Compared
A FormSubmit alternative with an inbox and delivery tracking.
FormSubmit sends form submissions to your email with no account at all: you point the form at your address and confirm it once. Heartdove adds an account, an inbox and a delivery timeline. Here is a dated comparison taken from each service’s own pages, including where FormSubmit offers more.
Updated 20 October 2026
The short version
FormSubmit fits if:
- You want no account at all: point the form at your email address and confirm once.
- You want an automatic reply to the visitor.
- You prefer reCAPTCHA on by default.
Heartdove fits if:
- You want every submission in a searchable inbox, not only in your email.
- You want to see whether each alert was delivered or bounced.
- You want a published monthly allowance and over-limit messages held rather than lost.
- You want spam checks that do not ask visitors to solve a puzzle.
Side by side, checked 20 October 2026
FormSubmit figures come from formsubmit.co and FormSubmit API documentation 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 FormSubmit lacks it. Heartdove figures come from the pricing page. Prices change; check both before deciding.
| FormSubmit | Heartdove | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; no paid plans described on the home page | Free plan, plus Pro and Team |
| Account | No registration; the first submission triggers a confirmation email | Sign in with an emailed link; create a form and register its website |
| Monthly limit | Not stated on the home page | 500 a month on Free, 5,000 on Pro, 25,000 on Team |
| Where submissions are kept | Emailed to you; an API returns submissions using a key sent to your email. Retention not stated | A searchable inbox with status, notes and tags. Set per form: up to 90 days on Free, 3 years on Pro, 10 years on Team; privacy mode keeps none |
| Delivery status per submission | Not described on the home page | Captured, accepted, delivered or bounced, with the reason, on every message |
| Spam protection | reCAPTCHA on by default (can be turned off); a phrase blacklist | Exact origin check, rate limit, hidden trap, scoring and quarantine on every plan; Turnstile optional |
| Custom thank-you page | Yes, with the _next field | Yes, with the _redirect field |
| Autoresponse to the visitor | Yes, with a custom message | Not available |
| Webhooks | Yes, a webhook for each new submission | Signed webhooks on every plan; during early access we connect your endpoint for you |
At the monthly limit
FormSubmit’s home page does not state a monthly limit or what happens at one.
Heartdove shows usage in the app with a warning from 80%. Submissions above your allowance are stored and held, visibly, and released oldest first when the allowance resets. There is no overage charge.
Delivery you can see
Every Heartdove submission is saved to your inbox before any email or webhook is attempted. The alert is then tracked on the message: accepted by the email provider, then delivered or bounced with the reason. A bounced address is paused and flagged so you notice, and the message itself stays in the inbox.
Whichever service you choose, it is worth asking how a bounced recipient is handled and whether you would be told.
Moving a form from FormSubmit
Your markup stays. Change the form action to the Heartdove endpoint, add the hidden access_key, keep the hidden botcheck trap, and register every website address the form is published on. FormSubmit puts your email address in the action URL; Heartdove uses an access key instead, so your address is not in your page. Replace _next with _redirect. FormSubmit’s _captcha, _template and _autoresponse fields have no effect here.
<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 FormSubmit stay there; export them before you close that account.
Questions
Is Heartdove free like FormSubmit?
Heartdove has a Free plan with 500 submissions a month, an instant alert for each and 90 days of history. FormSubmit describes itself as free and does not need an account.
Why does Heartdove need an account?
The account holds the inbox, the delivery timeline and the list of websites allowed to post to each form. That origin list is what lets Heartdove accept a form without showing a CAPTCHA.
Does my email address appear in the page source?
Not with Heartdove. The page contains a public access key; alerts go to the recipient set in your account.
Is Heartdove free?
Yes. Free includes 500 submissions a month with an instant alert for each, 90 days of history, delivery tracking and spam quarantine. No card is needed.
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