October 24, 2026

FormSubmit alternative: Ikiform vs FormSubmit

Q: Do the FormSubmit `_` fields break anything on Ikiform?

No. Ikiform ignores names starting with `_` that it doesn't recognise, and never stores them. They just do nothing, so you can remove them at your own pace.

Ikiform vs FormSubmit: a free form-to-email relay against a paid backend with storage, validation and signed webhooks, and how to map each _ field.

Preet SutharFounder, Ikiform

FormSubmit is the simplest way to get a form into an inbox. There is no sign-up: you put your email address, or a random alias it gives you, in the form's action, confirm the first submission by email, and every post after that arrives as an email. It is free, with unlimited forms and submissions, and is configured entirely with hidden _ fields.

Ikiform shares the _ field convention but is a different kind of product: an account, a dashboard, stored submissions, validation and signed webhooks, for a monthly fee. If the inbox is all you need, FormSubmit is hard to beat on price. If you need the data anywhere else, read on.

Checked on October 24, 2026 against FormSubmit's public pricing pages and docs. Ikiform makes this comparison; every Ikiform fact comes from our own docs. Prices and limits change, so the sources are listed at the end.

At a glance

Feature	Ikiform	FormSubmit
Price	Pro from $6/mo for 500 submissions, up to $399/mo for 1,000,000. Every feature on every tier. Yearly is 10 months' price for 12	Free. No paid plans are listed
Account	Yes, with a dashboard	None. The first submission sends a confirmation email
Retention	Received submissions until you delete them, spam for 30 days	30 days. The archive API allows 5 requests a day
File uploads	Not supported yet. A post with a file gets `422 files_not_supported`	Yes, up to 10 MB across all files. Files aren't kept in the archive
Webhooks	3 endpoints per workspace, signed with HMAC-SHA256, 9 attempts over about 3 d 6 h, with delivery logs	A `_webhook` hidden field with the URL; form data is sent as JSON
Spam protection	Honeypot (`_gotcha`), content scoring, per-form rate limits, allowed domains and an optional Cloudflare Turnstile check, with no keys needed	reCAPTCHA by default (turn off with `_captcha`), a `_honey` honeypot and a `_blacklist` of phrases
Autoresponse and CC	No. Ikiform only emails you, not the person who filled in the form	`_autoresponse` and `_cc` fields
Email templates	One notification layout	3 templates chosen with `_template`
Configuration lives in	The dashboard, plus a few reserved fields	Hidden fields in the page, visible to anyone who views the source
Data location	Cloudflare, with the database in Asia-Pacific. EU Standard Contractual Clauses in the DPA	Not stated on the site or in the docs

Where FormSubmit is the better choice

You want it free with no account. Nothing else here is.
You need an autoresponse, a CC, or a choice of email templates. FormSubmit has all three as fields.
You want attachments emailed to you. FormSubmit accepts up to 10 MB of files.
The form is a weekend project and you'll never look at a dashboard.

Where Ikiform is the better choice

You don't want your webhook URL in the page source. On FormSubmit, _webhook is a hidden input anyone can read or change; on Ikiform, endpoints live in your workspace.
You need submissions after 30 days, or a searchable history with CSV export, instead of an inbox.
You want signed webhook deliveries with retries and a delivery log you can inspect.
You want spam protection without a visible captcha. Ikiform scores content, rate-limits and can run Turnstile, which most visitors never see.
You need a DPA and a sub-processor list for a client or a security review.

Who should pick which

Pick FormSubmit for a free form-to-email relay, where an email is all the form needs to produce.

Pick Ikiform when you need submissions stored, validated, delivered to your systems with a signature, and covered by a DPA.

Migrating from FormSubmit

FormSubmit's _subject and _next work in Ikiform under the same names, and its honeypot can be kept by renaming Ikiform's honeypot setting. The rest of its _ fields either move to the dashboard or have no equivalent. Any other _ field you leave in is ignored, not stored.

Field mapping

FormSubmit	Ikiform	Notes
`action="https://formsubmit.co/you@example.com"`	`action="https://ikiform.com/f/frm_..."`	Your address is no longer in the page; add it as a notification recipient instead.
`_subject`	`_subject`	Same behaviour.
`_next`	`_next` or `_redirect`	Followed only for `https:` URLs on the form's allowed domains, or set it in the dashboard.
`_replyto`	`_replyto` or an `email` field	A field named `email` is used as reply-to automatically.
`_honey`	Honeypot field setting	Set Honeypot field to `_honey`, or rename the input to `_gotcha`.
`_captcha`	Spam check setting	Remove it. The human check is off by default and turned on per form.
`_cc`	Notification recipients	Up to 10 recipients per email, set in the dashboard.
`_webhook`	Webhook endpoint in the dashboard	Remove the field; add the URL as a signed endpoint.
`_template`	None	Ikiform has one notification layout.
`_autoresponse`	None	Ikiform doesn't email the submitter.
`_blacklist`	None in the dashboard	A built-in list of spam phrases is scored on every form.
`/ajax/` endpoint	Same endpoint	Post to the normal endpoint with `Accept: application/json` to get JSON back.

Before and after

contact.html

<form action="https://formsubmit.co/your-random-string" method="POST">
  <input type="email" name="email" required />
  <textarea name="message"></textarea>
  <input type="hidden" name="_subject" value="New contact message" />
  <input type="hidden" name="_next" value="https://example.com/thanks" />
  <input type="hidden" name="_captcha" value="false" />
  <input type="hidden" name="_template" value="table" />
  <input type="hidden" name="_cc" value="partner@example.com" />
  <input type="text" name="_honey" style="display:none" />
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Steps

Create an Ikiform form, add yourself and anyone from _cc as notification recipients.
Add your site under Allowed domains so _next is followed.
Set Honeypot field to _honey, or rename the input.
Change the action, and remove _captcha, _template, _cc, _webhook, _autoresponse and _blacklist.
If you used _webhook, add the URL as a webhook endpoint and verify signatures in your handler.
Send a test and check the notification email arrives.

What doesn't carry over

Autoresponses, email templates and file attachments have no equivalent.
FormSubmit only keeps 30 days of submissions, so export anything you need first.

FAQ

Do the FormSubmit `_` fields break anything on Ikiform?

No. Ikiform ignores names starting with _ that it doesn't recognise, and never stores them. They just do nothing, so you can remove them at your own pace.

Does my email address still appear in the page?

No. The form posts to an endpoint with a form id, and recipients are set in the dashboard. Outside addresses have to confirm before they get emails.

Why pay when FormSubmit is free?

If an email is all you need, don't. Ikiform is worth paying for when submissions have to be stored, validated or delivered to other systems with a signature you can check.

Can I send attachments?

Not with Ikiform yet. A post that contains a file is refused with 422 files_not_supported.

Sources

Checked on October 24, 2026.

Trademarks and accuracy

FormSubmit and the other product names on this page are trademarks of their owners. Ikiform isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them. What this page says about FormSubmit comes from its public pricing pages and docs as of October 24, 2026, linked under Sources. If anything here is wrong or out of date, email hello@ikiform.com and we'll correct it.