A No-Nonsense Review of GoCanvas: Features, Pricing, Alternatives, and More!

GoCanvas is a comprehensive mobile-first form builder aiming to streamline data collection in the field. Offering thousands of customizable mobile form templates, it promises to reduce risk and save time for both field and office workers.

But is it the right tool for your team? To help you decide, we’ve conducted a thorough review of GoCanvas and its features, including its pricing, user feedback, and user experience.

Let’s dive in.

What Is GoCanvas?

GoCanvas is a digital forms and workflow platform for field-based teams. Its data collection tools are meant to replace paper forms with mobile apps and manage data in real time. Its features streamline daily workflows from dispatching and scheduling to reporting and inventory tracking.

It offers an easy-to-use, no-code form builder with built-in features like image capture, GPS tracking, and offline access.

GoCanvas Overview

GoCanvas’ platform features include:

• Dispatch & Scheduling – Assign and update jobs remotely in real time
  
• Image & Video Capture – Attach visuals directly to forms for better documentation
  
• Project Management – Centralize job info and track progress across teams
  
• Multi-person Workflows – Enable collaborative tasks with digital signatures and handoffs
  
• Auto-fill & Calculations – Pre-populate fields and run simple math in forms
  
• Offline Access – Use forms without internet (sync when back online)
  
• GPS Tracking – Record team location data during form submission
  
• Barcode Scanning – Scan items to manage inventory or equipment checkouts
  
• If/Then Logic – Show or hide fields based on user responses

What it’s Like to Get Started With GoCanvas

You can try GoCanvas’ full platform and features free for 10 days. You’ll be asked to provide your company size and fill out the form for customized solutions. 

Apparently, there is a waiting period for customers wanting to take the free trial. There was no indication on how long it would take before the free trial would start. It took a few attempts for us to successfully sign up and get started, between trying to log in at the user portal and clicking the email link several times. We also ran into page errors and had to restart our signup journey at least twice before we finally got started on GoCanvas’ 10-day free trial. 

The platform provides a short onboarding tutorial for the benefit of new users. You’ll be asked about your goals for trying out GoCanvas, whether you want to make payroll more accurate, improve safety programs, or something else. After clarifying your goals, an interactive page pops up where you can learn how to fill out and submit sample forms. 

The site also shows you how to track and analyze data to gain business insights. After these steps, an activation link is sent to your email.

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GoCanvas Web App Experience

Upon activating your account, you’re provided with a 5-minute tutorial via Arcade showing how to upload a PDF, add fields, save forms, and test workflow processes.

The web platform itself greets you with GoCanvas’ main product: a sampling of forms for estimates, incident reports, inventory, job dispatches, and job tickets. 

The home dashboard shows a list of tutorials that you can complete in your own time. These include creating an app via the App Builder, creating and submitting forms, uploading a list to pre-populate forms with known info, and customizing PDFs. 

Down the left-hand side, you can find the following sections: Dashboard, Work Hub, Forms, Submissions, Reference Data & Images, and Integrations. Below the main features are your account and profile pages, a purchase section, Help, and a log out button. 

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The GoCanvas Mobile Experience

The mobile app updates user data on your first login, making sure that client details and reference data are accurate and ready for use. A welcome screen reminds you that all assigned tasks are displayed on the Tasks Tab. It also instructs users where to go when creating a blank report not included in their current forms. 

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The mobile app contains four tabs: Tasks, Forms, Completed, and More. 

In ‘Tasks’, you’ll find a refresh button for manually updating all assigned jobs. The + button opens a page where you can select published forms. 

‘Forms’ displays current submittable forms which you can use to capture data (like photos and signature), input text and figures, and other actions allowed by fields included in your form.

To submit a form, you must complete all required fields and then select ‘Submit’. You will then be asked to enter the email of the recipient, choose whether to email a copy to yourself, automatically sync records after submitting, and display the PDF after syncing. You can also review the form (entitled as ‘Task’) before submitting.

The ‘Completed’ tab shows submitted forms and relevant task details like task name, version of the form submitted, date, and time elapsed since submission. You can search for specific forms or filter submissions by specific form types and dates.

Lastly, ‘More’ houses Settings, Support, Feedback, About Us page, and the Log Out button.

