Airform vs Basin (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airform and Basin share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and Airform has no paid plan to buy, against $12.50 a month for Basin.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Airform grades higher on the free plan. Basin grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Basin
Form backend and builder that collects submissions without code
Which one is for you
Pick Airform if
- Fits if you want a free contact form for a hobby site
- Works for front-end developers using React, Vue or Angular
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: the free offer is 'for now', so terms could change
- Skip it if you want spam filtering, as none is described
- Skip it if you want a dashboard or uploads, as the pages describe neither
- Watch out: the footer is 2018 and one maintainer is named, with support by sponsorship and GitHub
Pick Basin if
- Fits if you run a static site and need submissions emailed without writing server code
- Works for freelancers and agencies handling several client forms
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay on Free, with one form endpoint and 50 submissions a month
- Watch out: webhooks, API access and auto-responses need Growth, and custom email domains need Pro
- Skip it if you want a visual form builder as the main thing, because this is a backend first
- Pricey if your traffic grows, since plans are capped by submissions and extras are billed monthly
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAirformFair | 2.4GPABasinFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BFree, but it is a bare service: no dashboard, spam filter or uploads on the pages we read, and the site asks for sponsors. | BStarter is $12.50 a month billed yearly, inside the cheapest quarter of form tools at $14. It allows 250 submissions and 3 forms. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright with unlimited submissions, though the site says 'for now'. | CFree gives 1 form endpoint, 50 submissions a month and 30 days of stored data. |
| Features | DOne narrow function, form to email. No dashboard, spam filter or uploads are described. | CIt receives and routes submissions well enough, but it is a backend rather than a form builder, and the page says overage submissions are billed at tier rates. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and it is a web app where the work is writing the form and the server-less setup, so it sits at C. | CNo store rating on record. You paste an endpoint into your own form's HTML, which suits developers more than anyone else. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only, with framework packages for Angular, React and Vue and no integrations. | BWeb only, with Zapier on every plan and Slack, Sheets, webhooks and an API from Growth. |
| Best for | turning an HTML form into an email | a form endpoint for a static site |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Airform and Basin. How we grade
Price against what you get
Airform has no paid plan and scores 1.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Basin starts at $12.50 a month and scores 2.3.
Basin scores higher, and starts $12.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, none scores higher than Airform for less, and 10 score higher than Basin for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Airform is open source, according to its own site.
- Basin also covers workflow automation and transactional email.
At a glance
| Airform | Basin | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $12.50 per month for 250 submissions, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Unlimited form submissions, free "for now" according to the site. | 1 form endpoint, 50 submissions a month, 30-day data retention, basic spam protection, AJAX support and Zapier. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial on paid plans |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CJ Patoilo | Moonshot Ventures Inc. |
| Price read from | airform.io | usebasin.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Airform
- The free offer is worded as 'for now', so terms could change.
- The pages read describe no dashboard, spam filter or file uploads.
- The footer carries a 2018 copyright and a single named maintainer.
- Support is by sponsorship and GitHub, with no paid plan listed.
Basin
- Plans are capped by submissions per month; the page says extra submissions are available at rates made for each tier, billed monthly.
- The Free plan has one form endpoint and keeps data for 30 days.
- Auto-responses, webhooks and API access need Growth; custom email domains need Pro.
- Coupon-code discounts for new customers are shown on some plans and are not counted in these prices.
Key features
Airform
- Email forms
- Set the form action to the Airform URL plus your email address and entries are mailed to you.
- Framework packages
- Wrappers are published for Angular, AngularJS, Aurelia, React and Vue.
- No server needed
- The service runs the receiving side so nothing is installed on your own server.
- Open source
- The code is open source under the MIT license and maintained on GitHub.
Basin
- Point any form at Basin
- Set a form's action URL to a Basin endpoint; it works with plain HTML, React, Vue, Webflow, WordPress and other front ends.
- Spam filtering
- Basic filtering is on every plan, and spam does not count toward the submission limit. Pro adds advanced, location, language and content filters.
- Notifications and auto-responses
- Submissions trigger notification emails, and Growth and above add auto-responses. Pro adds custom email templates and domains.
- Integrations and API
- Zapier is on every plan. Growth adds Slack, Google Sheets, webhooks and API access; the integrations page also lists Discord, Make and Pipedream.
- File storage
- Uploaded files are stored with each plan's allowance, from 500 MB on Starter up to 50 GB on Agency.
- AI features
- Paid plans include AI assistant access through an MCP server and AI-generated sites with hosting and custom domains.
Plans
Airform
Free$0
Unlimited form submissions for now; the project asks for sponsorship.
Basin
Free$0
1 form endpoint, 50 submissions a month, 30-day data retention, basic spam protection and Zapier.
Starter$12.50
per month for 250 submissions, billed yearly ($15 monthly)
3 forms, 500 MB file storage, 365-day retention, data export and email and phone validation.
Growth$24.17
per month for 1,000 submissions, billed yearly ($29 monthly)
Unlimited forms and collaborators, 2 GB storage, auto-responses, API access, webhooks and Slack.
Pro$40.83
per month for 5,000 submissions, billed yearly ($49 monthly)
10 GB storage, advanced spam filtering, custom email templates and domains, and SMTP.
Agency$108.33
per month for 25,000 submissions, billed yearly ($130 monthly)
50 GB storage, multi-step forms, saved incomplete submissions, enhanced deliverability, priority support.
Ways to pay less
Airform
No public discounts listed.
Basin
- Annual discount
Yearly billing lowers the monthly rate
Yearly billing brings Starter to $12.50 a month from $15, Growth to $24.17 from $29, Pro to $40.83 from $49 and Agency to $108.33 from $130.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Airform or Basin?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Airform is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $12.50 a month for Basin. Airform is free, and Basin starts at $12.50 per month for 250 submissions, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Airform or Basin?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Airform and Basin have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.