Compare · FormBucket
Moving off FormBucket
FormBucket is a form backend for static sites run by FormBucket LLC: you point an HTML form at a bucket URL, and it stores the submissions, sends notifications and autoresponders and forwards entries by webhook. When we checked on 7 October 2026 its website still loaded and still offered a 14-day trial at $19 a month.
It also shows no sign of recent maintenance. The footer reads 2015-2019, the site's files report a last change in November 2019, and the status page linked from the footer returned a Cloudflare 525 error instead of a status. We found no shutdown announcement, so we are not calling it closed. But an endpoint nobody visibly looks after is a risk for enquiries you depend on, and moving a form off it is a short job.
Last checked 7 October 2026. Every statement about FormBucket on this page comes from FormBucket's own website, listed under Sources. Where we could not confirm something, the table says "Not checked" rather than guessing. Prices and plans change, so confirm them on their site before you decide. Formward's numbers come straight from our live plan table.
At a glance
Formward
- Operated by EGF Fastighetsservice AB in Stockholm, Sweden.
- Submissions stored at Hostup AB in Sweden; notification email sent through Mailjet in the EU.
- Cloudflare Turnstile (US) is only involved on forms where you switch it on.
- Billing runs through Stripe, which never receives form content.
FormBucket
- FormBucket LLC; its terms are governed by the laws of California, USA.
- Site footer reads 2015-2019; its linked status page returned an error on 7 October 2026.
- A GDPR page offers a signed data processing agreement to download but does not say where data is stored.
- Guides cover webhooks, autoresponders, file uploads, reCAPTCHA, a REST API and GraphQL queries.
Feature comparison
| Capability | Formward | FormBucket |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | EGF Fastighetsservice AB, Stockholm, Sweden | FormBucket LLC, USA |
| Where submissions are hosted | Hostup AB, Sweden | Not stated on its GDPR page |
| Price | Free plan, then from EUR 15/month | $19/month for unlimited usage after a 14-day trial |
| Honeypot field | _gotcha | __bucket_trap__ by default, renamable |
| CAPTCHA options | Cloudflare Turnstile, optional per form | reCAPTCHA, including invisible |
| Webhooks | Professional and up | Yes |
| Autoresponder | Professional and up | Yes |
| File uploads | Professional and up (5 files, 10 MiB each) | Yes |
| Export | CSV export from Personal | CSV and JSON |
Pricing
| Formward plan | Monthly | Per month, yearly | Submissions / mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | €0 | 50 |
| Personal | €15 | €10 | 200 |
| Professional | €30 | €20 | 2,000 |
| Business | €90 | €60 | 20,000 |
FormBucket
- $19 a month for unlimited usage, after a 14-day free trial, as listed on its home and pricing pages.
- Above the 200 submissions a month of Formward Personal, FormBucket's flat price is lower than Formward's. Weigh that against the maintenance question above.
Current figures: FormBucket pricing · all Formward plans
EU, GDPR and data location
FormBucket's GDPR page says it acts as a data processor and offers a signed data processing agreement to download. It does not say where submissions are stored or which sub-processors are involved, and the operator is a US company under California law. If you collect EU personal data through it, you would need those answers to document the transfer.
Formward stores and processes form submissions in the EU: the application and database run at Hostup AB in Sweden, notification email goes out through Mailjet in the EU, and AI features on Professional and Business use Mistral AI in France. One optional sub-processor is outside the EU: Cloudflare Turnstile (US), which only sees the anti-bot challenge and only on forms where you enable it. Data leaves the EU when you send it there yourself, for example to a notification mailbox hosted by a US provider, a Google Sheets sync or a webhook URL.
The details are in Formward's sub-processor register, the DPA (accepted in the dashboard) and the transfer-impact statement.
Moving from FormBucket
Effort: Low. What changes:
- The form action: https://formbucket.com/f/buk_... becomes your Formward endpoint.
- The honeypot: FormBucket's default field is __bucket_trap__; Formward reads _gotcha.
- If a form uses reCAPTCHA, switch it to Cloudflare Turnstile on the Formward form, or rely on the honeypot and rate limits.
- Changing the endpoint only moves new submissions. Past submissions, notifications, autoresponders and webhooks stay in FormBucket until you export or recreate them.
Before: FormBucket
<form action="https://formbucket.com/f/buk_YOUR_BUCKET_ID" method="post">
<input type="email" name="email" required>
<textarea name="message" required></textarea>
<input type="text" name="__bucket_trap__" style="display: none">
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>After: Formward
<form action="https://forms.formward.eu/f/<formId>" method="POST">
<input type="email" name="email" required>
<textarea name="message" required></textarea>
<input type="text" name="_gotcha" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off">
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>- Before you change anything, export your FormBucket submissions as CSV.
- Create a form in the Formward dashboard and copy its endpoint.
- Replace the bucket URL in your form's action, and rename __bucket_trap__ to _gotcha.
- Set the success redirect on the form, or add a hidden _redirect field pointing at a page on your own site.
- Recreate notifications, the autoresponder and webhooks in Formward, and check which plan each one needs.
- Add your site's origin to the allowed origins, send a test entry and check the dashboard, the notification email and the success page.
- Import the CSV with Formward's importer (Dashboard, Import & migrate). If the export has a Submitted At or Created At column the original dates are kept; otherwise rows are dated at import time.
- Check the old bucket for a week or so in case a page you missed still posts to it.
Which one fits
Choose Formward for
- Forms that bring in enquiries you cannot afford to lose.
- EU teams that need to say where submissions are stored and who processes them.
Choose FormBucket for
- Existing low-stakes forms that still work, where a missed submission would not matter much.
- Very high volumes at a flat price, if you accept the maintenance risk.
Questions
- Has FormBucket shut down?
- We could not confirm that it has. On 7 October 2026 its website loaded and offered sign-up, but the footer reads 2015-2019 and the linked status page returned an error. We found no announcement either way. Export your submissions before you rely on it any further.
- How long does moving a form off FormBucket take?
- For one HTML form, a few minutes: change the action URL, rename the honeypot field to _gotcha and send a test. Recreating notifications and webhooks and importing old submissions take a little longer, depending on how many you have.
- How much does Formward cost?
- Formward has a free plan with 50 submissions a month. Paid plans are EUR 15 a month (Personal, 200 submissions), EUR 30 (Professional, 2,000) and EUR 90 (Business, 20,000). Paying yearly brings those down to EUR 10, 20 and 60 a month.
Read next
- Migration guide: Moving a form to Formward step by step.
- Formward vs FormKeep: Another long-running HTML form backend.
- Sub-processor register: Every third party Formward uses, with its location.
- Plans: Formward's prices and limits.
Sources
Last checked 7 October 2026
Try Formward on one form
The free plan takes 50 submissions a month with no card. Point a test form at it and see the whole path before you move anything that matters.