standard themes and support. The next level up (for two users) costs $8.95 a month for a year, or $9.95 monthly, which includes the form builder, reports, workflows, and 50 form entries a month.
As one user says on G2:
"EmailMeForm is extremely versatile and can be used for so many different reasons! I love that I can make forms tailored to different kinds of events that we host. This software makes it easy to see what kind of data we have, when it was submitted, and I can export it quickly to share with others."
4. Jotform
A cloud-based data entry software that's used by over 20 million users, Jotform is a reputable online form builder.
Whether you're using it to create surveys and polls, or to generate leads, Jotform has you covered. It seamlessly collects a wide variety of data—not just text but also payments, file uploads, electronic signatures, and more. The platform's conditional logic features allow you to create dynamic forms that change based on previous answers, creating a more personalized user experience.
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We love how well Jotform integrates with over 150 other apps, including email marketing services, CRMs, project management boards, and cloud storage applications. This extensive integration capability makes it a versatile choice for businesses already using multiple software solutions. The platform also features robust data analysis tools, allowing you to generate reports and visualize form responses with graphs and charts.
Jotform's Starter plan is free and includes all its core features, but with a few limitations. You'll only have access to five forms, for example, and up to 100 monthly submissions.
Dulce notes on G2:
"Jotform has been a game-changer for our team. We can create professional-looking forms in minutes, and the conditional logic features help us collect exactly the information we need without overwhelming our users. The ability to accept payments directly through forms has streamlined our event registration process completely."
5. Open Data Kit
Open Data Kit (ODK) is open-source software that is used to collect, manage and use data in resource-constrained environments. It's particularly popular with organizations that work in healthcare, international development, and field research where offline data collection is essential.
ODK allows multiple types of data, including text, images and GPS locations, which are recorded and collected. It's also available in multiple languages, which is ideal if your team works across different countries or with multilingual populations. What makes ODK particularly valuable is its ability to function offline and synchronize data when an internet connection becomes available.
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Got any questions? ODK's super active online community is available to offer support on using the platform and on mobile data collection more generally. This community-driven approach ensures that users can find solutions to their specific implementation challenges and share best practices.
The software ODK uses is free and open source. If you're technically savvy, then according to its website, you'll be fine self-hosting it free of charge on your own server. If not, there is paid hosting starting at $120 per month, allowing up to 100,000 form submissions.
As Amy says on G2:
"ODK has revolutionized our field data collection. We work in areas with limited connectivity, and the offline capabilities have been essential. The community support is outstanding, and we've been able to customize the tools to fit our specific research needs perfectly."
6. Process Runner
Process Runner is a software tool designed to facilitate and streamline data management tasks in SAP systems. It's specifically tailored to enhance the efficiency of data entry, extraction, and manipulation within SAP environments, making it an excellent choice for organizations that rely heavily on SAP for their business operations.
Process Runner supports a wide range of SAP transactions and business processes, making it a versatile tool for different SAP modules and functional areas. Its automation capabilities allow users to schedule and run data processing tasks, reducing manual intervention and improving accuracy. The software also provides detailed logging and error handling, ensuring that data quality is maintained throughout the process.
Process Runner offers a free trial but you have to contact sales to get pricing information. For organizations already using SAP, this tool can significantly reduce the time and effort spent on data entry and management tasks, potentially offering substantial return on investment.
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As Piyush says on Capterra:
"Process Runner has transformed how we handle SAP data entry. Before implementing this tool, we spent hours manually entering and updating records. Now, these processes are automated, reducing errors and freeing up our team for more strategic work. The learning curve is well worth it for the time savings."
7. Cognito Forms
Cognito Forms is a powerful online form builder that enables users to easily create, publish, and manage forms. It's known for its versatility and user-friendly interface, making it accessible even to those with limited technical experience.
The tool provides a variety of templates that users can customize to suit their specific needs. These templates cover a wide range of use cases, including contact forms, order forms, registration forms, and surveys. Cognito Forms also offers advanced features such as conditional logic, calculation fields, and repeating sections, allowing for the creation of dynamic and interactive forms.
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Cognito Forms offers a free Individual plan as well as a free trial on all their paid plans. Their paid plans start at $15 a month for Pro, $35 a month for Team, and $99 a month for Enterprise. The free Individual plan includes up to 500 form entries per month, which is generous compared to many competitors.
As Russell says on G2:
"Cognito Forms has the perfect balance of simplicity and power. I can create basic contact forms in minutes, but I also have access to advanced features when I need them. The calculation fields have been particularly useful for our order forms, automatically tallying totals and applying discounts without any custom coding."
8. ClickUp
ClickUp is a comprehensive project management and workflow automation platform that includes powerful data entry capabilities. While primarily known for project management, ClickUp has evolved to become an all-in-one productivity platform that can streamline many data collection and management processes.
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The platform offers customizable forms that can be used to collect data from both team members and external stakeholders. These forms can be integrated directly into your workflows, automatically creating tasks, updating fields, or triggering automation based on form submissions. This seamless integration between data collection and action makes ClickUp particularly valuable for teams looking to reduce manual data handling.
ClickUp's free Forever plan is surprisingly robust, offering unlimited tasks, members, and 100MB of storage. For teams requiring more advanced features, paid plans start at $7 per member per month, which includes unlimited storage, integrations, and dashboards.
Many users appreciate ClickUp's balance of power and usability, as evidenced by this review:
"ClickUp has transformed how we collect and manage project data. The custom forms feature lets us gather exactly the information we need, and the automation tools eliminate the tedious process of manual data entry. It's become central to our workflow management."
Save time, money, and resources—automate your data entry today
There’s no doubt that there are some aspects of your work that still need to be done manually. Developing a rapport with leads and closing a deal over a final, well-earned handshake, well, there’s no way of automating that (at least, not yet).
But when it comes to data entry, you should definitely be using tools, software, and apps to help you. Save time, money, and resources by choosing from our list of free data entry software above, and watch how quickly you’ll get results.
