Tally alternative: your own HTML form, one endpoint

The most common trigger is the hosting model. Tally forms live on tally.so/r/YOUR_ID by default, or embed via iframe (`<iframe src="https://tally.so/embed/...">`). For an internal feedback form or a quick survey, that's fine. For a public marketing-site form, the iframe loads slowly, breaks page styling, and breaks the analytics chain across the funnel. splitforms is a standard form action — your HTML, your domain, your CSS, your analytics, no iframe and no off-site link.

The second consideration is ownership and hosting. Tally's free plan includes unlimited submissions and a broad feature set, including webhooks, under fair-use guidelines; Pro adds branding removal, custom domains, partial-submission features, and team capabilities. SplitForms instead accepts posts from forms whose markup you own and hosts the endpoint and dashboard. Compare these distinct product models against your workflow.

The third consideration is API and developer experience. Tally provides a free API and MCP integrations for its hosted forms, including ChatGPT and Claude. SplitForms accepts standard HTML form posts at a hosted endpoint and adds signed webhooks on paid plans. Choose based on whether you want a hosted visual form with tool integrations or your own markup and a form backend.

Spam controls are another point to evaluate. Compare the current filtering options and test them against the kind of abuse your forms receive rather than assuming one approach fits every site.

Free tier volume

Tally is unlimited submissions on free, with a branded footer and feature gates. splitforms is 500 submissions total on free with a small attribution link in generated code, dashboard storage, spam filtering, and REST reads. For pure unlimited volume on a hosted form with branding, Tally wins. For developer features on a form you host on your own page, splitforms wins.

Hosting

Tally forms live on a tally.so link, a custom domain on Pro, or an embed. splitforms forms are standard HTML on your own domain — no iframe, no off-site URL.

Builder UI

Tally wins clearly here. The Notion-style block builder, conditional logic, multi-step flows, and polish on rating scales and choice questions are real. splitforms is a backend — you write the HTML.

Webhooks

Tally includes webhooks on its free plan subject to fair-use guidelines. SplitForms provides HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks on paid plans; compare delivery behavior and the need for an owned HTML form.

API and MCP

Tally provides free API and MCP access for its forms. SplitForms provides an API for its form backend; compare the exact operations and ownership model you need.

Spam protection

compare the current controls in each provider's documentation and test them with your own traffic.

Notification emails

SplitForms attempts owner notification email after accepted submissions are saved; paid plans support customer-configured SMTP. Tally Free sends notifications from Tally with a fixed layout; Pro sends customizable notification and respondent emails from your own domain.

Branding

SplitForms processes forms you design and host; Tally branding removal is part of its Pro plan ($29/month, or $24/month billed yearly).

AI integrations

both products support agent workflows. Tally offers free MCP access, including ChatGPT and Claude integrations; compare available actions for your workflow.

Pricing

SplitForms Free is 500 submissions total; paid plans start at $5/month (Pro). Tally Free includes unlimited submissions under fair-use; Pro is $29/month or $290/year. Check both live pricing pages because these products use different billing and hosting models.

• “I don't want my form to live on tally.so or load in an iframe.”

  splitforms forms are standard HTML on your own domain. No iframe, no off-site link.

• “I want signed webhook payloads I can verify.”

  splitforms includes HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks (one retry after ~2s on network errors, timeouts and 5xx; not on 4xx; 8-second timeout) on Pro for $5/month, scoped per form, with a free webhook tester at splitforms.com/webhook-tester.

• “The free-tier spam filtering isn't catching modern AI-written submissions.”

  splitforms runs every submission through rule-based spam scoring (links, spam phrases, disposable addresses and other content signals), on every plan including Free.

• “I want notification emails from my own domain without Tally Pro.”

  On Tally, sending from your own domain is a Pro feature ($29/month). SplitForms standard notifications need no customer SMTP setup; paid plans from $5/month support customer-configured SMTP.

• “I want my own HTML form to post to a managed endpoint.”

  SplitForms accepts standard form posts from markup on your site. Tally also provides free API and MCP integrations for forms built on Tally.

SplitForms isn't trying to replace Tally's hosted-builder experience for non-technical operators — Tally's free unlimited tier is a strong fit for that audience. SplitForms fits developer workflows where teams want to own their form markup, use a hosted endpoint, and connect agent tooling through MCP.

Forms on your own domain. The form is HTML on your page, your CSS, your branding, your analytics. No tally.so URL, no iframe load delay, no broken attribution chain.

