§ 01
Short answer: which one should you pick?
Tally and splitforms aren't really competing for the same job. Tally is a hosted form builder — you build a form in a Notion-style block editor, ship it on a tally.so URL or via iframe embed, and let respondents fill it. The free tier is genuinely generous (unlimited forms, unlimited submissions, with a branded footer and a few feature gates), and for a non-technical operator who wants a polished hosted experience without writing HTML, Tally is hard to beat.
splitforms is a form backend for developers building their own UI. You write the HTML form on your own domain, point its action attribute at splitforms, and submissions land in your dashboard with spam filtering and a real REST API; Free includes inbox delivery; Starter adds signed webhooks. Use splitforms when you want the form to live on your own page — your CSS, your domain, your analytics — and you'd rather POST to an endpoint than configure a hosted UI.
Honest framing: if you're a non-technical operator, Tally's free unlimited tier is genuinely a great deal and splitforms isn't trying to replace it. If you're a developer who'd rather own the markup, splitforms is the right backend underneath your form.
§ 02
Why developers switch from Tally to splitforms
The most common trigger is the hosting model. Tally forms live on tally.so/r/YOUR_ID by default, or embed via iframe (`<iframe src="https://tally.so/embed/...">`). For an internal feedback form or a quick survey, that's fine. For a public marketing-site form, the iframe loads slowly, breaks page styling, and breaks the analytics chain across the funnel. splitforms is a standard form action — your HTML, your domain, your CSS, your analytics, no iframe and no off-site link.
The second trigger is feature gating on the free tier. Tally's free tier is generous on volume but gates real integration features behind Pro at $29/mo: removing the Tally branding, webhook delivery, advanced integrations, custom domains, partial submissions. splitforms includes a real dashboard, AI spam filtering, and a full REST API on Free, then adds signed webhooks and retained Storage-backed file uploads on Starter for $1/month.
The third trigger is API and developer experience. Tally's API works but is feature-gated and tuned for the visual builder. splitforms ships predictable JSON, idempotent submission keys, signed webhooks with retries, a dead-letter view, and an MCP server that exposes submissions and configuration to Claude or Cursor agents natively. For a developer wiring forms into the broader stack, splitforms feels native in a way Tally doesn't.
The fourth trigger is spam. Tally's spam filtering on the free tier is minimal — basic rate limiting and honeypot. For a public-facing form on the open web, that's structural: the modern wave of AI-generated spam routes around honeypot easily. splitforms layers an AI classifier on top of honeypot, accurate enough that you can drop CAPTCHA entirely.
§ 03
Tally vs splitforms: feature comparison
Free tier volume: Tally is unlimited submissions on free, with a branded footer and feature gates. splitforms is 500 submissions/month on free, no branding, dashboard storage, spam filtering, and REST reads. For pure unlimited volume on a hosted form with branding, Tally wins. For developer features on a self-hosted form, splitforms wins.
Hosting: Tally forms live on tally.so or embed via iframe. splitforms forms are standard HTML on your own domain — no iframe, no off-site URL.
Builder UI: Tally wins clearly here. The Notion-style block builder, conditional logic, multi-step flows, and polish on rating scales and choice questions are real. splitforms is a backend — you write the HTML.
Webhooks: splitforms unlocks signed webhooks with retries and a dead-letter view on Starter and above. Tally gates webhooks behind Pro at $29/mo.
API: splitforms ships an open REST API for submission reads on every plan including free. Tally's API exists but is feature-gated.
Spam protection: splitforms uses an AI classifier on top of honeypot. Tally's free-tier spam filtering is minimal.
Notification emails: splitforms uses dedicated SMTP with proper SPF/DKIM and a verified sender. Tally sends through their own infrastructure.
Branding: splitforms has no branded footer on any plan, including free. Tally requires Pro at $29/mo to remove the branded footer.
MCP server for AI agents: splitforms ships one on every plan. Tally has no MCP integration.
Pricing: splitforms is free for 500/mo, $5/mo for 5,000/mo, $59 every 3 years for 15,000/mo over 36 months. Tally is free with branding, $29/mo Pro, $89/mo Business.
§ 04
Common Tally issues splitforms solves
"I don't want my form to live on tally.so or load in an iframe." splitforms forms are standard HTML on your own domain. No iframe, no off-site link.
"Removing the Tally branded footer requires the $29/mo Pro plan." splitforms has no branded footer on any plan, including free. Pro is $5/mo for 5,000 submissions when you outgrow the free tier.
"Webhooks are gated behind Pro." splitforms unlocks signed webhooks with retries on Starter for $1/month. Wire submissions into your CRM, Slack, or AI agent without paying $29/mo.
"The free-tier spam filtering isn't catching modern AI-written submissions." splitforms runs every submission through an AI classifier specifically trained on LLM-generated form spam, on every plan including free.
"Notification emails come from Tally's address, not my domain." splitforms uses dedicated SMTP with SPF/DKIM on Starter and above, with higher-domain controls on paid tiers.
"I want a real REST API and Tally's is feature-gated." splitforms' API is open on every plan, including free. Fetch submissions and list forms programmatically without an upgrade; webhook management unlocks with paid delivery features.
"I want a Claude or Cursor agent to read submissions natively." splitforms ships an MCP server. Tally has no equivalent.
§ 05
splitforms advantages at a glance
splitforms isn't trying to replace Tally's hosted-builder experience for non-technical operators — Tally's free unlimited tier is genuinely a great deal for that audience. splitforms wins in the cases Tally structurally can't reach: developer workflows, public-facing forms on your own domain with no iframe, real webhooks from the $1/month Starter plan, and AI-agent integration via MCP.
