Forms and surveys decision
Static Forms
Build — a single competent engineer can implement and maintain the core form endpoint, spam checks, email delivery, webhook forwarding, and file uploads; features like AI Reply, polished visual builder, and broad native integrations are expensive to replicate.
Visit website↗$9/mo
$108/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off32 h to build
$40/mo3 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 6 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Static Forms alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Accept multipart/form POSTs from static sites; filter spam; deliver formatted email notifications; forward JSON webhooks to integrations; persist file uploads to object storage; expose a minimal settings page to configure endpoints and API keys.
What it still won’t have
- AI Reply (contextual automated reply generation and pay-as-you-go credits)
- Visual form builder embed and single-tag embed script
- Large catalogue of native integrations and polished dashboard features
- White-label sending, DKIM/SPF management, and long-term storage tiers
- Enterprise-grade spam filtering and SLA-backed uptime guarantees
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 6 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a minimal form-backend: use Node.js + Express, Multer for multipart parsing, PostgreSQL (or SQLite) for submission metadata, and an S3-compatible bucket for file storage. Core features in scope: (1) POST /submit that accepts multipart/form-data, enforces file size (4.5MB/file), saves files to S3, and records a submission row; (2) simple spam checks (honeypot field, rate limit, basic heuristics) and optional CAPTCHA flag hooks; (3) send formatted email notifications via Amazon SES (or SendGrid) with reply-to set to submitter; (4) forward JSON payloads to configured webhook URLs with retry/backoff and a dead-letter log; (5) minimal admin UI to view recent submissions, configure one webhook URL, and rotate an API key. Out of scope: AI Reply / LLM integration, visual drag-and-drop form builder, multi-tenant/team billing, advanced CAPTCHA provider integrations, and long-term archival UI. Include centralized error handling, input validation, unit tests for parsing/forwarding, and a basic Dockerfile + deployment guide for a small VPS or managed container service.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Build verdict base78
- An open-source build was found+5
- 5 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score93
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 5
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productStatic Forms - official product
- official docsStatic Forms Features
- official pricingStatic Forms - Basin Alternative (pricing)
- open sourceLimeSurvey/LimeSurvey
- open sourceTDuckCloud/tduck-survey-form
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
