Point any HTML form at one endpoint. 500 free submissions — no card, no time limit — and unlimited forms.
Create free accountDisclosure: splitforms publishes this guide and is one of the options in it. There is no overall ranking: options are listed alphabetically and each pick names the use case it wins. Competitor figures come from each vendor's own pricing page, last checked November 1, 2026; plans change, so confirm before you sign up.
Qualify first, book second
A common time-waster for consultants and coaches is a "Book a call" button that drops cold traffic straight onto a calendar. Your week can fill with people who can't afford you, aren't ready, or don't show. A short qualification form in front of the scheduler helps: you screen for fit, capture the lead even if they don't book right away, and spend live time on prospects worth it.
The fields that qualify without scaring people off:
- Name + email, and company or role for context.
- What do you want help with? A short description of the problem.
- Timeline: now, this quarter, exploring. Tells you urgency.
- Budget range: the field many people skip and shouldn't. A range, not an exact figure.
On submit, redirect qualified prospects to your Calendly or Cal.com so they still book in one flow, but now you have their answers before the call.
Which option is best for each use case?
Competitors and non-form tools win several of these rows. Each pick names the use case it wins.
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A free no-code qualification form with branching questions | Tally | Free plan has unlimited forms and submissions under fair use, conditional logic, 10 MB uploads and webhooks. splitforms has no visual builder; you paste HTML. |
| A polished one-question-at-a-time form for low volume | Typeform | Conversational layout and design polish. The free plan allows 10 responses a month; Basic is $39/month ($28/month billed yearly) for 100 responses a month. |
| Booking the discovery call itself | A scheduling tool such as Calendly or Cal.com | Live availability, time zones, confirmations and reminders. A form qualifies the lead first; it does not replace the calendar. |
| Tracking deals, follow-ups and pipeline stages | A CRM | A form backend logs submissions; it is not a CRM. Forward qualified leads into one when the pipeline justifies it. |
| Biggest monthly free allowance on a plain HTML form | Web3Forms | Free plan is 250 submissions a month, resetting monthly. splitforms' free allowance is 500 in total, one time. |
| A plain HTML form that redirects to your scheduler on a free plan | splitforms | The redirect field is honored on every plan, free included. Basin's custom redirect URL starts on its Starter plan, not its Free plan. |
| Signed webhooks from a plain HTML form into a CRM on a low-cost paid plan | splitforms | Pro is $5/month for 5,000 submissions a month with HMAC-signed webhooks. Tally includes webhooks on Free but is a hosted builder, not a form endpoint. |
| Letting an AI assistant create forms and read submissions | splitforms | A hosted MCP server with 12 tools is included on every plan. Check other vendors' docs for current MCP support. |
What are the options, in alphabetical order?
- CRMs: deal stages, reminders and reporting once the pipeline needs them. Compare on each product's own site.
- Scheduling tools (Calendly, Cal.com and similar): book the call; many can also ask a few questions at booking time.
- splitforms: a form endpoint for plain HTML forms. Free is 500 submissions in total; Pro is $5/month for 5,000 a month; Annual is $49/year for 15,000 a month.
- Tally: hosted no-code builder with a generous free plan. See the Tally review.
- Typeform: conversational forms with a small free plan (10 responses a month). See the Typeform review.
- Web3Forms: form endpoint with 250 free submissions a month. See the Web3Forms review.
How a form backend fits a consultant's site
Funnel builders and CRMs are useful once you have volume, but a solo consultant or small coaching practice can qualify and capture leads without one. A hosted form backend covers the core job: capture the qualified lead, attempt owner notification email after saving the accepted submission, log every submission, and redirect to your scheduler.
- Quick alerts. Speed-to-lead can matter; get pinged by email or, on a paid plan, by webhook.
- Capture even non-bookers. The lead is saved so you can follow up.
- Redirect to your calendar. Qualified prospects book in the same flow.
- Forward to a CRM later. Via webhook, when your pipeline justifies it.
Copy-paste discovery-call form
Paste into your site and swap YOUR_ACCESS_KEY for the one from your free splitforms account (or adapt the action URL for another form backend). The hidden redirect sends qualified prospects to your scheduler after submit.
<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" />
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="New discovery-call request" />
<input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="https://cal.com/yourname/discovery" />
<label>Name<input type="text" name="name" required /></label>
<label>Email<input type="email" name="email" required /></label>
<label>Company / role<input type="text" name="company" /></label>
<label>What do you want help with?
