SilentForms vs Netlify Forms

The free Netlify Forms alternative

Netlify Forms is free and unlimited on Netlify's current credit-based plans, but only for sites deployed on Netlify, where forms are detected at build time. SilentForms works the same on any host, so you can move a site without rebuilding its forms.

Get your free access key How to switch

Free submissions: SilentForms
Unlimited
Netlify Forms
Unlimited
Forms on the free plan: SilentForms
25 per account
Netlify Forms
Not stated
Cheapest paid plan: SilentForms
None: everything is free
Netlify Forms
$9 a month
Webhooks: SilentForms
Yes
Netlify Forms
Yes

The short version

Netlify Forms is the form handling built into Netlify hosting: Netlify finds forms in your HTML when it deploys and collects their submissions, with no endpoint or key. It suits sites that are and will stay on Netlify; it cannot be used for a site hosted anywhere else.

Choose SilentForms if

Your site is not on Netlify, or might move
Your form is rendered by JavaScript
You want to send JSON or redirect anywhere
You want Discord or Telegram, or a choice of CAPTCHA

Choose Netlify Forms if

Your site already lives on Netlify and you want forms detected at build time with no extra service.
You need file uploads: Netlify Forms accepts files up to its 8 MB request limit.
You want Akismet spam filtering on every submission.

Pricing

SilentForms has no paid plans: every feature is on every form. Here are Netlify Forms's plans as its own pricing page lists them.

Netlify Forms plans compared with SilentForms
Plan	Price	Submissions a month	Forms	Notes
SilentForms	$0	Unlimited	25 per account	Every feature, no paid plans
Netlify Forms Free	$0	Unlimited	Not stated	Forms use no credits, but sites pause if the account’s 300 monthly credits run out
Netlify Forms Personal	$9 a month	Unlimited	Not stated	1,000 credits, priority email support
Netlify Forms Pro	From $20 a month	Unlimited	Not stated	3,000 credits and up, unlimited members, Netlify App for Slack

Feature by feature

Every Netlify Forms value comes from its own website and links to it under Sources. "Paid plans only" means the free plan does not include it.

SilentForms compared with Netlify Forms
Feature	SilentForms	Netlify Forms
Price and limits
Free submissions	UnlimitedAbuse limits only: 10 a minute per IP, 60 a minute per access key.	UnlimitedOn credit-based plans; if the account runs out of credits, sites pause and stop accepting submissions.
Forms on the free plan	25 per accountA key without an account is one per email address.	Not stated
Submission history (free)	Until you delete them	Not stated
Cheapest paid plan	None: everything is free	$9 a monthPersonal plan; form submissions use no credits.
Account needed to start	NoConfirm your email and you have a key.	Yes, and the site must be on Netlify
Delivery
Email notifications	Yes	Yes
More than one recipient	Up to 5 extra per formEach recipient confirms first.	Not statedNotifications can be added per form; how many is not 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.	Paid plans onlyThe Netlify App for Slack needs Pro; Zapier and n8n through their own apps.
API to read submissions	YesREST API with personal tokens.	YesThrough the Netlify API.
Spam protection
Honeypot / spam filtering	Yes	YesAkismet on every submission.
CAPTCHA	Turnstile, hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA v2/v3	reCAPTCHA v2
Restrict to your domain	Yes	Not applicableForms work only on sites deployed to Netlify.
Submissions and forms
Dashboard to read submissions	Yes	Yes
Export (CSV)	Yes	Yes
Custom thank-you redirect	Yes	Same site only
File uploads	No	YesUp to 8 MB per request.
Autoresponder	No	No

What SilentForms does differently

Your site is not on Netlify, or might move

Netlify Forms works only on sites deployed to Netlify. SilentForms works on GitHub Pages, Vercel, Cloudflare, a site builder or your own server, and a form keeps working when the site moves.

Your form is rendered by JavaScript

Netlify detects forms in the HTML at deploy time, so React, Vue or Svelte forms need a hidden static copy. SilentForms needs nothing but the form’s action or a fetch call.

You want to send JSON or redirect anywhere

Netlify accepts AJAX submissions only URL-encoded, and redirects to pages on the same site. SilentForms accepts JSON, form data and multipart, and redirects to any URL.

You want Discord or Telegram, or a choice of CAPTCHA

Netlify offers email, webhooks and a Slack app on Pro, and reCAPTCHA v2. SilentForms adds Slack, Discord and Telegram on every form, and Turnstile, hCaptcha or reCAPTCHA v2/v3.

Where Netlify Forms is strong

No endpoint or key: add one attribute to the form and deploy.
Free, unlimited submissions on credit-based plans, with Akismet checking every one.
File uploads, CSV export, a submissions API and form-triggered functions.

Switching from Netlify Forms

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
Remove the data-netlify attribute (and netlify-honeypot) so Netlify stops capturing the form, then set the action to SilentForms with your access key. Your site can stay on Netlify.
Step 3
Send a test
Submit the form once and check your inbox. Open the dashboard to see it stored there too.

Before: Netlify Forms

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true"
      netlify-honeypot="bot-field" action="/thanks">
  <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact">
  <input type="email" name="email" required>
  <textarea name="message"></textarea>
  <input name="bot-field" style="display:none">
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

After: SilentForms

<form action="https://silentforms.com/f/YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" method="POST">
  <input type="hidden" name="redirect" value="https://example.com/thanks">
  <input type="email" name="email" required>
  <textarea name="message"></textarea>
  <input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

How your settings carry over

Netlify Forms settings and their SilentForms equivalents
Setting	Netlify Forms	SilentForms
Form detection	`data-netlify="true"`	`action="https://silentforms.com/f/{accessKey}"`Remove data-netlify so Netlify does not capture the form first.
Form name	`form-name`	—Not needed: the access key identifies the form.
Email subject	`subject`	`subject`Works unchanged.
Reply-To	`email`	`email`Works unchanged.
Redirect after submit	`action="/thanks"`	`redirect`A hidden field with a full URL, or set it in the dashboard.
Honeypot	`netlify-honeypot="bot-field"`	`botcheck`A hidden checkbox; honeypot, _gotcha and _honey work too.
reCAPTCHA	`data-netlify-recaptcha`	`g-recaptcha-response`Add the widget with your own keys and save the secret in the dashboard.

Step by step, with every field and option: the Netlify Forms migration guide.

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 Netlify Forms?

Yes. Remove the data-netlify attribute (and netlify-honeypot) so Netlify stops capturing the form, then set the action to SilentForms with your access key. Your site can stay on Netlify.

Can I use SilentForms on a site hosted on Netlify?

Yes. Remove the data-netlify attribute so Netlify does not capture the form at deploy time, and point the form at SilentForms. Hosting stays exactly as it is.

What does Netlify Forms offer that SilentForms does not?

Your site already lives on Netlify and you want forms detected at build time with no extra service. You need file uploads: Netlify Forms accepts files up to its 8 MB request limit. You want Akismet spam filtering on every submission.

Try it on your form in two minutes

Free, with no submission quota and nothing to upgrade. Keep Netlify Forms running until you are happy, then switch.

Get your free access key

Other alternatives

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.

Netlify Forms