Cohie vs spreadsheets and forms
Many accelerator programs today collect applications with Google Forms or Jotform, merge jury scores in Excel and plan mentor meetings on WhatsApp. These tools are free and everyone knows them. Cohie is free too; the difference is that applications, jury review, training, mentoring and deliverables are connected on one record at your organization's web address (yourorg.cohie.app).
Comparison
| Program task | With forms and Excel | With Cohie |
|---|---|---|
| Application | The form is in Google Forms, the pitch decks are in someone's Drive. | Applicants fill in the form, and the pitch deck arrives with the application. |
| Jury | Every juror sends back their own spreadsheet, and you merge them by hand. | Jurors score on screen, and the averages fill in as scores arrive. |
| Blind review | Personal details have to be removed by hand from the file sent to jurors. | Names, emails and founder details are filtered out on the server and never reach the juror's browser. |
| Mentoring | Mentor slots get sorted out in a WhatsApp group, and nobody knows who met whom. | Startups book the slots mentors open, and every meeting is on record. |
| Attendance and deliverables | Attendance is on paper, deliverables are in email. | Attendance is taken with a QR scan, and one table shows who has submitted what. |
| Reports | On report day, everyone goes hunting for files. | Reports download right away, and every download is logged. |
| Personal data | The privacy notice and explicit consent have to be set up separately in the form. | The privacy notice is shown before applying; explicit consent is a separate box that is not pre-ticked. |
| Cost | Free | Free; 2 open programs at a time |
Where forms and spreadsheets are stronger
- Everyone knows how to use them; the team does not have to learn a new tool.
- Every question and column can be changed freely; a small one-off call needs no setup.
- Jurors do not need an account. In Cohie, jurors and mentors create an account from an invite link.
- There is no limit on the number of programs. Cohie's free plan allows 2 open programs at a time.
- Your files from past cohorts stay where they are. Cohie does not import past applications and scores; accepted startups and their teams can be invited with a CSV file.
How Cohie differs
- Every step from application to deliverables is on the same record; an accepted startup is never copied anywhere.
- Blind review, conflict-of-interest declarations and normalized (z-score) scores are in the free plan.
- Everything still downloads as Excel and CSV, and the full data export is in the free plan.
Cohie's limits are written on the free plan page; for example, data is stored outside Turkey and the free plan has no contractual response time. Free plan details