Web3Forms is a popular way to make a static HTML form send email: add a hidden access key, point the form at their endpoint, and submissions arrive in your inbox. It is a good tool. People look for alternatives when they hit the monthly cap, want file uploads on the free plan, or would rather not put a key and an endpoint in every form an AI writes. Web3Forms facts below come from web3forms.com and its docs, read on 2 November 2026.
What does the Web3Forms free plan include?
- 250 submissions a month, unlimited forms and domains (pricing page).
- An access key in your HTML, as a hidden field; Web3Forms' docs say the key is public and does not need hiding.
- 30 days of submission history on Free, per the pricing table, with CSV export on every plan.
- Spam: a server-side check on every submission, plus hCaptcha on Free; reCAPTCHA v3 and Turnstile start on paid plans.
- No file uploads on Free; they start on Pro.
- Over the cap, the pricing page says they stop accepting new submissions until the next month.
- Pro is $10 a month, or $89 a year, with 10,000 submissions a month.
Web3Forms alternatives, ranked
Hostus is first because it is the option we recommend when the form lives on a page you send people to. 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. Formspree. Pick it if the form must stay on a site hosted elsewhere and you want a mature form endpoint with integrations. The free plan is 50 submissions a month across your forms; see is Formspree free.
3. Netlify Forms. Pick it if the site is already deployed on Netlify: add data-netlify="true" and turn on form detection. Netlify's docs say forms are free and unlimited on its credit-based plans; see Netlify Forms alternatives.
4. Tally or Google Forms. Pick one if the form does not need to sit inside your own page: a hosted form at its own link, free and generous.
How do the options compare?
| Option | Free submissions | Key or endpoint in the HTML | Where answers go | Works on any host |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostus | 100 a month, held over the limit | No, any form with named fields | Dashboard inbox, email, CSV, connector | No, the page lives on Hostus |
| Web3Forms | 250 a month | Access key and endpoint | Email, 30 days of history on Free, CSV | Yes |
| Formspree | 50 a month | Endpoint | Email and dashboard | Yes |
| Netlify Forms | Unlimited on credit plans | A form attribute, plus detection | Netlify dashboard, email notifications, CSV | No, Netlify only |
Why does an AI-written form often not send anything?
Because the AI writes the form, not the server that receives it. Claude or ChatGPT will happily write <form action="/submit">, and on a static host that address does not exist, so the message is lost. With Web3Forms you fix it by pasting your endpoint and key into every form. On Hostus you fix it by uploading the page: the form posts to the page itself and the response is stored, so the AI can leave the action out entirely. If you ask the AI for the page, add "a plain <form method="post"> with a name on every field and no action".
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.