Most teams start shopping for approval workflow software on a bad day. A $6,000 invoice got paid twice, a vacation was approved by someone who had no authority to approve it, or the finance lead spent a morning digging through email to prove who said yes to what.
The trouble is that "approval workflow software" covers very different products: form builders, work management boards, low-code platforms, Microsoft 365 automation and tools built only for internal requests. They can all route a request to an approver. They differ in who builds the process, who has to log in, what the record looks like later and how the price grows.
Key takeaways
- Decide what you are buying first: a form tool, a board, a low-code platform or a request tool. The category matters more than the brand.
- The criteria that separate tools for small teams are approvals from email, people outside the company, approval limits by amount and the audit trail.
- The cheapest tool is the one your team already pays for, as long as someone can build and maintain it.
- Run one real process, such as purchase requests, on a trial before you commit.
This guide compares seven options, including ours. Disclosure: Easyflow is our product. Every claim about the other tools was checked on the vendor's own website or help docs when this was written. Features and plans change, so confirm what matters to you before you buy. We do not list competitor prices, because they change too often.
What approval workflow software should do
The job is the same in every category: take a request from "I need this" to a recorded decision without anyone chasing it. That means a structured request, routing by rules rather than by the requester, a quick way to decide, reminders when a request sits, and a record of who decided what and when.
How to choose approval workflow software
Score each tool on the items that matter for your processes:
- Who builds the process? An office manager filling in a form builder, or someone comfortable with logic and connectors? Think about who maintains it in a year.
- Can approvers decide from the email? Occasional approvers will not log in. Check whether a rejection reason works from the email too.
- Can outsiders take part? Suppliers and customers may need to submit a request or complete a step. Do they need an account, and do they count as paid users?
- Does it route by amount? "Up to $1,000 the manager, above that the department head too" should be a rule, not the requester's choice. See our guide to approval limits by amount.
- What happens when someone is out? Look for delegates, reminders and escalation.
- What does the record look like? Each request with its full history, exportable, not a status column anyone can overwrite.
- How does the price grow? Per user, per seat, by usage or by quote. Model the cost at your size today and at twice your size.
Approval workflow software compared
| Tool | Approach | Best for | Approvals from email | Outside people without accounts | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easyflow | Linear processes: a request form, then steps and approvals | Small teams with recurring internal requests | Yes, with a confirmation page first | Public request forms and guest steps by email link | One plan: base price with 5 users, then per extra user |
| Process Street | Checklists and workflows, positioned as compliance operations | SOP-heavy teams with an audit focus | Yes; comments need the app | Share links on a workflow run (paid plans), logged as Anonymous | Tiered plans priced by paid members, 14-day trial |
| Kissflow | Low-code platform for enterprise apps and workflows | Larger organizations building many internal apps | Yes, email actions without logging in | Public forms can start a workflow, depending on the plan | Custom quote with annual agreements |
| Pipefy | Pipes: phases shown as Kanban columns, cards move through them | Request-heavy teams that like a visual board | Email templates from a phase; guests approve in the portal | Public forms, portals and a request tracker for non-users | Free plan, paid tiers billed per user |
| monday.com | Boards with status-based approvals and automations | Teams already working in monday.com | Decisions are recorded on the board | Shareable forms (WorkForms) that create items on a board | Per seat in tiers, free plan up to 2 seats, monthly automation limits |
| Jotform | Forms with Jotform Workflows (approval steps, branches, signatures) | Form-first approvals, especially with outside submitters | Yes, Approve and Deny buttons in the email | Shared forms; approvers can act without login if allowed | Free starter plan, paid tiers by usage (forms, submissions, storage) |
| Microsoft Power Automate | Flows with an Approvals action, across Microsoft 365 | Microsoft 365 companies with someone who builds flows | Yes, from the inbox, the Approvals app in Teams or the mobile app | Approvers outside the company as Microsoft Entra guest users | Some use included with Microsoft licenses; Premium per user, Process per flow |
The seven options, one by one
Easyflow
Easyflow runs each process as a straight line: a request form, then steps owned by a person, a group, the requester's manager or someone picked in the form. Approvals can be decided from the email after a confirmation page, tiers by amount pick the approvers, and every request keeps a tamper-evident timeline. Outsiders can submit public forms or complete guest steps without counting as users.
- Best for: teams of 10 to 300 people who want purchase, expense and HR requests running this week, without a consultant.
- Watch out for: no parallel branches or complex BPM, no native integrations beyond signed webhooks and CSV export, and it is newer than the others here.
