§ 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 inbox and dashboard with spam filtering, signed webhooks, and a real REST API. 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 signed webhooks, a real dashboard, file uploads, AI spam filtering, dedicated SMTP, and a full REST API on every plan including free — and Pro is $5/mo, not $29/mo.
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 1,000 submissions/month on free, no branding, full features. 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 includes signed webhooks with retries and a dead-letter view on every plan including free. Tally gates webhooks behind Pro at $29/mo.
API: splitforms ships an open REST API 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 1,000/mo, $5/mo for 5,000/mo, $59 once for 15,000/mo over 48 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 includes signed webhooks with retries on every plan, including free. 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, sent from your verified domain.
"I want a real REST API and Tally's is feature-gated." splitforms' API is open on every plan, including free. Fetch submissions, list forms, manage webhooks programmatically without an upgrade.
"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 on the free tier, 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 on free: signed payloads, retries with exponential backoff, dead-letter view in the dashboard. No Pro upgrade required.
Open REST API on every plan, including free. Fetch submissions, list forms, manage webhooks — without a feature-gate paywall.
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 once on the 4-Year plan for 15,000/month over 48 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/YOUR_KEY" 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: 1,000 submissions/month, no branding, signed webhooks, full API, dashboard, file uploads, AI spam filtering, dedicated SMTP. For pure unlimited submission volume on a branded hosted form, Tally wins on price. For developer features without a 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, all features included on free plus higher volume cap. Roughly 6x cheaper at the equivalent feature surface.
Tally Business ($89/mo): adds team seats and advanced workflow. splitforms 4-Year ($59 once): 15,000 submissions/month for 48 months, no recurring billing. Over four 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 1,000 submissions/month with no branding. If pure unlimited volume on a hosted branded form is the priority, Tally wins. If you need 1,000+ submissions on your own domain without branding, splitforms is the right call.
What about file uploads, payments, and partial submissions? splitforms supports file uploads on every plan via standard `multipart/form-data`. 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 included on the free tier? Yes — signed webhooks with retries and a dead-letter view ship on every plan, including free. No $29/mo upgrade required to wire submissions into your CRM or Slack.
Is there a per-form limit on splitforms? No. Unlimited forms on every plan including free.
Does splitforms have a one-time payment plan? Yes — $59 for the 4-Year plan at 15,000 submissions/month for 48 months. Compared to Tally Pro's $29/mo recurring, the 4-Year plan pays for itself in roughly two months.
