Blog

The Formward blog

Notes on form backends, EU data residency, and keeping spam out.

The Formward Team6 min read

A Formspree alternative built for EU data residency and GDPR

Looking for a Formspree alternative that keeps submissions in Europe? Here is an honest look at why EU hosting matters for GDPR, what to check, and how Formward differs.

Read →

The Formward Team2 min read

Share a form without a website

You no longer need a site to collect submissions. Publish a hosted form on Formward and share the link directly, with the data still in Europe.

Read →

The Formward Team7 min read

Send form submissions to Slack and Discord with webhooks

Send form submissions to Slack and Discord the moment they arrive using outbound webhooks. Here is how signed webhooks work, how to set them up, and why the signing secret matters.

Read →

The Formward Team7 min read

How to build a GDPR compliant contact form

A practical guide to a GDPR compliant contact form: lawful basis, consent, data minimisation, retention, DSARs, and vetting your sub-processors.

Read →

The Formward Team7 min read

Next.js form submission without a backend you have to run

A practical guide to Next.js form submission in the App Router: server action versus direct POST, JSON responses, and a spam honeypot, all without running your own backend.

Read →

The Formward Team6 min read

How to choose the best GDPR form backend: a buyer's guide

Choosing a GDPR form backend comes down to five things: data residency, a real DPA, named sub-processors, consent handling, and retention. Here is what to check, and where an EU-native option fits.

Read →

The Formward Team7 min read

Do you need a DPA for your contact form?

When you need a DPA for your contact form, why the relationship usually requires one, and what a good data processing agreement actually covers.

Read →

The Formward Team8 min read

Form spam protection in 2026: stop form spam without reCAPTCHA

How to get real form spam protection in 2026 without reCAPTCHA: honeypots, rate limiting on hashed IPs, Cloudflare Turnstile, and AI spam scoring, with the tradeoffs of each layer.

Read →

The Formward Team6 min read

A React form backend with fetch and no server to run

How to give a React form a backend without running a server: a controlled form, a fetch POST to a form endpoint, and proper success and error states you can ship today.

Read →

The Formward Team2 min read

Why your form backend should stay in Europe

Most form-handling services route your visitors' data through US infrastructure. Here is why that is a GDPR problem, and what to do about it.

Read →

The Formward Team1 min read

Stopping form spam without Google reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA hands your visitors to Google and annoys real users. Here is how Formward blocks bots with privacy-preserving defences instead.

Read →

The Formward Team1 min read

Forms with no backend: how it works

You can collect form submissions without writing a single line of server code. Here is the mechanism behind a backend-less form.

Read →

The Formward Team1 min read

Schrems II, in plain terms, for your contact form

The Schrems II ruling changed what it means to send EU personal data to the US. Here is what it actually means for the humble contact form.

Read →

The Formward Team1 min read

How we rate-limit forms without storing raw IPs

Rate limiting usually means keeping a log of IP addresses. Here is how Formward stops floods while treating the IP as a secret.

Read →
Blog: form backends, EU data residency, spam | Formward