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Open source Formspree alternative

Formspree offers form backend as a service. It makes it very easy to receive and manage form submissions. It’s particularly useful for static pages. We plan to offer a similar functionality with Formbricks - find out more!

Formspree open source alternative vs Formbricks FormHQ

Use our API instead

Our product focus has shifted towards Experience Management. This is why we have decided to put our form backend as a service on hold. However, you can still use Formbricks with a custom frontend using our API packge. Here are the REST API docs and here is an example tutorial.

What is Formspree?

A form or survey always consists of two parts: The form facing your respondents and all the logic that happens after they hit “Submit”. This logic runs in a backend and in some cases, it is not worth setting up and maintaining a full backend for a couple of forms. Intro: “Backend-as-a-Service”

Backend-as-a-Service for forms and surveys

Our React Form Builder makes it super easy to build custom forms rapidly with. Today, we’ll talk about how the Formbricks Cloud.

How to receive form responses without a backend

To start off, let’s quickly have a look at how this works generally. It’s pretty simple: Just add the API endpoint in the action of your form, like so:

<Form action="https://formbricks.com/f/{form_id}" method="post">

If the respondent hits “Send”, your form sends all the collected data to the API endpoint in the “action” tag. The API receives it and displays it in your Formbricks HQ dashboard. Super easy!

Formbricks vs. Formspree

Now, which solution should you use to receive form submissions without setting up a backend? Today, we’ll compare the very popular Formspree with Formbricks, the open source alternative.

We compare Formbricks and Formspree on these aspects:

  • On pricing
  • On functionality
  • On data privacy aka. can I legally use it in the EU?

Pricing: Free doesn’t always mean free

The most obvious difference is that Formbricks offers a generous freeplan, including all pro features for up to 500 submissions / month.

Formspree’s personal plan starts at $8 / month (there is a free plan for testing and development capped at 50 submissions / month).

Here a detailed overview of both free plans. It’s pretty obvious:

Formbricks Free PlanFormspree Testing & Dev plan
Free submissions / month50050
Formsunlimitedunlimited
Submission Archiveunlimited30 days
Linked Emailsunlimited2
Auto Responder
Multiple Email Recipients
Custom Email Templates
File Uploads10MB
Submission ExportCSV, Excel
Airtable Integration
Google Sheets Integration
Zapier Integration
Airtable Integration
Notion Integration
Slack Integration
API Access
Self-hosting

Functionality

Formspree offers a wide range of functionality, a lot of which is only accessible in the paid Professional or Business plan. Formbricks on the other hand is still a young solution, with lots of features in development. Here is a comparison of what’s available right now:

FeatureFormbricksFormspree
Forward Form Data via Email
Multiple To Emailsfrom 18$ / mo
Webhooks
3rd Party Integrationsfrom 8$ / mo
File Uploadsfrom 8$ / mo
Export submissionsfrom 8$ / mo
Search submissionsfrom 18$ / mo
reCaptcha
Restrict to domain
Custom Redirectfrom 18$ / mo
Email Auto Response⚙️from 18$ / mo
Custom Email Domain⚙️from 85$ / mo
Team Functionalityfrom 8$/ mo

As of today, Formspree is the more comprehensive solution.

Data Privacy: Can I legally use Formspree in the EU?

Data ownership is not only important since GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA and other data privacy regulation. But since the Privacy Shield has been removed, many European companies cannot use US-american Software-as-a-Service offerings legally anymore. How do Formbricks and Formspree compare on data privacy?

Formbricks, the open source Formspree alternative

✅ Offers self-hosting, very easy compliance with all privacy regulation

✅ Offers cloud service hosted in Germany, easy compliance for all companies

Formspree

❌ Companies in the EU should not use Formspree. Processing personal data via a US-based company creates a considerable legal risk for EU companies. From the Privacy Policy of Formspree:

“By using the Services, you acknowledge that Formspree will use your information in the United States and any other country where Formspree operates. Please be aware that the privacy laws and standards in certain countries, including the rights of authorities to access your personal information, may differ from those that apply in the country in which you reside.” — Formspree Privacy Policy, updated April 24, 2022

Result: Do we have a winner?

As of now, Formspree offers a more comprehensive set of features. However, for the really useful functionality you have to pay $18 / month. Formbricks on the other hand is the new kid on the blog with many cool features in development. The option to easily self-host makes the difference for many engineers.

Wanna find out more?

Did you know that Formbricks can also run targeted surveys on public websites? And hyper-targeted surveys in apps? Find out more!

Try Formbricks now

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