At-a-glance: 10 Tally alternatives compared
The fast comparison first. The full reviews are below. Pricing is from each vendor's public pricing page as of 2026-05.
| Tool | Free tier | Cheapest paid | Webhooks free | No branding (free) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| splitforms | 1,000 subs/mo | $5/mo (5,000) | Yes | Yes | Devs, agencies, indie hackers |
| Tally | Unlimited subs | $29/mo | Pro only | No (paid) | No-code surveys with logic |
| Typeform | 10 responses/mo | $25/mo | Paid plans | No | Conversational, branded surveys |
| Formspree | 50 subs/mo | $10/mo | $10/mo+ | Yes | Static sites, Jamstack |
| JotForm | 100 subs/mo | $34/mo | Paid | No | Enterprise, HIPAA, long forms |
| Google Forms | Unlimited | Free (Workspace) | Apps Script | No (Google logo) | Internal team surveys |
| Web3Forms | 250 subs/mo | $8/mo | Paid | Yes | Quick HTML drop-in |
| Basin | 100 subs/mo | $9.95/mo | Paid | Yes | Designers, simple sites |
| Getform | 50 subs/mo | $15/mo | Paid | Yes | File-heavy intake forms |
| Paperform | 0 (trial only) | $32/mo | Paid | No | Bookings, payments, polished UI |
The honest read: if your need is "a form on my site that emails me when someone submits," splitforms wins on price, free-tier headroom, and not making the form look like someone else's product. If your need is "a hosted survey page with branching logic," Tally and Typeform are still the visual leaders — at $25–$29/month.
How we picked (the criteria that actually matter)
Most form-tool reviews score on a vague "ease of use" metric and never tell you what they mean. Here are the criteria we actually scored on, ranked by what people complain about when they ask for a Tally alternative:
- Cost at 1,000 submissions/month. The realistic load for a small business contact form, a job board, or a launched indie product.
- Branding on the free / cheapest plan. If the tool puts a watermark, a "made with X" link, or its own logo on your form, that's a tax on credibility.
- Embed model. HTML-native (you paste a form into your site) vs iframe (their page in a window) vs SDK (their script on your site). HTML-native is the only model that lets you fully control design and page speed.
- Webhooks. If you want submissions in Slack, Discord, Zapier, or your own backend, you need webhooks. Some tools paywall them.
- Spam protection. Honeypot, hCaptcha, or AI classification. Without one of these, every form on the public internet drowns.
- Custom domain / email. Whether replies look like they come from you or from tally.so.
Speed of setup, design freedom, and what shows up in your inbox are the three things that actually predict whether a form tool sticks. Everything else is marketing copy.
1. splitforms — the recommended pick
Pricing: Free 1,000 submissions/month. Pro $5/month for 5,000. $59 for 4 years if you want to prepay.
splitforms is HTML-native: you write a normal <form> tag, point its action at splitforms.com/api/submit, add one hidden input with your access key, and you're done. There is no iframe, no SDK, no embed code that breaks your page speed score. Submissions arrive in your inbox within seconds and in your dashboard.
What it does that Tally doesn't: free webhooks (Slack, Discord, Zapier, custom URL), AI spam classification on the free tier, full design control because the form is just your HTML, and no "powered by" anywhere. The free tier covers 1,000 submissions/month — about 33/day — which is more than most small-business contact forms ever see.
What it doesn't do: it's not a survey builder. There's no drag-and-drop "build a form on a hosted page" experience. If you want a hosted Tally-style survey link, splitforms isn't that. If you want a backend that turns your existing site's form into a working contact form, it's the cleanest option in this list.
Verdict: #1 for developers, agencies, freelancers, indie hackers, and any site that owns its own front-end. Sign up at splitforms.com/login and grab a free access key in 60 seconds. See the side-by-side at splitforms vs Tally.
2. Tally — the subject (honest review)
Pricing: Free with unlimited submissions but limited features. Pro $29/month. Business $89/month.
