Raman Makkar

Background

I've been writing code professionally for about a decade, mostly TypeScript, Postgres, and the Next.js / React side of the JAMstack. Before splitforms I shipped SaaS products and developer tools, and along the way I burned a lot of hours re-implementing the same boring form-handling glue: an HTTP endpoint, a queue, a spam filter, a notification email, sometimes a webhook. Every project, the same plumbing. splitforms is what happens when you finally decide to build that plumbing properly, once, for everyone.

splitforms is independent and bootstrapped, funded entirely by paying customers. That shapes almost every product decision: I'd rather build a focused product I can keep answering for personally than a sprawling one I can't.

Why splitforms

The form-backend space has been weirdly stagnant for years. The expensive tools charge enterprise prices for what is, fundamentally, an HTTP endpoint and a queue. The cheap ones run on shoestrings and silently drop traffic during launches. The free tiers shrink every six months and the upgrade paths are priced as a punishment for growing. Most of the dashboards feel like they were last touched in 2017.

I built splitforms because the gap is real and the fix isn't complicated — it's a matter of caring about the basics. A free tier that's actually useful (500 submissions per month, no expiring trial). Sane Pro pricing ($5/month for 5,000 submissions) and a long-horizon $59 3-year plan for indie projects that want predictability. Signed webhooks unlocked from the $1/month Starter plan. A dashboard built this decade. A real human reading the support email. Open source code so you can audit or self-host if you ever need to.

Areas of focus

Most of what I write about and ship lives at the intersection of these four areas:

• Form backends. The HTTP endpoint, the queue, the retry semantics, the email deliverability tuning. The unglamorous infrastructure that has to work 100% of the time, especially during a launch spike, and is how I judge every form service against splitforms.
• Developer tools and DX. Less SDK rot, more copy-paste HTML. The integration is a standard form POST or a fetch() call — nothing to npm-install, version-pin, or migrate when frameworks shift again. Boring is good.
• AI-powered spam detection.Honeypots and IP reputation are still useful, but a small classifier catches the long tail without making visitors prove they're human. I write a lot about practical LLM classifiers, false-positive review UX, and what works versus what just looks impressive in a benchmark.
• MCP for AI agents.splitforms ships a first-class Model Context Protocol server so coding agents — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf — can list forms, read submissions, and generate template HTML directly. Most form backends still ship a JavaScript SDK from 2018; I'd rather ship a protocol from 2026.

Contact

The fastest ways to reach me. I read everything and reply to almost all of it within a day or two.

• Email: townmedialabs@gmail.com — for anything personal, or splitforms questions you'd rather not put through the support address.
• GitHub: github.com/Ramanmakkar1 — splitforms source, issues, and pull requests.
• LinkedIn: profile coming soon.
• X / Twitter: handle coming soon. For now, long-form writing lives on the splitforms blog.

Latest posts by Raman

The six most-recent guides, tutorials, and comparisons I've published on the splitforms blog.

• Comparisons · 11 min read
  Top 10 Wix Contact Form Apps & Widgets (2026)

  The 10 best Wix contact form apps and widgets for 2026, ranked on free-tier limits, spam protection, and honest pricing. splitforms ranks first.

• Comparisons · 10 min read
  Top 10 Squarespace Contact Forms (2026)

  10 Squarespace contact form tools for 2026 compared: splitforms via Code Block, the native Form Block's limits, Jotform, Typeform, Tally, and more, ranked.

• Tutorials · 9 min read
  How to Add a Contact Form to React Without a Backend 2026

  Add a working contact form to any React app in 2026 — controlled inputs, one fetch to a hosted endpoint, honeypot spam protection, and email delivery. No Express, no API route.

• Tutorials · 10 min read
  How to Add a Contact Form to Next.js Without an API Route 2026

  Add a contact form to Next.js (App Router) without building an API route — a use-client component or a Server Action posts to a hosted endpoint. Works with static export.

• Comparisons · 12 min read
  12 Best Form Backend Alternatives to Formspree (2026)

  The best Formspree alternatives in 2026, compared — free tiers, pricing, spam filtering, webhooks, and file uploads. Netlify Forms, Web3Forms, Basin, Getform, and more.

• Integrations · 11 min read
  Webhook Integrations for Web Forms: Slack, Zapier & More (2026)

  Send web form submissions anywhere with webhooks — Slack, Zapier, Make, n8n, Discord. HMAC signing, retries, and no-code vs code setups explained with examples.

See the full archive for everything I've written.

About splitforms

splitforms is a form backend API for developers building static sites, JAMstack apps, and modern web frameworks. Point any HTML form's action at the endpoint and submissions land in your dashboard with built-in spam filtering. Starter adds inbox delivery, signed webhooks, file uploads, and exports. Read more on the homepage or the about page.