Compare · Web3Forms
Formward vs Web3Forms
Web3Forms is a popular way to send an HTML form straight to your inbox using an access key. If you want more than form-to-email — submissions stored and searchable, EU data residency, and GDPR consent and erasure tooling — the deciding factors are where the data lives and what you get with it. Formward self-hosts in Sweden, stores every submission in a dashboard, and ships consent capture plus a DSAR console. Here is an honest, factual comparison.
We keep the Web3Forms column qualitative on purpose. Their feature set and pricing change over time, and we will not present a competitor snapshot as fixed fact. The numbers in the Formward column are our real, current numbers. Where we are unsure of a Web3Forms specific, we say to check their site.
The core difference: EU residency + a real dashboard
Formward
- Self-hosted in Sweden; EU sub-processors.
- Submissions stored in a searchable dashboard, plus email.
- GDPR consent capture with stored proof.
- DSAR console for export and cross-form erasure.
- Submitter IPs pseudonymised (salted HMAC) on receipt.
Web3Forms
- Commonly used as an access-key form-to-email service.
- Quick to wire up; for storage, EU residency, and GDPR-specific features, check their current documentation.
- For EU users the trade-off is usually data location and what is kept beyond the email.
What Formward does
This table marks the capabilities Formward provides. We are not asserting what Web3Forms does or does not include, since that can change; the column reflects Formward only.
| Capability | Formward |
|---|---|
| EU data residency (Sweden) | ✓ |
| All form-submission sub-processors in the EU | ✓ |
| Your form-submission data never leaves the EU/EEA | ✓ |
| Submissions stored in a dashboard (not email-only) | ✓ |
| GDPR consent capture with stored proof (text + timestamp) | ✓ |
| DSAR console: export + erase a subject across all forms | ✓ |
| Submitter IPs pseudonymised on receipt (salted HMAC) | ✓ |
| Self-host option (open infrastructure) | ✓ |
| Spam filtering + honeypot + optional Turnstile | ✓ |
| Free tier50 submissions / month | ✓ |
Formward pricing
Our real, current prices. Yearly billing is cheaper per month than the monthly figures shown.
| Plan | Per month | Submissions / mo |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | 50 |
| Personal | €15 | 200 |
| Professional | €30 | 2,000 |
| Business | €90 | 20,000 |
Higher volume or custom requirements? See all plans.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Formward a drop-in alternative to Web3Forms?
- Yes. You point your HTML <form action> at a Formward endpoint and submit a standard POST. Unlike a pure form-to-email relay, Formward also stores every submission in a dashboard you can search and export.
- What is the main difference from Web3Forms?
- Where the data lives and what you get with it. Formward self-hosts in Sweden with EU sub-processors, stores submissions in a dashboard, captures GDPR consent with stored proof, and includes a DSAR console. Web3Forms is commonly used as an access-key form-to-email service; for its current hosting and data-handling specifics, check their site.
- Does Formward just email submissions, or store them too?
- Both. Submissions are stored in your dashboard and can be exported or read via the API, and you also get notification emails. You are not relying on your inbox as the only record.
- How does consent capture work?
- Enable a consent checkbox per form. On submit, Formward snapshots the exact consent text the visitor agreed to plus a timestamp as proof. The text is taken server-side from the form, never trusted from the client.
- How are submitter IP addresses handled?
- We pseudonymise submitter IPs with a salted HMAC immediately on receipt and never store them raw. They are used for abuse protection, not tracking.
- How much does Formward cost?
- Formward starts free with 50 submissions per month. Paid plans start at EUR 15/month (Personal), with Professional at EUR 30/month and Business at EUR 90/month. Yearly billing is cheaper per month.
Keep your form data in the EU
Start free with 50 submissions a month. No card required, GDPR-clean from the first submission.