A Formspree alternative with a delivery timeline on every message.

The short version

Formspree fits if you need file uploads, unlimited history on a paid plan, more than 10 team members, unlimited forms, or a service with a long track record and a large plugin catalogue.

Heartdove fits if you want every submission saved before the email goes out, a delivery timeline on each message, more included submissions per dollar, a custom thank-you page on the free plan, and over-limit submissions kept in full, then released automatically with their alerts.

Side by side, checked 20 October 2026

Formspree figures come from formspree.io/plans and its help articles on account limits, over-limit submissions and the Submissions API as read on 20 October 2026. Where a cell says a page does not describe something, that means it is not documented there, not that Formspree lacks it. Heartdove figures come from the pricing page. Prices change; check both before deciding.

What happens to a bounced alert

With Heartdove, the submission is in your inbox before any email is attempted. The alert is then tracked: accepted by the provider, delivered, or bounced with the reason shown on the message. A bounced address is paused and flagged so you notice, and the message itself is never lost.

Formspree’s plans page does not cover delivery status. Its Submissions API, on Professional and above, reports per-recipient delivered and processed flags for each submission. Whichever service you choose, it is worth asking how a bounced recipient is handled and whether you would be told.

What happens over the limit

Formspree emails you at 50%, 75% and 90% of your monthly limit and again when it is exceeded, and suggests upgrading if you need more submissions. Its over-limit help article says submissions above the limit are saved to an Over Limit folder without sending notification emails or running plugins. The folder shows previews only, and the submissions can be reprocessed once there is room, which counts against that month’s limit.

Heartdove shows usage in the app with a warning from 80%. Submissions above your allowance are kept in full in the inbox and, when the allowance resets, released oldest first with their alerts. The hold has room for 1,000 messages on Free, 10,000 on Pro and 50,000 on Team. There is no overage charge.

Switching a form from Formspree

Your markup stays. Change the action to the Heartdove endpoint, add the hidden access_key, keep the hidden trap, and register the website address the form lives on. Service-specific underscore fields from other backends have no effect here; use _redirect for your thank-you page.

<form action="https://submit.heartdove.com/v1/submit" method="POST">
  <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" />
  <label>Email <input type="email" name="email" required /></label>
  <label>Message <textarea name="message" required></textarea></label>
  <!-- Hidden spam trap: people never see it, bots tick it -->
  <input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off" style="display:none" />
  <button type="submit">Send message</button>
</form>

Submissions already stored with your previous provider stay there; export them before you close that account.

Questions

Keep reading

• What is a form backend?
• EmailJS alternative
• Heartdove pricing, every limit listed