Netlify Forms pricing (2026) and a portable alternative

The most common trigger is host migration. A team decides to move from Netlify to Vercel or Cloudflare for performance, pricing, or deployment-feature reasons — and discovers Netlify Forms doesn't follow them. Every form has to be rewritten to point at a new backend during the migration. splitforms removes this entirely: the form action URL is host-independent, so moving hosts is a deploy-config change, not a forms-rewrite project.

The second trigger is operational separation. Agencies and product teams sometimes want one form layer across Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare, and traditional hosts. splitforms gives those sites the same endpoint, dashboard, access model, and signed-delivery behavior instead of coupling each form to its deployment platform.

The third trigger is agent provisioning. splitforms' authenticated MCP server can create a real form with specified fields and return an access key plus ready-to-paste HTML. Netlify has strong Agent Runners and prompt templates, but the workflow remains part of the wider Netlify project platform.

A fourth trigger applies only to older accounts. Sites on legacy Free, Starter or Pro plans get 100 submissions per site per month, and at that limit paid legacy plans move the site to the next usage level while the legacy free tier pauses all sites on the account. Accounts on credit-based plans don't have this cap.

Host requirement

splitforms works on any host. Netlify Forms only works on Netlify-hosted sites.

Free tier

splitforms includes 500 submissions total, with no time limit, on any host. Netlify's credit-based plans include free, unlimited form submissions for sites hosted on Netlify; legacy Free, Starter and Pro plans include 100 submissions per site per month.

Paid tier pricing

splitforms is Pro $5/month (5,000/month) and Annual $49/year (15,000/month) for the standalone service. Netlify Forms has no separate price; it is bundled into hosting, with the Personal plan at $9/month. These are different product shapes, so a per-submission cost comparison is misleading.

Dashboard and API

both products store submissions, support exports, expose APIs, and handle uploaded files. Compare the workflow and retention limits of the exact plan rather than assuming either lacks these basics.

Webhooks

splitforms sends HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks on paid plans, with an 8-second timeout and one automatic retry on network errors, timeouts and 5xx responses. Netlify supports email, Slack, outgoing webhooks, Zapier, n8n, and form-triggered functions.

Spam protection

splitforms uses a honeypot, a time-trap, per-IP rate limits and rule-based content scoring, with a spam folder you can review. Per Netlify's docs, Netlify Forms filters spam automatically (Akismet) and supports a honeypot field and reCAPTCHA.

Agent surface

splitforms ships an MCP server that can provision forms and inspect submissions. Netlify ships Agent Runners and form-oriented prompt templates inside its hosting platform.

• “We're moving off Netlify and our forms are about to break.”

  splitforms' action URL is host-independent. Move hosts whenever you want; the forms keep working without changes.

• “Our React form isn't detected.”

  Netlify finds forms by scanning deployed HTML at build time, so JavaScript-rendered forms need a hidden static copy. splitforms is an endpoint, so there is nothing to detect.

• “We manage forms across several hosting vendors.”

  splitforms provides one independent access model and delivery pipeline for all of them.

• “We need signed webhook delivery at a small-service price.”

  splitforms signs webhooks with HMAC-SHA256 on paid plans: Pro $5/month (5,000/month) and Annual $49/year (15,000/month).

• “I want to drive form submissions from a Claude or Cursor agent.”

  splitforms ships an MCP server natively.

Host portability is the headline. splitforms is the form backend you can point at from Netlify today, Vercel tomorrow, Cloudflare next year, your own server after that — without touching the form. For any team that thinks of hosting as a tradeable layer, this is a structural win.

A standalone control plane. Search submissions, filter by form and date, and export to CSV without coupling those workflows to the hosting account.

A low standalone paid floor: Pro $5/month (5,000/month) and Annual $49/year (15,000/month). Netlify's price includes a much broader hosting platform, so splitforms is attractive when you need only the form backend.

HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks on paid plans, with an 8-second timeout and one automatic retry on network errors, timeouts and 5xx responses. Netlify also supports outgoing webhooks; evaluate signing and delivery-log requirements for your integration.

Rule-based spam scoring runs alongside a honeypot, a time-trap and per-IP rate limits, and flagged entries go to a spam folder you can review, so a CAPTCHA is optional rather than required.

MCP server for AI agents — Claude and Cursor can provision a form, generate its markup, and inspect submissions through an authenticated tool surface.

Step 1: get a splitforms access key (free, no credit card). Step 2: in your form HTML, remove the `netlify` attribute and add `action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit"` and `method="POST"`. Step 3: deploy and submit a test entry, confirm it lands in the splitforms dashboard and owner inbox; Pro adds signed webhooks when you need automation.

If you've been relying on Netlify's bot-field honeypot, splitforms includes equivalent honeypot protection out of the box plus rule-based spam scoring on top. Before you switch, export past submissions as CSV from the Forms section of the Netlify UI, or pull them with the Netlify API, and keep the Netlify site live until the export is done; splitforms starts collecting from the moment you switch. Field names, validation and styling stay the same, and a custom success page moves from the form's `action` to a hidden `redirect` field.

Day 1, minute zero: `grep -rn 'netlify\|data-netlify\|netlify-honeypot' .` across your repo. You'll find the magic attributes scattered across `index.html`, `src/pages/contact.astro`, or `app/contact/page.tsx` depending on your stack — `<form name="contact" netlify netlify-honeypot="bot-field" action="/thanks">`. The Netlify Forms convention is wholly attribute-driven, so the migration is mostly attribute deletion. Open a `splitforms-migration` branch, strip the `netlify`, `data-netlify`, and `netlify-honeypot` attributes off each form, then add `method="POST"`, `action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit"`, and a hidden `access_key` input.

Minute fifteen: push the branch and let your host build a deploy preview. Submit a test entry from the preview URL, confirm it lands in the splitforms dashboard with the right field values and any file attachments. Now run shadow mode: in your form handler add a `Promise.allSettled([fetch('/', {method:'POST', body:formData}), fetch(splitformsUrl, {method:'POST', body:formData})])` so Netlify's built-in form handler and splitforms both receive every submission for 24 hours. Compare counts in both dashboards, verify file handling and notifications, and keep the provider whose operational model fits the project.

Day 2: remove the duplicate Netlify post, redeploy, watch a full day of real production traffic flow through splitforms only. Once you're confident, turn off form detection in the Netlify UI or just stop using the attributes — Netlify won't capture forms that don't have the `netlify` attribute. splitforms Free (500 submissions total, unlimited forms, full dashboard) covers validation at zero cost, and signed webhooks come with the paid plans, Pro $5/month (5,000/month) and Annual $49/year (15,000/month), if the cutover needs downstream delivery.

Will splitforms work on a site I host on Netlify? Yes — splitforms works on any host, including Netlify. You just remove the `netlify` attribute and add a standard form action URL.

What if I move from Netlify to Vercel later? Nothing changes for your forms. The splitforms action URL is host-independent.

What does splitforms cost after the free plan? Free is 500 submissions total, with no card and no time limit. Paid plans are Pro $5/month (5,000/month) and Annual $49/year (15,000/month), and notification emails are included on every plan.

Does splitforms support file uploads? Yes, on paid plans. Uploads are storage-backed, up to 5 files at 5 MB each.

Is there a yearly plan? Yes. Annual is $49/year for 15,000 submissions/month with every Pro feature, about $4.08/month.