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Formward vs FormSubmit
FormSubmit is a widely used free way to send an HTML form straight to your inbox. If the email is all you need, it does that job. The differences show up when the submissions are personal data you are accountable for: where they are stored, whether you can search and erase them, and what proof you hold. Formward hosts in Sweden, stores every submission in a dashboard, and ships GDPR consent capture plus a DSAR console. Here is an honest, factual comparison.
We keep the FormSubmit column qualitative on purpose. Their feature set changes 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 FormSubmit specific, we say to check their site.
The core difference: a record you govern, not just an email
Formward
- Hosted in Sweden; EU sub-processors, published list.
- Submissions stored in a searchable dashboard, plus email.
- GDPR consent capture with stored proof.
- DSAR console for export and cross-form erasure.
- Spam protection without Google reCAPTCHA.
FormSubmit
- Free form-to-email relay; the email is the record.
- Quick setup with an email-based endpoint; reCAPTCHA is part of the default setup.
- For storage, data location, and GDPR-specific tooling, check their current documentation.
What Formward does
This table marks the capabilities Formward provides. We are not asserting what FormSubmit 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 | ✓ |
| 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) | ✓ |
| Signed DPA available (public, in-app acceptance) | ✓ |
| Link-only notifications (email carries no submission content) | ✓ |
| Spam filtering + honeypot + optional Turnstile (no Google reCAPTCHA required) | ✓ |
| Free tier100 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 | 100 |
| Personal | €15 | 500 |
| 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 FormSubmit?
- Yes. Both work the same way at the HTML level: point your <form action> at an endpoint and submit a standard POST. Migrating is usually a one-line change to the action URL.
- What is the main difference from FormSubmit?
- What happens after the POST. FormSubmit is commonly used as a free form-to-email relay: the email is the record. Formward stores every submission in a searchable EU-hosted dashboard, adds GDPR consent capture with stored proof and a DSAR console, and publishes where the data lives (Sweden) and who the sub-processors are. For FormSubmit's current data handling and hosting specifics, check their site.
- FormSubmit is free. Why pay for a form backend?
- Formward is also free for 100 submissions a month, so a small site never has to pay. Paid plans exist for teams that need volume, file uploads, webhooks, an API, or AI features. What the free tier already includes that a pure relay does not: EU storage you can search and export, consent proof, and erasure tooling for GDPR requests.
- Does Formward require Google reCAPTCHA?
- No, and this matters for EU sites: reCAPTCHA sends visitor data to Google. Formward's spam filtering uses a honeypot, heuristics and rate limiting by default, with optional Cloudflare Turnstile if you want a challenge. No Google service is involved in the submission path.
- How are submitter IP addresses handled?
- Formward pseudonymises submitter IPs with a salted HMAC immediately on receipt and never stores them raw. They are used for abuse protection, not tracking.
- How much does Formward cost?
- Formward starts free with 100 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 100 submissions a month. No card required, GDPR-clean from the first submission.