GoCanvas Key Features

GoCanvas Work Hub

Work Hub is where you manage current and upcoming dispatches. It contains dedicated tabs for tracking all job assignments. You can create new dispatches via the blue ‘Create Dispatch’ button in the top right corner. You can also export workflow and dispatch different kinds of forms (estimate, incident report, inventory, job dispatch, etc.) These can include the submission data or not, depending on your preferences and compliance needs.

You can choose to filter jobs and dispatches by date, form, and assignee.

The ‘In Progress’ shows all assigned jobs in a table view. It shows task details like form name, submitter name, and status of active dispatches. 

Clicking the ‘Upcoming’ tab displays the calendar where you can track assigned jobs. You can choose List or Calendar view, and drill down further with day/week/month/team view. You can also view assigned jobs by status, forms, and users. The tab also allows you to add users to the calendar. 

The ‘Submitted’ tab shows a detailed view of completed forms, including date and time of submission, submitter, and the type of form. There are also quick action buttons for viewing or downloading the forms as PDFs, and for emailing a particular form to a particular user. 

Lastly, the ‘Unfinished’ tab houses incomplete forms and drafts, making sure you can get back to what needs to be done in one click.

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GoCanvas Forms

The ‘Forms’ section shows the forms you have created and published. You can search for specific forms and sort them by name or by most recently edited. You can also filter these by status, namely New, Pending, Published, or Archived forms. 

Creating Forms

Creating new forms is easy: just click the ‘Create New’ button to begin building forms. Basic forms can be created by uploading an existing PDF, while Advanced forms require you to configure dynamic fields, screen, and logic capabilities. 

To try it out, we uploaded a PDF template for tracking employee time and attendance. Once uploaded on the site, you can drag and drop elements like text boxes, numbers, single/multiple-choice fields, photos and signature fields, date/time elements, and checkboxes to customize your document. 

Next, we tried building an Advanced form. This one requires you to build all fields by yourself and configure field and screen settings. It features a live preview of your form on a virtual mobile device on the right side of your screen, with controls for scrolling back and forth on the mobile device. This allows you to view the form you’re building in its entirety. 

The ‘Outline’ view next to ‘Preview’ lists the fields included in your form so you can select a particular field for editing without scrolling through the entire form. This is also useful for reorganizing fields or inserting a new one in between existing fields.   

Once you’re happy with your form, you can test, save, or publish it. 

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Testing Forms 

To test a form, click ‘Test’ on the right-hand side of the screen. The platform displays your form on a virtual, interactive mobile device where you can test out your fields. In this case, we tested the signature capture field, and it worked perfectly. 

For the ‘Advanced’ form, the platform displays only the virtual mobile device for testing without controls for editing the fields. The virtual mobile screen scrolls left to right, captures your input (text, signature, etc.), and submits the form. 

After testing your form, you can save or publish it to be used by your team members. These forms then pop up on the main Forms section, labeled ‘New’. If you made a mistake that requires starting over, simply click the ‘Form’ dropdown at the top left corner and select ‘Start Over’ or ‘Reset’. (Resetting means you keep the existing file and remove all fields.) 

Publishing Forms

Clicking ‘Publish’ triggers a pop-up box where you can choose which users will be able to use your new form. You can also choose whether to send a notification or note to assigned users that a new form has been published on their mobile apps. 

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GoCanvas Submissions

‘Submissions’ shows all the forms submitted to you. You can email PDFs or export them in Excel form for editing in another system. You can also choose to add them to external systems like Box and Salesforce.

Clicking a form type opens up a dedicated page where you can see all submissions for a particular form. For example, if you created an Employee Attendance form, all employee attendance submissions will show up with details on submission date, submitter, and form name. 

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GoCanvas Reference Data and Images

This section allows you to add reference data and images, which can be used in the form builder. Reference data includes lists of clients, items and parts, pricing, and other fields that can be auto-populated for mobile users.

Reference images are static photos that mobile users can draw on top of when they are in the field or at a job site.

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Integrating Other Business Apps With GoCanvas

GoCanvas promises to add more robust integrations at the time of our free trial. Currently, it lists a decent number of partner apps and systems, including QuickBooks Online, Jira, Netsuite, Salesforce, SAP, and more.

It also advises users to reach out to their product specialist to inquire about custom integrations.