Tally is, genuinely, a good piece of software. The form builder is fast, the UI is clean, and unlimited submissions on free is a real differentiator from Typeform and JotForm. If you want a hosted survey link you can share on Twitter or in an email, Tally is hard to beat for $0.
Where it falls down: the "free forever" promise covers submissions, not features. Removing the Tally branding, custom domains, payments, file uploads over a small cap, conditional logic on email notifications, hidden fields beyond a small set — those are all on the $29/month Pro plan. That's 6x the cost of splitforms Pro for what most people think they signed up for.
The other limitation is the embed. Tally forms live on tally.so by default, and even when embedded in your site they're inside an iframe — which means slower page load, design that doesn't fully match your brand, and an extra DNS lookup. If your site is a Webflow, Framer, or hand-coded site where pixel-perfect design matters, the iframe shows.
Verdict: Use Tally if you want a hosted survey URL and you're OK with the branding or paying $29/month to remove it. Move to splitforms if you want forms inside your own HTML at $0–$5/month.
3. Typeform — the polished survey tool
Pricing: Free tier 10 responses/month (yes, ten). Basic $25/month, Plus $50/month, Business $83/month.
Typeform invented the conversational, one-question-at-a-time form. The UX is genuinely great for long surveys where you'd otherwise lose people halfway. If you're running a customer research project or a multi-step onboarding survey, Typeform is the gold standard.
The brutal part is the free tier — 10 responses per month means it's functionally a trial, not a free plan. Once you go paid you're at $25/month for a tool whose differentiator is "one question at a time," which you can replicate in plain HTML in an afternoon. For a contact form, Typeform is wildly overpriced. See the Typeform migration guide if you're already on it.
Verdict: Worth the money for serious survey workflows. Massive overkill for a contact form. Compare side-by-side at splitforms vs Typeform.
4. Formspree — the original HTML form backend
Pricing: Free 50 submissions/month. Personal $10/month for 1,000. Pro $40/month for 5,000.
Formspree is the OG of HTML form backends — it does the same thing splitforms does (you point a form's action at their URL, submissions arrive by email). It's reliable, well-documented, and has been around since 2014.
The pricing is the issue. The free tier is 50/month, which most sites burn through in a week after launch. The $10/month Personal plan covers 1,000 submissions — the same volume splitforms gives away free. The $40/month Pro plan covers 5,000 — that's 8x more than splitforms' $5/month Pro plan for the same submission cap.
Verdict: Good product, expensive for what it is in 2026. Migration guide: migrate from Formspree. Comparison: splitforms vs Formspree.
5. JotForm — the enterprise option
Pricing: Free 100 submissions/month. Bronze $34/month, Silver $39/month, Gold $99/month.
JotForm is the kitchen-sink form builder. 10,000+ templates, HIPAA compliance on higher tiers, e-signatures, payment processing, PDF generation. If you're building a clinic intake form or a 40-field insurance application, JotForm is built for that.
For a developer who just wants a contact form on a Next.js site, JotForm is wrong on every axis. The interface is heavy, the embeds are iframes, and the cheapest paid plan is $34/month. The free tier is 100 submissions, which evaporates fast.
Verdict: Best in class for enterprise / regulated industries. Massive overkill for indie sites. See splitforms vs JotForm.
6. Google Forms — the free default (avoid)
Pricing: Free with a Google account. Workspace plans roll it in for paid Google users.
Google Forms is free and unlimited, and you already have an account. It is the default people reach for. It is also the wrong tool for almost every public-facing use case.
Why: the design is locked. Every Google Form looks like a Google Form. The Google logo and a "Never submit passwords through Google Forms" footer is on every page. Embedding cleanly without an iframe is impossible. Submissions go into a Google Sheet by default, not your inbox, which means you have to set up triggers to be notified. For an internal team survey or a quick poll among friends, it's fine. For your business's contact page, it looks unprofessional. See Google Forms vs Typeform vs splitforms for the full breakdown.
