When businesses adopt Microsoft 365, SharePoint often becomes the backbone of their digital workplace. It provides structure for lists, libraries, and documents, but when it comes to tailoring SharePoint to fit specific business processes, many organizations quickly hit the limits of out-of-the-box forms and automation.
Traditionally, companies turned to InfoPath, Nintex, or more recently Power Apps to bridge the gap. But each comes with challenges—whether that’s end-of-life deadlines, licensing complexity, or scalability concerns.
That’s where Lightning Tools Forms Studio comes in. Think of it as a “Solution Builder for SharePoint”—giving you everything you need to design forms, automate processes, package solutions, and redeploy them across sites, all from one central platform. For many organizations and Microsoft Partners, it’s also becoming the go-to Power Platform alternative that offers flexibility, governance, and control without compromise.
What is Lightning Tools Forms Studio?
At its core, Forms Studio is more than just a form designer. It’s a comprehensive application lifecycle management (ALM) environment for SharePoint solutions, giving you the ability to:
- Design and customize forms for SharePoint lists and libraries—new, edit, and view forms that match your branding and business rules.
- Add automation with Actions, such as sending emails, updating list items, or kicking off approval workflows.
- Trigger Actions when list items are created or updated, or schedule Actions to run daily, weekly, or monthly.
- Package and deploy solutions across multiple SharePoint sites, ensuring consistency and reducing manual configuration.
- Centrally update solutions and redeploy them, maintaining governance and reducing duplication.
- Generate documents such as PDFs or Word files directly from your forms—perfect for records management, contracts, or compliance scenarios.
In other words, it gives your organization a structured way to build, deploy, and scale SharePoint-based solutions without being locked into a single environment or toolset.
Why Businesses Choose Forms Studio
For many organizations, building business solutions isn’t just about creating a form, it’s about creating an end-to-end process that can be easily maintained, deployed, and scaled. Lightning Tools Forms Studio delivers on that need:
- Governance and ALM Built-In
Unlike ad-hoc form builders, Forms Studio includes application lifecycle management, giving IT and business owners the ability to control updates, redeploy solutions, and maintain consistency across environments. - Flexibility Without Licensing Headaches
Power Platform can be powerful, but costs quickly rise when you scale solutions across multiple sites or require premium connectors. Forms Studio runs directly on SharePoint, offering a cost-effective Power Platform alternative that’s easier to manage. - Designed for Internal Teams and Microsoft Partners
- Internal development teams can quickly create and package forms-based solutions that address department needs.
- Microsoft Partners can use Forms Studio to build solutions for customers, package them up, and deploy them—speeding up delivery while maintaining best practices.
- Future-Proof Migration Path
Still running legacy InfoPath or Nintex forms? With our Lightning Tools Form Migrator, you can migrate form designs and data into modern SharePoint lists and Forms Studio, ensuring continuity and compliance.
Key Capabilities in Detail
Form Designer
Create modern, responsive forms that replace the limitations of default SharePoint list forms. Add logic, rules, and branding to tailor the user experience to your exact requirements.
Actions Engine
- Approval processes – Route forms for sign-off, automatically updating list items and sending notifications.
- Triggered automation – When a list item is created or edited, actions can fire instantly.
- Scheduled automation – Run recurring tasks daily, weekly, or monthly, removing manual admin work.
Solution Packaging & Deployment
Package up your form, actions, pages, permissions, and other SharePoint artifacts into a reusable solution. Deploy it across sites or tenants, then centrally update and redeploy as business needs change.
Document Generation
Automatically generate PDFs or Word documents from completed forms—perfect for contracts, HR forms, expense claims, or any process that requires a record. Store them in SharePoint or send them directly to stakeholders.
Migration from Legacy Forms
Using the Lightning Tools Form Migrator, you can bring InfoPath form libraries or Nintex solutions forward into Forms Studio. Both form structures and existing data are migrated, making the transition smoother than starting from scratch.
A Power Platform Alternative Worth Considering
Microsoft Power Platform is a strong option for certain scenarios, but it comes with considerations: licensing tiers, premium connectors, and governance overhead. For many organizations, especially those already heavily invested in SharePoint Online, Forms Studio provides a simpler, more cost-effective alternative that still offers enterprise-grade functionality.
By staying natively inside SharePoint, Forms Studio reduces complexity, minimizes external dependencies, and ensures data residency within Microsoft 365.
Who Benefits Most from Lightning Tools Forms Studio?
- Enterprise IT teams looking for governance-friendly, scalable solutions in SharePoint.
- Departmental teams who need practical forms and automation without the burden of custom development.
- Microsoft Partners who want to deliver packaged solutions to clients that are easy to deploy and maintain.
- Organizations with legacy forms (InfoPath, Nintex, PDF, or Excel-based processes) seeking a migration path into modern SharePoint.
Call to Action: Start Building Smarter
If you’re looking for a Solution Builder for SharePoint or evaluating a Power Platform alternative, Lightning Tools Forms Studio is worth your attention.
👉 Request a Demo of Lightning Tools Forms Studio and see how quickly you can start building and deploying solutions across SharePoint.
👉 Still running InfoPath or Nintex? Explore Lightning Tools Form Migrator to modernize your forms and bring your data forward into the future.
Final Thoughts
Forms Studio isn’t just another form builder. It’s a complete solution platform for SharePoint, giving businesses and partners the ability to design, automate, package, and redeploy with ease. Whether you’re replacing InfoPath, scaling beyond Power Apps, or simply looking for governance-friendly ALM in SharePoint, Lightning Tools Forms Studio delivers the flexibility and control you need.
It’s time to stop settling for fragmented tools and start building solutions that scale.
