Intake

Overview

Intake combines client forms, signed PDFs, document uploads, and payment collection in a link-based intake service. It suits businesses that need clients to submit several kinds of information without creating an account. Its appeal is the breadth of that collection workflow; the Free plan’s 10-client cap and fees on payments are meaningful constraints.

Reusable links can be placed on websites, in email signatures, or in QR codes, letting clients start without an individually sent request. Intake highlights tax and accounting, mortgage and lending, real estate, immigration, and bookkeeping as use cases.

See our Client Intake Software directory for more options in this category.

Key features

Forms, PDFs, and uploads

The builder supports conditional fields and validation, so businesses can adapt questions to answers and check submitted information. Clients can fill and sign PDFs in a browser, while the portal accepts mobile uploads and camera capture. That combination is useful when an intake process needs both structured answers and supporting paperwork.

Document classification and connections

Intake says its AI identifies document types with over 95% accuracy and flags uncertain cases for review. That could reduce manual sorting, while the review flag acknowledges that classification is not always certain. A REST API, webhooks, and native MCP server provide routes for custom workflows; named integration options include Make.com, Zapier, Claude, and GPT.

Payments and data handling

Clients can pay through a connected Stripe account, but Intake adds a 1% fee to each successful payment on top of Stripe processing fees. That cost matters for businesses collecting frequent or high-value payments. Intake says data is encrypted in transit and at rest using 256-bit encryption; its privacy policy also describes TLS/SSL encryption, access controls, authentication, and regular security assessments. It says document content used for classification is not used to train AI models or shared with third parties. After account deletion, account data is deleted within 30 days and uploaded documents are permanently deleted, though backup copies may remain for up to 90 days.

Pricing

The Free plan costs nothing and allows up to 10 clients, with no credit card required. It is a sensible way to try a small workflow, but the client ceiling rules it out for businesses with a larger active base.

Professional costs $19 a month, or $190/year with two months free. It includes unlimited requests and clients, making it the practical step up for a solo operator whose volume outgrows the free cap. Payments still carry Intake’s 1% platform fee plus Stripe processing fees.

Team costs $49 a month, or $490/year with two months free. Three seats are included; additional seats cost $15/seat/month and are prorated. This is aimed at small teams sharing intake work, but the per-seat charge should be included when budgeting for a larger group.

Enterprise has custom pricing and adds custom integrations, dedicated support, volume pricing, SSO, and SLAs. It is the tier to consider when those organizational requirements matter; dedicated support can be requested by Enterprise customers. Intake directs support requests to email.

Platforms

Intake supports web, iOS, and Android, as well as an API. Mobile access is particularly relevant to clients submitting documents from a phone, including through camera capture.

Who it's for

Intake is a good fit for service businesses that gather forms, identity or other documents, signatures, and payments as part of client onboarding. Its public links and account-free client access also suit businesses that want to let prospective clients begin intake from a website or printed QR code. It is less suited to a very small operation that can stay within ten clients, or to a business for which the additional payment fee is unacceptable.

Pros and cons

• One link covers varied intake tasks: forms, signed PDFs, uploads, and payments can be collected through the same service.
• Clients need no account: link-based access, mobile uploads, and camera capture reduce barriers to submitting materials.
• Flexible workflows: conditional fields, validation, API access, webhooks, and named integrations support more than a static form.
• Free use is tightly capped: the plan stops at 10 clients, so growing businesses must move to a paid tier.
• Payments carry stacked costs: Intake charges 1% per successful payment in addition to Stripe processing fees.
• Team seats add expense: Team includes three seats, then charges $15/seat/month, prorated.

Alternatives

ClientLoop is worth considering if a smaller free client cap is acceptable in exchange for one team member, 1 GB of storage, 100 uploads per month, six-month file retention, and a 90-day activity window.

FlowyForm may suit form-led workflows: its free Standard plan includes unlimited forms and submissions, e-signatures, uploads, conditional logic, answer piping, Google Sheets sync, and Zapier and Slack integrations.

FormsHQ is an option for a simpler form workflow, with a free Starter Form plan limited to one published form and 50 responses per month.

Leverage is another option to compare for client-facing workflows.

Onvoy may fit a modest onboarding volume: its free plan covers five onboardings per month, one team member, forms, file uploads, templates, and automated email reminders.

PlatoForms is worth comparing for a form-focused free tier that allows one live form, 100 submissions per month, 100 MB of storage, and two members.

Portico offers a free onboarding-oriented option with three active onboardings per month, three e-signatures per month, 1 GB of storage, and unlimited team members.

Synerdeck is another option to compare for client intake.

Verdict

Choose Intake if your business needs one link-based workflow for client forms, documents, signatures, and payments, especially when account-free access and mobile uploads matter. Its conditional forms and integration options add flexibility beyond basic collection. Look elsewhere if you need more than ten clients without paying, or if Intake’s 1% payment fee on top of Stripe processing makes payment collection too costly.