<textarea name="problem" rows="4" required></textarea>
</label>
<label>Timeline
<select name="timeline" required>
<option>Ready to start now</option>
<option>This quarter</option>
<option>Just exploring</option>
</select>
</label>
<label>Budget range
<select name="budget" required>
<option>Under $2,000</option>
<option>$2,000–$5,000</option>
<option>$5,000–$15,000</option>
<option>$15,000+</option>
</select>
</label>
<!-- honeypot -->
<input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off" />
<button type="submit">Request a call</button>
</form>Get notified when a qualified lead arrives: Telegram alerts or Slack (webhooks are a paid-plan feature on splitforms). Log leads automatically with Notion or Google Sheets.
Mistakes that fill your calendar with the wrong calls
- No qualification. A bare "book a call" link invites unqualified traffic. Screen first if your time is limited.
- No budget field. Avoiding it feels polite and can cost you hours of free consulting. Ask as a range.
- Slow follow-up. A lead that waits a day may be gone. Alert yourself quickly.
- Untested delivery. Submit your own form and confirm it lands. Why form emails go to spam.
When is splitforms not the right choice?
- You want a visual builder with branching questions. splitforms takes a plain HTML form. Tally and Typeform are builders with conditional logic.
- You need real scheduling. splitforms is not a booking engine. Use a scheduling tool such as Calendly or Cal.com and redirect to it after the form.
- You need pipeline tracking. splitforms is not a CRM. It can pass leads to one by webhook.
- You want webhooks or file uploads on a free plan. On splitforms both are paid-plan features (Pro from $5/month). Tally includes them on its free plan.
- You expect steady monthly volume on a free plan. splitforms' free allowance is 500 submissions in total, one time, not per month. Web3Forms gives 250 a month, resetting monthly.
- Your clients need EU data residency. splitforms hosts in the US under standard contractual clauses (see the DPA). Tally says it stores form data in Europe.
Contact form guides for other industries
What to do next
- Related: freelancers · agencies
- Add it to your site: Carrd · Webflow
- Redirect after submit: the PRG pattern
- For a plain HTML form: get a free splitforms access key (500 submissions in total, no card)
FAQ
Is this guide biased toward splitforms?
splitforms publishes this guide and is one of the options in it, so read it as a vendor-written comparison. To keep it checkable, there is no overall ranking, the options are listed alphabetically, each pick names the use case it wins, competitor figures come from each vendor's own pricing page, and a section lists when splitforms is not the right choice. For consultants that is often: you want a visual builder with branching logic, real scheduling, or a CRM, and splitforms is none of those.
What should a consultant's lead form ask to qualify prospects?
Enough to know if the call is worth booking: name, email, company or role, the problem they want help with, timeline, and budget range. Budget is the field most consultants hesitate to ask for, and it can save wasted discovery calls; frame it as a range, not an exact number. A qualified form helps fill your calendar with prospects who can actually hire you.
Should I send people straight to a scheduling link instead of a form?
Many consultants use both, in order: a short qualification form first, then the scheduler. Sending cold traffic straight to a calendar can fill your week with unqualified or no-show calls, while a form lets you screen for fit and budget, capture the lead even if they don't book, and follow up. You can redirect to your Calendly or Cal.com link on submit so qualified prospects still book in one flow. If your volume is low and every call is welcome, a bare scheduling link is simpler.
Do I need a funnel tool or CRM for this?
Not to start. A hosted form backend or a free builder captures and qualifies leads and logs every submission in a dashboard. When your pipeline needs deal stages, reminders and reporting, forward qualified leads into a CRM, by webhook (a paid-plan feature on splitforms, included on Tally's free plan) or a native integration. A CRM is a different category of tool and a form backend does not replace one.
How do I make sure I respond before the prospect cools off?
Response time can matter for discovery-call requests. Use owner email notifications, which are free on all splitforms plans, or route submissions to a channel you monitor such as Slack or Telegram. Delivery time depends on the providers and destination systems you configure, so submit a test lead and confirm it lands.
What are the free limits of the options in this guide?
Tally's free plan has unlimited forms and submissions under its fair use policy. Typeform's free plan allows 10 responses a month; its Basic plan is $39/month ($28/month billed yearly) for 100 responses a month. Web3Forms' free plan is 250 submissions a month. splitforms is free for 500 submissions in total, one time, with Pro at $5/month for 5,000 a month. Confirm current plans on each vendor's pricing page.
Will it work with my Squarespace, Webflow, or Carrd site?
A form backend works on Squarespace, Webflow, Carrd or a simple landing page wherever you can embed an HTML form pointed at an endpoint, with no plugin or plan upgrade. A hosted builder such as Tally or Typeform is shared as a link or embedded instead. Pick whichever your site platform and your own comfort with HTML allow.