GoCanvas Might be a Good Fit for You If…

…your operations use a lot of forms in your day-to-day jobs, especially ones that need to be heavily customized.

GoCanvas excels in enabling users to create customized forms with its basic and advanced form builder. It also does a good job of quickly deploying digital forms for a wide variety of workflows.

Additionally, it offers extensive options for publishing forms and notifying specific team members of newly created forms they need to complete. This shows that a lot of thought has gone into making sure the whole process addresses even the smallest needs of team admins and members using GoCanvas’ forms.

You Might Not Want to Use GoCanvas If…

…you need accuracy in tracking time and work done by your field employees.

At the end of the day, GoCanvas is just a digital form builder that relies on manual input from users. There’s no guarantee the time encoded in the digital form is accurate or actually spent on a job site. 

GoCanvas’ GPS capabilities are also limited to capturing coordinates and encoding them in the form workers need to submit. 

If your goal is to ensure transparent timekeeping, enforce accountability, and align payroll with real labor hours, you’ll need something beyond GoCanvas currently has to offer. A dedicated time tracking solution is your best bet for enforcing transparency, ensuring accurate payroll, and protecting your bottom line.

Try Workyard’s form builder – made for construction and field teams!

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GoCanvas Cost/Pricing

GoCanvas offers only two tiers, with the higher MAX tier offering significant cost savings. Both tiers require a minimum of 3 users. 

GoCanvas Reviews

Most users find GoCanvas satisfactory for its intended use, but some griped about the pricing.

This iOS reviewer is unsatisfied with the company’s pricing:

Good system horrible company ⭐ 

My company has been using the app for around 3 years now. The month price has gone from $50 to $115 a month and is set to go to $147 a month shortly. Also, they decided that monthly wasn’t good enough and want to bill you annually. They did all this with a 10 day notice and when you try to cancel you can’t. Can’t cancel online. Have to call or submit a ticket. When you call you can’t get through to billing.
Only tech support. When you submit a ticket, they take days to get back to you and even then won’t answer your questions or help resolve the issue. In order to cancel you have to submit a written notice (yes written, sent via mail) 30 days prior to cancellation.

This Android reviewer has a rough mobile experience:

⭐ ⭐⭐

app closes on version 5 every time I open a task, then eventually says the app has a bug, I want and need to use the app, but I can’t even get started. version 3 worked when I first downloaded the app. please fix thanks

This Capterra reviewer is happy with the app’s features, but wishes for functional improvements:

Canvas has significantly improved our operation, increased productivity and less redundancies ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
Overall: Canvas has cut out so many redundancies in our business and is extremely versatile. It has been fun getting creative with the workflow. Not to mention the endless advantages for remote use and management.

Pros: The fact that Canvas takes away so much extra leg work behind the scenes, freeing up time for our employees to focus energy on more critical tasks.

Cons: The only recommendation I would have is to make functional improvements on multiple departments or groups sharing the same apps and functions. For example, a franchise group with several locations that need to keep consistency with apps across the locations

How (and Why) We Scored and Rated GoCanvas

Based on our sign-up and onboarding experience with the free trial, here’s how we scored GoCanvas:

Top Alternatives to GoCanvas

GoCanvas brands itself as an all-in-one digital solution for field-based workforces, but there are plenty of other providers with tailored solutions for the field:

The Bottom Line

GoCanvas positions itself as an all-in-one solution designed to replace paper-based workflows in field operations. But while it offers a user-friendly tool for quickly creating and deploying customized forms, it’s severely limited when it comes to enforcing transparency and accurately tracking time of field workers.

GoCanvas depends on manual input for time data and offers only basic GPS coordinate capture without real-time tracking or enforcement capabilities. For organizations that require transparent timekeeping, accountability, and payroll accuracy based on verified labor hours, GoCanvas’s form-centric approach may not suffice.

Workyard is a dedicated workforce management solution offering tools tailored for the field like GPS time tracking, scheduling, and job costing. It also offers advanced operations tools like its smart form builder. Workyard’s smart form builder enables you to create forms from photos or scan of your existing form. You can also import spreadsheets, convert forms from another tool, or download an image of a form you’d like to use—Workyard’s smart for builder will have a usable form for you to use in no time. 

Click the links above to see how it works, or sign up for a free trial of Workyard today to streamline your project management and time-tracking processes.