Event RSVP for Gatsby
Attendance confirmation with headcount and dietary needs. Free for 500 submissions per month — no backend, no SDK, no plugin.
Why Gatsby developers choose splitforms for event rsvp
Gatsby's static output is excellent for SEO and performance, but static HTML forms have no way to deliver submissions without a backend. Gatsby Cloud offers serverless functions, but wiring SMTP and a dashboard is a substantial project for what should be a simple contact form. The event rsvp on this page posts from the browser to splitforms — no Gatsby Function, no API route, no build-time configuration. The form works identically whether you deploy to Gatsby Cloud, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or any static host.
Yes — this is the shortest safe path for Gatsby.
Use the React / Next.js snippet on this page, keep the event rsvp fields visible in your Gatsby UI, and let splitforms handle delivery, spam filtering, storage, and webhooks.
Paste the React / Next.js version, then replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY.
The posted payload contains your name, email, will you attend?, how many guests are you bringing?, dietary preferences. Required fields are your name, email and will you attend?.
Gatsby builds a static React app, so 'native' means choosing between (a) Netlify Forms (Gatsby-on-Netlify only, 100 free submissions/month, gatsby-plugin-netlify required), (b) Gatsby Functions (deprecated in Gatsby 5 — they were removed when Gatsby Cloud shut down), or (c) a third-party form backend.
Eventbrite charges 3.7% + $1.79 per ticket. For a free event, fundraiser, or private gathering, the RSVP form does the same job for $0 — and lives on your own domain.
Built for Gatsby developers who hate operating a backend.
Splitforms is the form backend for Gatsby sites. One POST endpoint, no SDK, no plugin — drop the event rsvp into a page and ship.
Splitforms is the form backend for Gatsby 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.
- ✓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)
Drop into any Gatsby project.
Replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with your splitforms key, paste into a Gatsby page, and ship. No build-time integration required.
Generate, embed, receive.
Three actions stand between you and your first event rsvp submission. None of them require a backend, a database, or a CAPTCHA library.
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.
Paste the event rsvp into your Gatsby project
Drop the form snippet into a Gatsby 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.
Receive submissions
Dashboard updates live on Free. Starter adds email delivery, signed webhooks, CSV export, Slack/Discord forwarding, and BCC to your team.
The reason this event rsvp exists.
Webhooks into Notion / Airtable / Google Sheets · auto .ics calendar invite.
Eventbrite, Splash, and Hopin take 3-7% of every paid ticket and charge subscription fees for the white-label option. For free events (fundraisers, private parties, conferences with sponsor-only revenue, weddings), the platform fees are pure waste. The RSVP form captures attending yes/no, guest count, plus-one names, dietary restrictions, and any custom fields (workshop preference for conferences, song requests for weddings). Webhook to a Notion / Airtable / Google Sheet for the running headcount, plus an automatic confirmation email. Final headcount goes to catering 5-7 days out, same as any platform would deliver.
Capture attendance and party
Required: attending yes/no, guest count, plus-one names if applicable. Optional: dietary restrictions, song requests, workshop preference, accessibility needs.
Update the running list
Webhook to a Notion / Airtable / Google Sheet that the host references. Each RSVP appends a row; conditional formatting highlights special diets. Real-time headcount without spreadsheet work.
Confirm via email
Auto-respond with confirmation, event details, and a calendar invite (.ics file). Most guests forget the date once they've RSVP'd — calendar adds reduce no-shows by 30-40%.
What changes when this event rsvp lives in Gatsby.
These notes come from the Gatsby platform registry and are rendered on this template page so crawlers see the framework-specific answer without opening a separate guide.
Gatsby builds a static React app, so 'native' means choosing between (a) Netlify Forms (Gatsby-on-Netlify only, 100 free submissions/month, gatsby-plugin-netlify required), (b) Gatsby Functions (deprecated in Gatsby 5 — they were removed when Gatsby Cloud shut down), or (c) a third-party form backend. Gatsby v4 had Functions running as Lambda-equivalent serverless routes; v5 removed them entirely. Result: every Gatsby contact form today uses an external service. Splitforms is a drop-in replacement — same shape as Netlify Forms (POST to a URL), same shape as Formspree, but with 5× the free monthly submissions and built-in spam filtering.
Gatsby builds static HTML + JS that deploys to any host: Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, AWS Amplify, S3 + CloudFront, Gatsby Cloud (sunset 2024 — migrate). The form posts cross-origin to splitforms regardless of host. Env vars exposed to the browser bundle must be prefixed GATSBY_ — anything else is undefined client-side. The key gets bundled into the JS at build time; lock it to your domain in the splitforms dashboard. For headless Gatsby + WordPress / Contentful setups, the form lives in the React tree, not the CMS — no special CMS wiring required.
GATSBY_ prefix required for env vars exposed at build time
Gatsby's webpack config only exposes process.env.* variables prefixed with GATSBY_. If you write process.env.SPLITFORMS_KEY, you'll get undefined in the browser bundle. Rename to GATSBY_SPLITFORMS_KEY — and accept that it's bundled into the static JS (lock the key to your domain in the splitforms dashboard).
Gatsby's <Link> can't wrap a form's submit handler
Gatsby's <Link> component prevents default navigation. If you wrap your form in <Link to="/thanks"> thinking the redirect will fire, it won't — the form's submit event runs, but the navigation is suppressed. Use a hidden redirect input on the form and let splitforms handle the 302.
SSR + client hydration mismatch on form initial state
If you use useState('idle') in your form and render any state-dependent UI on first paint, Gatsby's static HTML and React's client render can diverge — you'll see a hydration warning. Render the form unconditionally; only render status messages inside the handler-triggered branches.
Gatsby v5 partial hydration changed how forms hydrate
Gatsby 5 introduced partial hydration via React Server Components. If your form is in a Server Component, the onSubmit handler won't bind. Add 'use client' at the top of the file (or use a separate ContactForm.client.jsx).
Pattern A — React component (Gatsby v4/v5)
Standard React function component, useState for status. Drop into src/components/ContactForm.jsx and import on any page. Set GATSBY_SPLITFORMS_KEY in .env.production and .env.development. Use the same wiring for the event rsvp fields on this page.
Pattern B — partial hydration (Gatsby v5)
Gatsby 5's partial hydration mounts only the components marked client-bound. Add 'use client' at the top of the form file so the onSubmit handler binds at hydration time; the rest of the page stays static. Use the same wiring for the event rsvp fields on this page.
What every field actually does.
Each field below ships in the event rsvp template — rename, remove, or add your own. Splitforms accepts any name you POST.
Your name
Greeting + dashboard label so submissions don't all read 'anonymous'.
Reply-to address — splitforms wires this so hitting reply goes back to the sender.
Will you attend?
Dropdown — keeps responses normalised so you can filter the dashboard.
How many guests are you bringing?
Standard input — splitforms accepts whatever you POST under this name.
Dietary preferences
Logistics input you'd otherwise gather over email anyway.
One backend. Every framework.
The same event rsvp template works on every framework splitforms supports. Pick yours.
Event RSVP on Gatsby — FAQ.
Direct answers, no marketing fluff. Missing one? Email hello@splitforms.com.
splitforms vs everything else.
Same drop-in API. More free submissions, Starter signed webhooks, MCP support no other backend has.
Other ready-to-ship Gatsby forms.
Same backend, different qualifying fields. Click through to copy the snippet.
Ship a event rsvp on Gatsby in 60 seconds.
500 submissions per month, free forever. No credit card. Copy the snippet above and paste it into your Gatsby project.