Jotform, Google Forms and spreadsheets for camp registration
A form takes the registration. Then the work begins.
Form builders like Jotform, Google Forms, Cognito Forms and Formstack are a good way to start taking camp registrations. This page shows where they fit, and what changes when you move to camp registration software.
Updated November 2026.
Form builder or camp registration software?
| The job | With a form builder and spreadsheets | With SODAL Camp |
|---|---|---|
| Class limits | Product stock limits can close a class when it fills. | Each class has a set number of places and a waitlist. A seat is held while a parent pays by card. |
| Grade and age rules | Conditional logic you build for each class and update each season. | Set grades or ages on each class. The family planner shows which classes fit each child. |
| Siblings and several weeks | Often one submission per child, or repeated sections in one long form. | One family plan and one checkout for every child and every week. |
| Morning, afternoon and full day | Price calculations you build and check in the form. | An automatic full-day saving when a child takes a morning and an afternoon class together. |
| A parent wants to switch classes | Edit the submission, refund in your payment account, then update the roster by hand. | The parent asks in the portal. Staff preview the new seat and the credit or amount due, then apply it. |
| Health and permission forms | Collected with the registration. Tracking who is still missing a form is usually a spreadsheet. | Forms per child and season, with status, reminders, and forms required before registration or arrival. |
| Camp day | A roster exported to a spreadsheet or printed. | A day roster with arrivals, form status and authorized pickup. |
| Next summer | Copy the form, then update every class, price and date. | Copy the season, review it and publish. Last season’s answers prefill this season’s forms. |
| Cost | Free or low cost to start. Paid plans are usually sized by forms and submissions. | A flat $2,850 a year, or $250 a month. No per-registration fee, and nothing added to parents’ checkout. |
Form builders differ, and they add features often. Check your own form builder’s current plan for anything above.
When a form is enough
One camp, a few sessions, one price per session, and few changes after registration. A form builder handles that well, and it may cost less than any camp software.
When it stops being enough
Families register siblings across several weeks. You sell morning and afternoon classes, care, or a full-day price. Parents ask to switch, and your staff rebuild rosters and missing-form lists by hand before every camp day.
Questions about moving from a form
Can I run camp registration with Jotform or Google Forms?
Yes. A form builder works well for one camp with a few sessions and few changes. Jotform can take payments and limit how many places a product sells. Google Forms collects registrations but takes no payments on its own.
When is it time to move from a form to camp registration software?
When families register several children for several weeks, you sell morning and afternoon classes or care, parents ask to switch classes, or your staff rebuild rosters and form lists in spreadsheets every week.
Can we keep our current registration form while we switch?
Yes. Keep this summer on your form, set up next season in SODAL Camp, rehearse a registration with your staff, and open registration when you are ready.
Bring your current form and one week of your schedule.
We’ll set up the same week in SODAL Camp and walk through a family registering two children, a class switch, and the day roster your staff would use.