Verdict: Free, but the cost is your brand looking like everyone else's.
7. Web3Forms — the cheap HTML drop-in
Pricing: Free 250 submissions/month. Pro $8/month for 5,000.
Web3Forms is functionally the closest competitor to splitforms — HTML-native, paste-an-action-URL, no SDK. The setup flow is nearly identical: get an access key, drop it in a hidden input, submit.
Where splitforms pulls ahead: the free tier (1,000 vs 250 submissions), AI spam classification (Web3Forms uses standard captcha/honeypot only), a real dashboard with search/filter on submissions, and the $5 Pro tier covers the same 5,000 submissions Web3Forms charges $8 for. See the comparison at splitforms vs Web3Forms and the three-way head-to-head review.
Verdict: A reasonable budget option. splitforms wins on free-tier headroom, dashboard quality, and spam handling.
8. Basin — the designer-friendly backend
Pricing: Free 100 submissions/month. Starter $9.95/month for 500, Plus $19.95/month for 1,500.
Basin (usebasin.com) is a simple HTML form backend built for designers and small studios. It does the basics well: spam filtering with Akismet, file uploads, integrations with Slack and Zapier, custom redirects.
The free tier is 100 submissions and the paid tiers cap aggressively — $9.95/month for 500 is roughly half the headroom of splitforms' free tier. For a designer with one or two low-traffic client sites, Basin is fine. For anyone with traffic, the per-submission economics get expensive fast. Comparison: splitforms vs Basin.
Verdict: Solid niche product. splitforms is cheaper across every plan tier.
9. Getform — the file-friendly backend
Pricing: Free 50 submissions/month. Basic $15/month, Pro $49/month.
Getform is another HTML-form-action backend, with a focus on file uploads and per-form configuration. It works, the dashboard is OK, and the API contract is straightforward.
The economics are the issue. 50 submissions/month free is a Formspree-tier free plan — you'll hit it on day one of a real launch. $15/month is the entry point for paid, and you only get 1,000 submissions for that. splitforms gives you 1,000 free and 5,000 for $5. See splitforms vs Getform for the full comparison.
Verdict: Fine product, wrong price. Move to splitforms if cost matters.
10. Paperform — the bookings + payments hybrid
Pricing: No real free tier (14-day trial). Essentials $32/month, Pro $59/month, Agency $135/month.
Paperform sits between Tally and Typeform: hosted forms, very polished UI, baked-in bookings and Stripe payment collection, and a beautiful conditional-logic editor. If you're a coach selling discovery calls or a freelancer collecting deposits on intake forms, it's a strong pick.
Paperform is also the most expensive tool in this list and has no free plan. $32/month is the floor. If you need bookings + payments + a form, the math can work. If you need a contact form, it's a $384/year tool doing $0/year work.
Verdict: Excellent for booking-and-payment workflows. Wrong tier for a basic Tally replacement.
Which one should you actually pick?
Five quick decisions, in order:
- You have your own site (Next.js, Astro, Webflow, Framer, hand-coded) and you want a contact form. Pick splitforms. Free tier covers most of you forever. Start at /login.
- You want a hosted survey URL, you're OK with branding, and your form has < unlimited submissions but lots of logic. Stay on Tally if you're happy. If you outgrew the free tier, splitforms + a custom HTML page is cheaper than Tally Pro.
- You're running a long-form customer research survey. Typeform or Paperform. Pay for the UX.
- You need HIPAA, e-signatures, or 40-field insurance forms. JotForm. None of the cheaper tools do regulated workflows seriously.
- You're running an internal team poll. Google Forms is fine.
If you're still picking between the "HTML backend" tools — splitforms, Formspree, Web3Forms, Basin, Getform — check the deeper free-tier comparison at best free form backend services 2026.
How to switch from Tally to splitforms (5 minutes)
Three steps. Most Tally embeds are an iframe — replace it with raw HTML and you're done.
