splitforms.com
WAITLIST · ELEVENTY

Waitlist for Eleventy

Pre-launch capture form with optional referral source. Free for 500 submissions per month — no backend, no SDK, no plugin.

500/mo free·no card·drop-in for Eleventy
form.htmlhtml23 lines
01<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
02 <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY">
03 <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="New waitlist signup">
04
05 <label for="email">Email *</label>
06 <input id="email" type="email" name="email" placeholder="you@example.com" required>
07 <label for="name">Name</label>
08 <input id="name" type="text" name="name" placeholder="Optional">
09 <label for="referral">How did you hear about us?</label>
10 <select id="referral" name="referral">
11 <option value="">Choose…</option>
12 <option>Twitter</option>
13 <option>Friend</option>
14 <option>Search</option>
15 <option>Newsletter</option>
16 <option>Other</option>
17 </select>
18
19 <!-- honeypot — bots fill every field -->
20 <input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">
21
22 <button type="submit">Send</button>
23</form>
500
submissions / mo, free
3
fields, ready to ship
5
code outputs
60s
from copy to inbox
§ 00Eleventy + Waitlistplatform-specific integration guide

Why Eleventy developers choose splitforms for waitlist

Eleventy (11ty) is a flexible static site generator that lets you use any templating language, but it doesn't process form submissions — the output is static HTML. Adding a Node server or a Netlify function just for a contact form defeats the simplicity that makes Eleventy appealing. The waitlist on this page posts from the browser to splitforms, so your Eleventy site stays static. It works with Nunjucks, Handlebars, Liquid, Markdown, and every Eleventy template language because the form is plain HTML.

§ 00Quick answerHTML · marketing

Yes — this is the shortest safe path for Eleventy.

Use the HTML snippet on this page, keep the waitlist fields visible in your Eleventy UI, and let splitforms handle delivery, spam filtering, storage, and webhooks.

best implementation

Paste the HTML version, then replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY.

The posted payload contains email, name, how did you hear about us?. Required fields are email.

native eleventy reality

Eleventy is a Node-based static site generator — it produces HTML at build time and ships nothing else.

use case fit

Pre-launch waitlists let you capture demand before the product ships. The multi-step form qualifies the use case so launch-day conversions skew toward the highest-intent signups.

§ 01Waitlist × Eleventywhy this combination, in 80 words

Built for Eleventy developers who hate operating a backend.

Splitforms is the form backend for Eleventy sites. One POST endpoint, no SDK, no plugin — drop the waitlist into a page and ship.

Splitforms is the form backend for Eleventy sites. One POST endpoint, spam filtering, and a real dashboard — drop-in, no server, no PHP. Free for 500 dashboard submissions per month; Starter adds email, signed webhooks, exports, and retained uploads; Pro is $5/mo for 5,000.

✦ what you get on the free plan
  • 500 form submissions per month
  • 2 forms on Free; unlimited forms on Pro
  • Spam protection (honeypot + classifier)
  • Webhooks: Slack, Discord, WhatsApp, custom
  • CSV export of all submissions
  • Email notifications (CC and BCC on Pro)
§ 02Copy-paste codeHTML · 23 lines

Drop into any Eleventy project.

Replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with your splitforms key, paste into a Eleventy page, and ship. No build-time integration required.

form.htmlhtml23 lines
01<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
02 <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY">
03 <input type="hidden" name="subject" value="New waitlist signup">
04
05 <label for="email">Email *</label>
06 <input id="email" type="email" name="email" placeholder="you@example.com" required>
07 <label for="name">Name</label>
08 <input id="name" type="text" name="name" placeholder="Optional">
09 <label for="referral">How did you hear about us?</label>
10 <select id="referral" name="referral">
11 <option value="">Choose…</option>
12 <option>Twitter</option>
13 <option>Friend</option>
14 <option>Search</option>
15 <option>Newsletter</option>
16 <option>Other</option>
17 </select>
18
19 <!-- honeypot — bots fill every field -->
20 <input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">
21
22 <button type="submit">Send</button>
23</form>
§ 03Setup3 steps · 60 seconds · zero config

Generate, embed, receive.

Three actions stand between you and your first waitlist submission. None of them require a backend, a database, or a CAPTCHA library.

STEP 01GENERATE

Generate a free splitforms key

Sign in at splitforms.com — your access key is created instantly. No credit card, no setup wizard, no SDK to install.

