Netlify Forms is a neat trick when your site is on Netlify: add an attribute, turn on detection, and the next deploy starts collecting submissions. The catch is the word deploy. The form has to be in HTML that Netlify builds, forms rendered by JavaScript need a hidden copy, and the whole thing lives inside a Netlify project. Netlify facts below come from Netlify's docs and pricing page, read on 2 November 2026.
What does Netlify Forms need, and what does it cost now?
- A deploy on Netlify with form detection enabled, and
data-netlify="true"(ornetlify) on the form tag. The build reads the HTML at deploy time; a form created by JavaScript needs a hidden HTML twin. - Limits: Netlify's docs say forms are free and unlimited on its credit-based plans. Accounts on the legacy plans (opened before 4 September 2025) have 100 submissions per site a month.
- Credits: the Free plan is 300 credits a month as a hard limit; when an account runs out, Netlify pauses its projects with a "Site not available" page.
- Spam: submissions go through Akismet, with an optional honeypot and reCAPTCHA 2.
- Files: file fields work, one file per field, with an 8 MB request limit.
- Answers: in the Netlify dashboard, with CSV export.
Netlify Forms alternatives, ranked
Hostus is first because it is the option we recommend when the form sits on a page you send people to, not inside a site you deploy. The rest follow with the case where each is the right pick.
1. Hostus. A host for pages your AI made, where any form works with no setup. Upload the HTML page and every <form method="post"> with named fields stores its responses: no access key, no action URL, no build step. Each response lands in an inbox in your Hostus dashboard and in your email (one email per response, a daily summary, or off), spam is filtered into a folder you can review, and you can export everything as CSV or read it through the Hostus connector and API. You can close the form, cap the number of responses, set the success message or redirect, and show chosen fields back on the page with hostus.data, such as names on an RSVP list. Free: 20 pages, 2 MB in total (HTML and media together), 100 responses a month across your pages; responses over the limit are held, not lost. Paid: $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
2. Web3Forms. Pick it if the page stays on another host and email delivery is enough: 250 submissions a month free, with an access key in the form. See Web3Forms alternatives.
3. Formspree. Pick it for a mature endpoint with integrations, on any host; free is 50 submissions a month.
4. Stay on Netlify Forms. Pick it if the site is a real Netlify project with a build: on the credit plans the forms themselves are free.
How do the options compare?
| Option | Needs a deploy | Form markup | Free submissions | Where answers go |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostus | No, upload the HTML | Any form with named fields | 100 a month, held over the limit | Dashboard inbox, email, CSV, connector |
| Netlify Forms | Yes, on Netlify, with detection | data-netlify, hidden twin for JS forms | Unlimited on credit plans; 100 per site on legacy | Netlify dashboard, email notifications, CSV |
| Web3Forms | No, any host | Access key and endpoint | 250 a month | Email, CSV |
| Formspree | No, any host | Endpoint | 50 a month | Email and dashboard |
When is Hostus the better fit than Netlify?
When the thing is a page, not a site: an intake form for one client, an event sign-up, an order form, an RSVP. Those pages tend to be written by an AI in one go, changed a few times, and sent as a link. On Hostus there is no project, build or detection setting: upload the file, and if the form is wrong, fix the file and upload it again on the same link. You also see who reads the page, which sections they read, and, if you gate it by email, which email opened it, next to the responses.
Good to know before you switch
Hostus is a host, not a form endpoint: the form has to live on a page hosted on Hostus, so it is not a drop-in backend for a site that stays on another host. Plain forms there do not take file uploads. There is no custom domain (pages live at a hostus.page subdomain), every page carries a small Hostus badge, and a line "Form by Hostus" appears under the success message. Pages are noindex. Free is 100 responses a month across your pages; responses over the limit are held, not lost.