- Sign up at splitforms.com/login, copy your access key from the dashboard.
- On the page that currently embeds Tally, delete the Tally embed code and paste this HTML form:
<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" />
<input type="text" name="name" required />
<input type="email" name="email" required />
<textarea name="message" required></textarea>
<input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" />
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>- Deploy, submit a test message, confirm it shows up in your inbox and the splitforms dashboard. Done.
If you're on a framework: Next.js form backend, React form backend, Astro form backend, Vue form backend, Svelte form backend. Or grab a ready-made free contact form template. Setup, security, and EU residency answers live in /faq and the full API contract is at /api-reference. Browse more form guides at /blog.
FAQ
Is Tally actually free forever?
The Tally free plan is unlimited on submissions, which is genuinely generous — that part is real. The catch is everything around the form: payments, hidden fields, logic jumps, custom domains, removing branding, conditional emails, file upload size — those are on the $29/month Pro plan. So 'free forever' is true if you never need any of the things business forms usually need. For a serious site, you'll pay or you'll move.
Why do people leave Tally?
Three repeating reasons. First, Tally is a hosted form builder — you don't paste it into your own HTML, you embed an iframe. That breaks design control, hurts page speed, and looks like a Tally form even after you re-skin it. Second, the $29/month jump from free to Pro is steep for a one-person site. Third, devs who already have a Next.js / Astro / Vue site usually want a backend endpoint, not another page builder. splitforms is the typical landing spot because it's HTML-native.
What's the cheapest Tally alternative with no branding?
splitforms — there is no splitforms branding on your form because there is no splitforms-hosted form. You write the HTML, you own the design. The free tier (1,000 submissions/month) has no watermark, no 'powered by' link, no domain restriction. Tally removes branding only on the $29/month Pro plan. JotForm removes branding starting at $34/month. Paperform removes it on $32/month. The cheapest paid plan on splitforms is $5/month for 5,000 submissions.
Can I keep Tally's logic / conditional fields with a cheaper tool?
If you need true conditional form logic (show field B only if field A = X), Tally and Typeform are still the strongest visual builders. But most people overestimate how much logic they actually need — 80% of contact forms are name + email + message with a topic select. For those, splitforms or any HTML form does the job at a fraction of the cost. If your form truly needs branching paths, Paperform or Typeform are the honest picks; just know you're paying $25–$83/month for that polish.
What about Google Forms? It's free.
Google Forms is free and works, but the UX is dated, every form looks identical, you can't embed cleanly without an iframe, and submissions land in a Google Sheet rather than your inbox by default. For an internal team survey it's fine. For a public-facing contact form on a portfolio or product site, it looks unprofessional and you can't style it. Use splitforms if you want it to look like your brand and land in your inbox in seconds.
Will I lose my Tally submissions if I switch?
No — Tally lets you export submissions to CSV from the dashboard. Export before you cut over. The new tool (splitforms or otherwise) starts a fresh submission log from the moment you switch the form's action URL or embed. Keep your Tally account alive for 30 days as a fallback in case a cached page still points at the old form.
Does splitforms work with Webflow, Framer, and no-code builders?
Yes. Any platform that lets you paste raw HTML into a page (Webflow Custom Code, Framer Code Embed, Carrd, Squarespace Code Block, Wix HTML iframe, WordPress Custom HTML, Ghost HTML card) takes a splitforms form. You paste a normal HTML form with one hidden input for your access key. There is no SDK, no script tag required, no iframe.
How do I switch from Tally to splitforms?
Three steps. (1) Get a free access key at splitforms.com/login. (2) Replace your Tally embed with a raw HTML form whose action points at splitforms.com/api/submit and includes your access key as a hidden field. (3) Test once, deploy, watch the submission arrive in your inbox and dashboard. Most migrations take under 10 minutes per form. See the Tally vs splitforms comparison and the migration guide for the exact copy-paste blocks.