Create your form
key=sk_live_••••••••
STEP 02EMBED

Paste the waitlist into your Eleventy project

Drop the form snippet into a Eleventy page, component, or layout. Replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with the key from your dashboard. The form action is a hard-coded URL — no env vars or build-time wiring needed.

snippethtml
<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
  …
</form>
STEP 03RECEIVE

Receive submissions

Dashboard updates live on Free. Starter adds email delivery, signed webhooks, CSV export, Slack/Discord forwarding, and BCC to your team.

inbox · 1 newjust now
FROM contact@yoursite.com
New waitlist signup
Maya Iyer maya@studio71.co
Loved the demo — quick question about pricing on the 3-year plan. Are usage limits per project or account-wide?
§ 03bWaitlist Signup Form (Pre-Launch Lead Capture)template-specific playbook

The reason this waitlist exists.

Multi-step (Typeform-style) · webhooks into Loops / ConvertKit / Beehiiv.

why it matters

Waitlists are the cheapest growth tool a pre-launch product has — Superhuman, Notion, and Linear all built sizable waitlists before paid launch. The form captures email plus a question or two on use case ('what would you use this for?', 'what tools do you use today?') so the launch sequence segments by intent. Multi-step flow boosts completion vs a single form — the prospect commits in step 1 and answers the qualifying questions in step 2-3 with momentum. Push waitlist signups to a dedicated ESP audience (Loops, ConvertKit, Beehiiv) so launch-day emails segment by use case and target the highest-intent signups first.

route the submission
01

Step 1: capture email

Single email field — keep step 1 frictionless. Loss-rate from email-only is near-zero; once the email is in, momentum carries through later qualifying questions.

02

Step 2-3: qualify use case

One or two questions on use case ('what problem brings you here?', 'what tools do you use today?'). Optional but most users complete because they're invested by step 2.

03

Push to ESP segment

Webhook to Loops / ConvertKit / Beehiiv / Mailchimp into a 'waitlist' audience. Launch-day emails segment by use case so the highest-intent signups get the first invite waves.

§ 03cEleventy production notesnative path · deploy · gotchas

What changes when this waitlist lives in Eleventy.

These notes come from the Eleventy platform registry and are rendered on this template page so crawlers see the framework-specific answer without opening a separate guide.

without splitforms

Eleventy is a Node-based static site generator — it produces HTML at build time and ships nothing else. There is no runtime, no /api/contact endpoint, no hooks for handling a form POST. The historical workarounds: (a) deploy to Netlify and use Netlify Forms, (b) write a Cloudflare Worker that handles POST /contact and forwards to your email provider (~4 hours plus ongoing operation), or (c) use a third-party form API (Formspree, Web3Forms, Basin, splitforms). Eleventy's data cascade lets you neatly pull an access key from _data/site.js and use it in a Nunjucks/Liquid include — but the actual delivery layer is always external. Splitforms is the lowest-friction external option.

deploy notes

Eleventy deploys to any static host. The form posts cross-origin to splitforms.com so the host is irrelevant for delivery. Eleventy v3's ESM-only config is the major upgrade gotcha — .eleventy.js (CommonJS) silently stops exposing globals; rename to eleventy.config.mjs. Local dev runs on localhost:8080 — add to splitforms allowed-domains for testing or use a separate dev key. _data/site.js (not .json) lets you read from process.env; keep .env in gitignore. For 11ty + Netlify (the classic combo), you can use Netlify Forms instead, but you cap out at 100/mo — splitforms gives 500/mo and works on every host.

Eleventy gotcha

Eleventy v3 is ESM-only — your config must be .mjs

If you upgraded to Eleventy 3 and your .eleventy.js (CommonJS) silently stopped exposing globals, that's why. Rename to eleventy.config.mjs and use ESM export default. Otherwise addGlobalData('splitformsKey', …) won't reach your templates.

Eleventy gotcha

Liquid filters and Nunjucks filters have different names

{{ '/thanks/' | url }} works in Nunjucks (with the eleventy-plugin-url plugin). In Liquid, the filter is | url_for or you skip the filter entirely and write the path literally. Mismatched filter names render nothing — the form's redirect URL becomes empty.

Eleventy gotcha

Global data with sensitive values gets committed by accident

If you put your access key in _data/site.json (the obvious place), it ships to your repo. Use _data/site.js and read from process.env.SPLITFORMS_KEY instead — then add .env to gitignore. Eleventy auto-loads .env if you have dotenv installed.

Eleventy gotcha

Permalinks: false on the contact page makes the redirect fail

If your contact page has permalink: false (rare but possible), it's not built — and splitforms's redirect target points at a 404. Always ensure both the form page and the /thanks page have valid permalinks.

