SilentForms vs FormSubmit
The free FormSubmit alternative
FormSubmit is free, needs no account and has no stated quota. It has no dashboard: submissions are emailed, and the 30-day archive is reachable only through its API, five calls a day. SilentForms adds a dashboard, CSV export, domain restriction and a choice of CAPTCHA.
- Free submissions
SilentForms
Unlimited
FormSubmit
Unlimited
- Forms on the free plan
SilentForms
25 per account
FormSubmit
Unlimited
- Cheapest paid plan
SilentForms
None: everything is free
FormSubmit
None: everything is free
- Webhooks
SilentForms
Yes
FormSubmit
Yes
The short version
FormSubmit is a free form-to-email endpoint: put your email address in the form action, confirm once, and submissions arrive by email. It suits simple contact forms where no account, dashboard or paid plan is wanted.
Choose SilentForms if
- You want to read and search past submissions
- You want your email address out of the page source
- You want to lock a form to your domain
- You want spam protection without a CAPTCHA page
Choose FormSubmit if
- You need file uploads or an autoresponder without paying: FormSubmit offers both for free.
- You want no key at all: a FormSubmit form works with just your email address in the action.
Pricing
SilentForms has no paid plans: every feature is on every form. Here are FormSubmit's plans as its own pricing page lists them.
| Plan | Price | Submissions a month | Forms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SilentForms | $0 | Unlimited | 25 per account | Every feature, no paid plans |
| FormSubmit Free | $0 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Its only plan: CC, webhooks, autoresponse, file uploads, a 30-day archive through the API |
Feature by feature
Every FormSubmit value comes from its own website and links to it under Sources. "Paid plans only" means the free plan does not include it.
| Feature | SilentForms | FormSubmit |
|---|---|---|
| Price and limits | ||
| Free submissions | UnlimitedAbuse limits only: 10 a minute per IP, 60 a minute per access key. | UnlimitedSubject to anti-abuse limits. |
| Forms on the free plan | 25 per accountA key without an account is one per email address. | Unlimited |
| Submission history (free) | Until you delete them | 30 days, API only |
| Cheapest paid plan | None: everything is free | None: everything is free |
| Account needed to start | NoConfirm your email and you have a key. | NoConfirm by email on the first submission. |
| Delivery | ||
| Email notifications | Yes | Yes |
| More than one recipient | Up to 5 extra per formEach recipient confirms first. | YesWith _cc; no limit stated. |
| Webhooks | YesFailed deliveries are retried for about 15 hours. | Yes |
| Built-in integrations | Slack, Discord, TelegramZapier, Make, n8n and Google Sheets through the webhook. | NoOnly the _webhook field. |
| API to read submissions | YesREST API with personal tokens. | YesFive calls a day, 30 days of submissions. |
| Spam protection | ||
| Honeypot / spam filtering | Yes | Yes |
| CAPTCHA | Turnstile, hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA v2/v3 | reCAPTCHA v2/v3 (on by default) |
| Restrict to your domain | Yes | Not stated |
| Submissions and forms | ||
| Dashboard to read submissions | Yes | NoArchive through its API, five calls a day. |
| Export (CSV) | Yes | NoAPI only. |
| Custom thank-you redirect | Yes | Yes |
| File uploads | No | YesUp to 10 MB in total. |
| Autoresponder | No | YesNot with AJAX submissions. |
What SilentForms does differently
You want to read and search past submissions
FormSubmit keeps 30 days of submissions, reachable only through its API at five calls a day. SilentForms has a dashboard that keeps every submission until you delete it, with CSV export.
You want your email address out of the page source
A FormSubmit action contains your email address unless you switch to the random string it sends after you confirm. A SilentForms form carries only an access key.
You want to lock a form to your domain
SilentForms refuses submissions from sites you have not listed, so a copied form cannot use your key. FormSubmit does not document this.
You want spam protection without a CAPTCHA page
FormSubmit shows reCAPTCHA by default. SilentForms starts with a silent honeypot and lets you add Turnstile, hCaptcha or reCAPTCHA if you need more.
Where FormSubmit is strong
- Completely free, with no registration and no stated submission quota.
- Extras that others charge for, free: CC, autoresponse, file uploads (10 MB) and webhooks.
- reCAPTCHA on by default, plus a honeypot and a phrase blacklist.
Switching from FormSubmit
Your form's markup, fields and styling stay as they are. Most switches change one line.
- Step 1
Get a key
Enter your email on the access key page and click the confirmation link. No password, no card.
- Step 2
Change the action
Change the action from formsubmit.co/your@email to SilentForms with your access key; _next, _subject, _replyto, _cc and the _honey honeypot keep working, and FormSubmit options with no equivalent (_captcha, _template, _autoresponse) are ignored.
- Step 3
Send a test
Submit the form once and check your inbox. Open the dashboard to see it stored there too.
<form action="https://formsubmit.co/[email protected]" method="POST">
<input type="email" name="email" required>
<textarea name="message"></textarea>
<input type="hidden" name="_next" value="https://example.com/thanks">
<input type="text" name="_honey" style="display:none">
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form><form action="https://silentforms.com/f/YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" method="POST">
<input type="email" name="email" required>
<textarea name="message"></textarea>
<input type="hidden" name="_next" value="https://example.com/thanks">
<input type="text" name="_honey" style="display:none">
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>How your settings carry over
| Setting | FormSubmit | SilentForms |
|---|---|---|
| Endpoint | https://formsubmit.co/{email} | https://silentforms.com/f/{accessKey} |
| Email subject | _subject | _subjectWorks unchanged. |
| Reply-To | _replyto | _replytoWorks unchanged; defaults to the email field. |
| Redirect after submit | _next | _nextWorks unchanged. |
| Honeypot | _honey | _honeyWorks unchanged. |
| CC | _cc | _ccOnly addresses already confirmed as extra recipients receive a copy. |
| Other options | _captcha, _template, _autoresponse | —Accepted and ignored. |
Questions
Is SilentForms really free?
Yes. Unlimited submissions, email delivery, webhooks, spam protection, CAPTCHA and the dashboard are all free, forever, for up to 25 forms per account. There are no paid plans and we never ask for a credit card. The only limits stop abuse: 10 submissions a minute from one IP address and 60 a minute per access key.
Can I keep my existing form when I switch from FormSubmit?
Yes. Change the action from formsubmit.co/your@email to SilentForms with your access key; _next, _subject, _replyto, _cc and the _honey honeypot keep working, and FormSubmit options with no equivalent (_captcha, _template, _autoresponse) are ignored.
What does FormSubmit offer that SilentForms does not?
You need file uploads or an autoresponder without paying: FormSubmit offers both for free. You want no key at all: a FormSubmit form works with just your email address in the action.
Try it on your form in two minutes
Free, with no submission quota and nothing to upgrade. Keep FormSubmit running until you are happy, then switch.
Get your free access keyOther alternatives
- Formspree alternativeFree plan: 50 a monthCompare
- Web3Forms alternativeFree plan: 250 a monthCompare
- Netlify Forms alternativeFree plan: unlimitedCompare
- Forminit alternativeFree plan: 100 a monthCompare
- Basin alternativeFree plan: 50 a monthCompare
- Headlessforms alternativeFree plan: 25 a monthCompare
Or see every form backend side by side.
Checked on 25 October 2026 against each service's own website. Plans and prices change: if something here is out of date, the linked page is authoritative. "Not stated" means the service's own pages did not say.