PortForm vs FormSubmit
What is the difference between PortForm and FormSubmit?
FormSubmit needs no account: you point the form’s action at FormSubmit and confirm your email address. PortForm uses an account with a public access key, which is what gives it a dashboard, quotas, per-form settings and a store-first delivery order. If you want zero sign-up for one small form, that difference decides it; if you want to manage forms in one place, it points the other way.
New to the category? Read what a form backend is and how a form endpoint works. Last verified: , against FormSubmit's own pages listed under sources.
FormSubmit and PortForm at a glance
| Topic | FormSubmit | PortForm |
|---|---|---|
| Account required? | “NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED”: you point the form’s action at FormSubmit and confirm your email address. (FormSubmit homepage) | Yes: an account, and a public access key per form. |
| Are submissions stored? | “We retain your form submissions for 30 days.” An archive is available through an API for free, limited to 5 accesses a day. Uploaded files are not retained. (FormSubmit documentation) | 30 days of submission history on every plan; dashboard inbox with CSV and JSON export. |
| Limits and price | The documentation states unlimited submissions from unlimited forms, and the homepage says setup is “easy and free”. Any paid plan: Not verified from the vendor’s current public documentation. (FormSubmit documentation) | 300 submissions per 30 days, unlimited forms, no card |
| Retry and failure handling | Not verified from the vendor's current public documentation. | Stored first. The notification email is attempted once, best-effort; a submission with no recorded attempt after 10 minutes gets one late recovery attempt, and failed sends can be retried manually from the dashboard. Integrations are retried automatically, up to 5 attempts over about two and a half hours |
What FormSubmit does well
- No sign-up: one form can work with only an email address in the action URL. (FormSubmit homepage)
- Options set through hidden fields, including _next, _subject, _cc, _replyto, _autoresponse, _template, _webhook, _captcha and _blacklist. (FormSubmit homepage, FormSubmit documentation)
- Unlimited submissions from unlimited forms per email address, as stated in its documentation. (FormSubmit documentation)
- File uploads with a 10 MB total per submission, and AJAX support with JSON. (FormSubmit documentation)
- reCAPTCHA is enabled by default and can be turned off with _captcha; a _honey honeypot field is documented. (FormSubmit documentation)
Where PortForm differs
PortForm stores each submission first, then attempts the email, then runs integrations. See delivery retries for exactly what is and is not retried.
- Where the address lives. In FormSubmit the destination email is in the page source unless you use its random-string alias; PortForm’s form carries an access key that routes to a verified destination stored in your account, so the address is not in the HTML.
- Management. PortForm gives you a dashboard, delivery log, triage views and quotas per account. FormSubmit’s documentation describes an archive via an API limited to 5 accesses a day; a dashboard is Not verified from the vendor’s current public documentation.
- Delivery order. PortForm documents store, then email (best-effort), then integrations with retries. FormSubmit’s retry behavior is Not verified from the vendor’s current public documentation.
- Configuration style. FormSubmit configures behavior with underscore-prefixed hidden fields; PortForm uses dashboard settings per form, with only access_key, email, replyto, redirect and botcheck reserved in the payload.
Pricing and limits
PortForm’s current prices are on the pricing page and its limits in the docs. Competitor prices are as listed on the dates above and change; check FormSubmit’s own pricing before deciding.
| Topic | FormSubmit | PortForm |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | The homepage says “Setup is easy and free.” Paid plans and limits other than those in the documentation: Not verified from the vendor's current public documentation. (FormSubmit homepage, FormSubmit documentation) | 300 submissions per 30 days, unlimited forms, no card; $9/month ($91 billed yearly), 10,000 submissions |
| Submission limit | Unlimited submissions from unlimited forms per email address. (FormSubmit documentation) | 300 submissions per 30 days, unlimited forms, no card |
| Retention | 30 days; uploaded files are not retained. (FormSubmit documentation) | 30 days of submission history on every plan |
Features
| Topic | FormSubmit | PortForm |
|---|---|---|
| Spam protection | reCAPTCHA on by default, _honey honeypot field, _blacklist phrases (recommended maximum 20). (FormSubmit documentation) | Honeypot on every plan; hCaptcha on Free; reCAPTCHA and Turnstile on Pro and Agency; plus payload scoring and per-key rate limiting |
| File uploads | Native; 10 MB size limit summed across file fields. (FormSubmit documentation) | Pro: up to 3 files per submission, 5 MB each |
| Webhook | _webhook, triggered on each new submission. (FormSubmit documentation) | Pro and Agency: Slack, Discord, Telegram, Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, HubSpot and webhooks (Zapier, Make and n8n connect through webhooks) |
| Autoresponse and CC | _autoresponse and _cc hidden fields. (FormSubmit homepage) | Per-form settings on Pro and Agency. |
| AJAX | Supported, including cross-origin, with JSON. (FormSubmit documentation) | A plain HTML form post with a hidden access_key field works with no JavaScript; JSON, multipart and fetch also work |
When FormSubmit may make more sense
- If you want a form working with no account: FormSubmit needs only an email address in the action. (FormSubmit homepage)
- If you want file uploads at no charge, subject to its 10 MB limit and no retention of files. (FormSubmit documentation)
- If you are prototyping and do not need a dashboard, quotas or retry logging. (FormSubmit documentation)
Migrating from FormSubmit to PortForm
Migration means changing a form’s action and key, not moving data automatically. Ready-made forms are in templates, for example Basic HTML contact form and File upload form.
- Create a PortForm account and a form. Add your destination email and confirm it: PortForm requires destination verification before it sends mail there.
- Replace https://formsubmit.co/your@email.com with PortForm’s endpoint and add the hidden access_key input. The email address no longer appears in the page.
- Translate hidden fields: _next becomes redirect; _replyto becomes replyto (or the email field); _honey becomes botcheck; _cc, _autoresponse and _webhook become per-form settings (Pro).
- _subject and _template are not applied to PortForm’s emails.
- Export what you need first: FormSubmit keeps 30 days and its archive API is limited to 5 accesses a day.
Which should I use?
There is no single answer. It depends on which requirement matters most to you.
- If your priority is you want no sign-up at all, the relevant difference is: FormSubmit works from an email address in the action; PortForm requires an account. (FormSubmit homepage)
- If your priority is you want the destination address kept out of your HTML, the relevant difference is: PortForm routes by access key to a verified destination.
- If your priority is you want delivery logs, quotas and a dashboard, the relevant difference is: PortForm provides them; FormSubmit’s dashboard is not verified.
Questions about FormSubmit and PortForm
- What is the difference between PortForm and FormSubmit?
- FormSubmit needs no registration and takes your email in the form action. PortForm uses an account and public access key, with a dashboard, quotas and store-first delivery.
- Does FormSubmit store submissions?
- Its documentation says it retains submissions for 30 days and offers an archive through an API, limited to 5 accesses a day. Uploaded files are not retained.
- Do I need JavaScript?
- No for either; FormSubmit also documents AJAX submission.
- Is FormSubmit free?
- Its homepage says “Setup is easy and free.” Pricing details: Not verified from the vendor's current public documentation.
Sources
Every FormSubmit statement above was read from these first-party pages on . Anything not found there is marked as not verified.