PATTERN A

Pattern A — Nunjucks include from `_includes/partials/`

Save as src/_includes/partials/contact-form.njk. Use from any template with {% include "partials/contact-form.njk" %}. Pulls the key from a global data file that reads process.env.SPLITFORMS_KEY. Use the same wiring for the waitlist fields on this page.

pattern-a.htmlhtml7 lines
01<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
02 <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="{{ splitformsKey }}" />
03 <input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="{{ '/thanks/' | url }}" />
04 <input name="email" type="email" required />
05 <textarea name="message" required></textarea>
06 <button type="submit">Send</button>
07</form>
PATTERN B

Pattern B — Eleventy v3 ESM config

Eleventy 3 is ESM-only. Use eleventy.config.mjs and addGlobalData to wire the key from environment. Liquid templates work the same way — just save as .liquid. Use the same wiring for the waitlist fields on this page.

pattern-b.htmlhtml6 lines
01// eleventy.config.mjs
02import "dotenv/config";
03export default function (config) {
04 config.addGlobalData("splitformsKey", process.env.SPLITFORMS_KEY);
05 return { dir: { input: "src", output: "_site" } };
06}
§ 04Field-by-field rundown3 fields · names you POST

What every field actually does.

Each field below ships in the waitlist template — rename, remove, or add your own. Splitforms accepts any name you POST.

emailREQUIRED
EMAIL

Email

Reply-to address — splitforms wires this so hitting reply goes back to the sender.

placeholder · you@example.com
name
TEXT

Name

Greeting + dashboard label so submissions don't all read 'anonymous'.

placeholder · Optional
referral
SELECT

How did you hear about us?

Dropdown — keeps responses normalised so you can filter the dashboard.

TwitterFriendSearchNewsletterOther
§ 06Questions9 answered

Waitlist on EleventyFAQ.

Direct answers, no marketing fluff. Missing one? Email hello@splitforms.com.

01Does this waitlist work on Eleventy?
Yes. The form is plain HTML with a single POST endpoint, so it runs on any Eleventy site without server-side code, plugins, or SDKs. Drop the snippet into a Eleventy page or component and submissions land in your splitforms dashboard.
02How much does the waitlist cost on Eleventy?
Free for 500 submissions per month — no credit card, no trial. Pro is $5/mo for 5,000 submissions, and there's a one-time $59 3-year plan (15,000 submissions/mo for 36 months). The same pricing applies regardless of which framework hosts the form.
03Can I customize the fields?
Yes. The template ships with sensible defaults (email, name, how did you hear about us?…) — add, remove, or rename any of them. Splitforms accepts whatever fields you POST.
04How does spam protection work on the waitlist?
A hidden honeypot field catches dumb bots, and a tuned classifier scores the rest. You only see real submissions in your dashboard. No CAPTCHA, no friction for human users — and it works the same on Eleventy as on any other framework.
05Can I send the waitlist submissions to Slack or Discord?
Yes. Webhooks are available on Starter and above, with auto-formatted payloads for Slack, Discord, and WhatsApp (via CallMeBot). Or send raw signed JSON to any URL — Zapier, n8n, your own server. Configure in the splitforms dashboard.
06Will it work on a static Eleventy site?
Yes — the form posts directly to splitforms from the browser, so no server is involved. Works on Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, S3, or any plain Apache host.
07Should I show waitlist position / numbers?
Showing 'you're #347 in line' on the confirmation creates social proof but invites comparison. Showing total waitlist size ('join 2,500 people on the waitlist') without per-person position is the safer middle. Refer-a-friend mechanics that move people up the list (Robinhood-style) drive viral growth but require more eng work.
08How do I trigger launch invites in waves?
Tag waitlist signups by use case in the ESP audience (Loops, ConvertKit). Launch-day, segment by tag and send invite waves over 48-72 hours. Highest-intent / closest-fit goes first; broadest casts go last. Spreads server load and lets you triage onboarding support.
09Can I integrate with Loops / ConvertKit / Beehiiv?
Yes — webhook the JSON. Loops has direct webhook support and is purpose-built for product transactional + waitlist email. ConvertKit and Beehiiv accept via API or Zapier. All three handle the launch-sequence segmentation cleanly.
§ 07Comparisonvs Web3Forms · vs Formspree

splitforms vs everything else.

Same drop-in API. More free submissions, Starter signed webhooks, MCP support no other backend has.

FeatureWeb3FormsFormspreesplitforms
Free monthly submissions25050500
Custom fields beyond contactYesPro tierFree
Webhooks (Slack / Discord)Pro tierPro tierFree, signed
AI / MCP submission inboxNoNoYes
Long-term plan (3-year flat)$59 every 3 years
✻ ✻ ✻

Ship a waitlist on Eleventy in 60 seconds.

500 submissions per month, free forever. No credit card. Copy the snippet above and paste it into your Eleventy project.

Get free access key →Read the docs
founders pricing locked in · early access open