Basin vs FormBackend (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Basin and FormBackend share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan, and FormBackend starts cheaper, at $5 a month against $12.50 a month.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
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
FormBackend
Form endpoint service that emails and routes HTML form entries
Which one is for you
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
Pick FormBackend if
- Fits if you have a static site and want entries by email
- Works for freelancers routing forms for several clients
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, as it stops at 1 form, 50 submissions and 30-day auto-delete
- Watch out: rules, API access and white-label notifications need Freelancer at $14
- Watch out: Slack and Google Sheets delivery sits on the $50 Business plan
- Skip it if you want a drag-and-drop builder, as the form is yours to write
How we grade them
| 2.4GPABasinFair | 2.4GPAFormBackendFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BStarter is $12.50 a month billed yearly, inside the cheapest quarter of form tools at $14. It allows 250 submissions and 3 forms. | BSimple is $5 a month for 1,000 submissions, inside the cheaper quarter of form tools. Monthly billing only is shown. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree gives 1 form endpoint, 50 submissions a month and 30 days of stored data. | CFree is 1 form, 50 submissions a month and entries deleted after 30 days. A separate free hosted form has no submission cap. |
| Features | 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. | CEndpoint, native delivery, Zapier, rules, spam protection and a hosted form. Rules and the API need Freelancer, and Slack and Sheets delivery needs Business. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You paste an endpoint into your own form's HTML, which suits developers more than anyone else. | CNo store rating on record, and it is a web app where the work is writing the form and setting up routing, so it sits at C. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Zapier on every plan and Slack, Sheets, webhooks and an API from Growth. | BWeb only, with an API and eight listed integrations. |
| Best for | a form endpoint for a static site | emailing and routing HTML form entries |
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: Basin and FormBackend. How we grade
Price against what you get
Basin starts at $12.50 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. FormBackend starts at $5 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and FormBackend starts $7.50 a month lower. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 10 score higher than Basin for less, and 3 score higher than FormBackend 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
- Basin also covers transactional email.
At a glance
| Basin | FormBackend | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12.50 per month for 250 submissions, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly) | $5 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | 1 form endpoint, 50 submissions a month, 30-day data retention, basic spam protection, AJAX support and Zapier. | 1 form, 50 submissions a month and 10 spam submissions a month, with 30-day auto-delete and data export. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial on paid plans | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Moonshot Ventures Inc. | FormBackend.com |
| Price read from | usebasin.com | formbackend.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
FormBackend
- The free plan stops at 1 form, 50 submissions a month and 30-day auto-delete.
- Slack and Google Sheets delivery is listed under the Business plan.
- The pricing page shows a yearly option worth two months free but not its price.
- Rules, API access and white-label notifications need Freelancer or above.
Key features
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.
FormBackend
- Form endpoint
- Submit an HTML form to the endpoint and receive entries by email, with custom redirects.
- Native delivery
- Sends submissions to Slack, Google Sheets, Discord and any webhook without a third-party account.
- Zapier connections
- Reaches 1,000+ more apps, including Notion, Airtable and Mailchimp, through Zapier.
- Rules and routing
- From Freelancer up: a rules engine, conditional email notifications and white-label notifications.
- Spam protection
- Included from the Simple plan, with a monthly cap on spam submissions on the free plan.
- Hosted form option
- A free hosted form builder is offered for people who do not want to write the form themselves.
Plans
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.
FormBackend
Free$0
1 form, 50 submissions a month, custom Thank You page and data export. A separate free hosted form gives unlimited submissions.
Simple$5
per month, billed monthly
2 forms, 1,000 submissions a month, 250 MB file uploads, auto-responses, spam protection and webhooks.
Freelancer$14
per month, billed monthly
10 forms, 5,000 submissions a month, 1 GB file uploads, rules engine, API access and white-label notifications.
Business$50
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited forms, 10,000 submissions a month, 10 GB file uploads, team members, custom sender domains and Slack and Sheets integrations.
Ways to pay less
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.
FormBackend
- Annual discount
Two months free on yearly billing
The pricing page says yearly plans are priced to give two months free compared with paying monthly.
- Other savings
First-month refund
The vendor says it will refund the first month on a paid plan if you are not happy.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Basin or FormBackend?
As of Nov 13, 2026, FormBackend is cheaper to start with: $5 a month, against $12.50 a month for Basin. Basin starts at $12.50 per month for 250 submissions, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly), and FormBackend starts at $5 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Basin or FormBackend?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Basin and FormBackend 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.