Signed webhooks on paid plans: HMAC-SHA256 payloads, per-form scoping, and documented delivery behavior. Tally offers webhooks on Free under fair-use guidelines.

smart spam filtering (rule-based content scoring) on top of a honeypot, so most forms don't need a CAPTCHA

owner email notifications. Delivery time and inbox placement depend on the mail provider and recipient settings.

Pricing that makes sense for developers: Pro is $5/month for 5,000 submissions and removes splitforms attribution, and the Annual plan is $49/year for 15,000/month.

Step 1: sign up at splitforms.com for a free access key — no credit card required. Step 2: rebuild your form as plain HTML on your own page. For each Tally block, write a corresponding `<input>`, `<textarea>`, `<select>`, or `<input type="radio">` inside `<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">`. Tally's question types map directly: short answer to text input, long answer to textarea, multiple choice to radio, checkboxes to checkbox group, dropdown to select, file upload to file input. Step 3: submit a test entry and confirm it lands in the splitforms dashboard.

If you were embedding Tally via iframe (`<iframe src="https://tally.so/embed/...">`), the migration is to remove the iframe and replace it with a real HTML form on the page. This usually takes longer than swapping a form action — you're replacing a hosted experience with markup you own — but it's a one-time cost and you end up with a faster page that doesn't depend on Tally's runtime.

If you want a multi-step or conditional-logic UX with your own markup, the SplitForms backend pairs with any client-side form library — drive the steps in JavaScript and POST the final payload to SplitForms. Tally remains a strong hosted-builder choice; Pro is $29/month ($24/month billed yearly) if you need branding removal.

Tally Free

unlimited submissions and webhooks under fair-use guidelines, with Tally branding. SplitForms Free: 500 submissions total, one time, with a dashboard and API for developer-owned form markup. Tally fits hosted form-builder workflows; SplitForms fits code-first endpoint workflows. Compare current pricing and feature details before deciding.

Tally Business ($89/month, or $890/year)

adds automatic deletion of submissions after a retention period, respondent email verification and 90-day version history on top of Pro. splitforms Annual ($49/year): 15,000 submissions/month, no monthly billing. Over three years, that's $147 vs $2,670 of Tally Business billed yearly ($3,204 billed monthly).

The honest caveat

Tally Pro and Business include features splitforms doesn't try to replicate — the visual block builder and polished hosted conditional logic. If those features are decisive for you, the price is for them. If you'd rather own the form markup and webhook the submissions yourself, splitforms is dramatically cheaper at the equivalent backend feature surface.

Is splitforms trying to replace Tally? Not exactly — they serve different jobs. Tally is a hosted form builder for non-technical operators who want a polished form without writing HTML. splitforms is a form backend for developers who want their form on their own domain. The right answer depends on whether you'd rather configure a hosted UI or POST to an endpoint.

Will my Tally branching logic work on splitforms? Branching logic lives on the client side in this model — you write JavaScript that shows or hides fields based on prior answers, then POST the final state to splitforms. Slightly more code than Tally's visual editor, full control over the flow.

Can I keep an unlimited free tier? Tally's free tier is unlimited submissions with a branded footer; splitforms' free tier is 500 submissions total with a small attribution link in generated code, removable on Pro. If pure unlimited volume on a hosted branded form is the priority, Tally wins. If you need developer control on your own domain with low-cost attribution removal, splitforms is the right call.

What about file uploads, payments, and partial submissions? splitforms supports file uploads through standard `multipart/form-data` on paid plans. Payments are native on paid plans: connect your own Stripe account, set a fixed amount on the form, and submitters go to Stripe Checkout after they submit — the submission lands either way and shows as paid or unpaid in the dashboard. Tally's Stripe payment block is on its free plan; if you need variable amounts, drive Stripe Elements on the client and POST the result. For partial submissions, splitforms captures partial leads and drop-off analytics on paid plans once the one-line tracker script is on the page.

Does splitforms have a Tally-equivalent embed snippet? splitforms doesn't ship an embed widget; the form is your HTML on your own page. If you want a portable embed, wrap your form in an iframe yourself.

Does Tally include webhooks for free? Tally lists webhooks among its free features, subject to fair-use guidelines. SplitForms provides signed webhooks on paid plans. Compare the signing, delivery, and hosting requirements for your workflow.

Is there a per-form limit on splitforms? No. Every plan — Free, Pro and Annual — includes unlimited forms.

Is there a yearly plan? Yes. Annual is $49/year for 15,000 submissions/month with every Pro feature. Compare it with your expected usage and current Tally pricing.