Process Street
Process Street describes itself as a compliance operations platform. Approvals are on all plans and can be single or multi-stage. Approvers can approve or reject from the email, but comments can only be added in the app or browser. Outsiders can be invited as guests who sign in, or reach one workflow run through a share link without an account, with their activity recorded as Anonymous.
- Best for: checklist and SOP-heavy teams where proving each step was done matters as much as the approval.
- Watch out for: no rejection reason from the email, share links on paid plans only, and anonymous activity is not tied to a named person.
Kissflow
Kissflow positions itself as a low-code platform to "build enterprise apps", with workflows, forms, portals and boards. With email actions on, approvers decide from their inbox without logging in: the button composes a reply to Kissflow, and a rejection needs a note. Public forms let people without an account start a workflow.
- Best for: larger organizations that want one governed platform for many internal apps, with IT involved.
- Watch out for: custom-quote pricing with annual agreements, public forms limited to higher-tier accounts, and a lot of platform if you only need a few approval processes.
Pipefy
Pipefy organizes each process as a pipe. In the Kanban view each phase is a column and each card is a request moving through them. Forms can be shared publicly and grouped in a portal, and the guest portal lets outsiders track requests and do tasks such as approving a quotation. Email templates can go out automatically from a phase.
- Best for: intake-heavy teams (procurement, shared services) who think in boards and want outsiders to submit and follow requests.
- Watch out for: paid tiers are billed per user, the free plan limits processes and users, and guest users are capped on some tiers. Our comparison of Kanban boards and workflows explains when a board fits.
monday.com
monday.com is a work management platform. Approvals are a pattern you build on a board: an intake form (WorkForms) creates an item, a status column holds the decision, and automations notify people and move items when the status changes.
- Best for: teams already running projects on monday.com who want approvals next to the work.
- Watch out for: you design the approval logic yourself, automation actions are capped per month by plan, and paid plans are per seat with a minimum team size.
Jotform
Jotform is a form builder. Its workflow product, Jotform Workflows (launched as Jotform Approvals), adds approval steps to a form, with team approvals (one response, a majority or everyone), conditional branches and an Approve and Sign element. Approvers get Approve and Deny buttons in the email and, if you turn off the login requirement, can decide without an account.
- Best for: approvals that start from a form filled by outsiders, such as applications or vendor requests.
- Watch out for: plans are tiered by usage (forms, submissions, storage), and self-serve plans are described as single-user, with multi-user teams on Enterprise.
Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate adds an Approvals action to any flow. Approvers respond from their inbox, the approvals center, the mobile app or the Approvals app in Teams. Approvals can be sequential or parallel, go to people or Microsoft 365 groups, and reach outsiders as Microsoft Entra guest users.
- Best for: companies standardized on Microsoft 365, with someone in-house who builds flows.
- Watch out for: you are building software, not filling in a form. Microsoft recommends storing approvals in Dataverse when a flow might run longer than 30 days, and premium connectors need a Premium or Process license.
When not to pick Easyflow
We would rather you pick the right tool than ours. Choose something else if:
- You need parallel branches, loops or a BPMN diagram. Easyflow is linear on purpose. Power Automate or a low-code platform like Kissflow gives you more room.
- You need deep native integrations with an ERP or HR system. Easyflow offers signed webhooks and CSV export, not a connector library.
- Your team lives in monday.com. Building approvals there may beat adding a second tool.
- Your main need is a public form with a light approval at the end. Jotform is built around that.
- You need a long vendor track record. Easyflow is newer than the others here.
Frequently asked questions
What is approval workflow software?
It is software that takes a request through a set of approvers and records each decision. A good tool standardizes the request, picks approvers by rule, sends reminders and keeps a history of who decided what and when.
Can I build approval workflows with tools I already have?
Often, yes. Microsoft 365 customers can use Power Automate, and Google Workspace teams can combine Forms, Sheets and some scripting. The cost moves from licenses to building and maintenance time. See our guide to a Google Forms approval workflow.
Do approvers need a paid license?
It depends on the tool. Some let approvers act from the email without logging in, some count every approver as a seat. Check this before comparing prices, because approvers are usually most of your user list.
What is the difference between workflow software and a project management tool?
Project tools are built around tasks and boards with flexible status. Workflow software follows a defined sequence of steps, where a request cannot skip an approval. Many teams use both.
Running it in Easyflow
If Easyflow fits, start from the gallery instead of a blank page. Purchase request, Purchase order with approval limits, Expense reimbursement, Invoice approval and Vacation request are ready to adapt, with approvals from email, tiers by amount, out-of-office delegates, due dates with reminders and escalation, and a full timeline you can export to CSV or PDF. There is one plan with every feature: $49/month includes 5 users, $5/month for each extra user, and a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
To set up the first process well, follow our guide to the purchase approval workflow.