Forms on your own domain. The form is HTML on your page, your CSS, your branding, your analytics. No tally.so URL, no iframe load delay, no broken attribution chain.
Real webhooks from Starter: signed payloads, retries with exponential backoff, dead-letter view in the dashboard. No $29/month Pro upgrade required.
Open REST API on every plan, including free. Fetch submissions and list forms without a feature-gate paywall; webhook management unlocks with paid delivery features.
AI spam classifier on top of honeypot — catches modern LLM-written spam that basic honeypot misses, accurate enough to drop CAPTCHA.
Dedicated SMTP for notification emails with SPF/DKIM and a verified sending domain. Notifications land in the inbox.
MCP server for AI agents: Claude, Cursor, and other MCP-aware tools read and act on form data natively.
Pricing that makes sense for developers: $5/mo Pro for 5,000 submissions, or $59 every 3 years on the 3-Year plan for 15,000/month over 36 months. No $29/mo gate to remove a branded footer that splitforms doesn't have in the first place.
§ 06
Migrating from Tally to splitforms in 3 steps
Step 1: sign up at splitforms.com for a free access key — no credit card required. Step 2: rebuild your form as plain HTML on your own page. For each Tally block, write a corresponding `<input>`, `<textarea>`, `<select>`, or `<input type="radio">` inside `<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">`. Tally's question types map directly: short answer to text input, long answer to textarea, multiple choice to radio, checkboxes to checkbox group, dropdown to select, file upload to file input. Step 3: submit a test entry and confirm it lands in the splitforms dashboard.
If you were embedding Tally via iframe (`<iframe src="https://tally.so/embed/...">`), the migration is to remove the iframe and replace it with a real HTML form on the page. This usually takes longer than swapping a form action — you're replacing a hosted experience with markup you own — but it's a one-time cost and you end up with a faster page that doesn't depend on Tally's runtime.
If you specifically want the multi-step or conditional-logic UX without Tally, the splitforms backend pairs cleanly with any client-side multi-step form library — drive the steps in JavaScript, POST the final payload to splitforms. You keep the multi-step experience, gain the better backend, and stop paying $29/mo to remove a branded footer.
§ 07
Pricing comparison: Tally vs splitforms
Tally Free: unlimited submissions, branded footer, webhooks gated, API gated. splitforms Free: 500 submissions/month, no branding, full API, dashboard, and AI spam filtering; Starter adds signed webhooks and retained Storage-backed uploads for $1/month. For pure unlimited submission volume on a branded hosted form, Tally wins on price. For developer features without a $29/month paywall, splitforms wins.
Tally Pro ($29/mo): removes branding, adds webhooks, advanced integrations, custom domains, partial submissions. splitforms Pro ($5/mo): 5,000 submissions/month plus the paid feature surface unlocked from Starter. Roughly 6x cheaper at the equivalent feature surface.
Tally Business ($89/mo): adds team seats and advanced workflow. splitforms 3-Year ($59 every 3 years): 15,000 submissions/month for 36 months, no monthly billing. Over three years, that's $59 vs roughly $4,300 of Tally Business.
The honest caveat: Tally Pro and Business include features splitforms doesn't try to replicate — the visual block builder, partial-submission tracking, polished hosted conditional logic. If those features are decisive for you, the price is for them. If you'd rather own the form markup and webhook the submissions yourself, splitforms is dramatically cheaper at the equivalent backend feature surface.
§ 08
FAQ: Tally vs splitforms
Is splitforms trying to replace Tally? Not exactly — they serve different jobs. Tally is a hosted form builder for non-technical operators who want a polished form without writing HTML. splitforms is a form backend for developers who want their form on their own domain. The right answer depends on whether you'd rather configure a hosted UI or POST to an endpoint.
Will my Tally branching logic work on splitforms? Branching logic lives on the client side in this model — you write JavaScript that shows or hides fields based on prior answers, then POST the final state to splitforms. Slightly more code than Tally's visual editor, full control over the flow.
Can I keep an unlimited free tier? Tally's free tier is unlimited submissions with a branded footer; splitforms' free tier is 500 submissions/month with no branding. If pure unlimited volume on a hosted branded form is the priority, Tally wins. If you need 500+ submissions on your own domain without branding, splitforms is the right call.
What about file uploads, payments, and partial submissions? splitforms supports file uploads through standard `multipart/form-data` when Storage is connected. Payments are a client-side concern — Stripe Elements or similar — with the result POSTed to splitforms. Partial-submission tracking is a Tally-specific feature; splitforms doesn't ship a UI for it.
Does splitforms have a Tally-equivalent embed snippet? splitforms doesn't ship an embed widget; the form is your HTML on your own page. If you want a portable embed, wrap your form in an iframe yourself.
Are webhooks really cheaper than Tally Pro? Yes — signed webhooks with retries and a dead-letter view unlock on splitforms Starter at $1/month. No $29/mo upgrade required to wire submissions into your CRM or Slack.
Is there a per-form limit on splitforms? No. Every plan — Free, Starter, Pro, and 3-Year — includes unlimited forms.
Does splitforms have a long-term plan? Yes — $59 for the 3-Year plan at 15,000 submissions/month for 36 months. Compared to Tally Pro's $29/mo recurring, the 3-Year plan pays for itself in roughly two months.
