Formester vs Tally (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Tally: it is second in our ranking of form and survey tools, though Formester grades higher (3.2 against 2.8) on value for money.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Formester
Form builder with unlimited forms and responses on the free plan
Which one is for you
Pick Formester if
- Fits if you want a builder with no form or response limit
- Works for people who want payments or quizzes on a free plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you want logic, since conditional logic and branding removal need Personal at $12
- Watch out: the API, PDF exports and team seats need Business at $45
- Watch out: AI credits are small on lower plans
- Skip it if you want Enterprise prices, as they are by sales contact only
Pick Tally if
- Fits if you want unlimited forms and submissions without paying
- Works for Notion users who build pages out of blocks, or small teams paying for Pro to get their own domain
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if the Tally branding has to go and you won't pay, since that and custom domains need Pro
- Skip it if you want a phone or desktop app for building forms, as it's web only
- Tight if you take big files on the free plan, where uploads stop at 10 MB each
- Watch out: team collaboration, partial submissions, drop-off analytics and the Google Analytics and Meta Pixel links are paid
- Watch out: free use sits under a fair use policy, and around 50,000 submissions a month leads to a custom plan
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAFormesterVery good | 2.8GPATallyGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree and substantial: unlimited forms and responses. Personal is $12 a month billed annually, under the category's $19.99 middle. | CPro is $24 a month billed yearly, on this category's middle price, or $29 monthly. It is one flat fee with unlimited team members. Business at $74 mostly adds data retention controls and respondent email verification. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree forever with unlimited forms and responses, quizzes and payment collection. A normal person won't reach a cap. | AUnlimited forms and submissions free, with logic, calculations, payments, signatures and file uploads all included. The walls are 10 MB a file, Tally's badge, and a fair use policy around 50,000 submissions a month. |
| Features | BAI form creator, card-style forms, payments, conditional logic, integrations and team features. The gating is on logic and teams, not on the core job. | BThe whole forms job, nothing in the listing missing: logic, calculations with variables, checkout forms that take payments, e-signatures, hidden fields, answer piping and embeds or popups. No scheduling or document generation, which a few rivals here do have. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and it is a web app where the work is building each form, so it sits at C. | CNo store rating on record, and there's still a form to build: you type the questions and drop in input blocks in a document-style editor, much like Notion. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with eight listed integrations. | BWeb with Notion, Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack and Coda, plus webhooks and Zapier, Make or Pipedream for the rest. No phone or desktop apps at all. |
| Best for | a form builder with a free plan and no response cap | free forms with unlimited submissions |
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: Formester and Tally. How we grade
Price against what you get
Formester starts at $12 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Tally starts at $24 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Formester starts $12 a month lower. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Formester for less, and 2 score higher than Tally 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
- Tally also covers no-code and surveys.
At a glance
| Formester | Tally | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12 per month, billed annually ($13 billed monthly) | $24 per month, billed yearly ($290); $29 billed monthly |
| Free plan | Free forever: unlimited forms and responses, AI form creator, card-style forms, quiz auto-scoring and payment collection. | Unlimited forms and submissions within a fair use policy, with conditional logic, calculations, payments, signatures and file uploads of up to 10 MB per file. Forms carry Tally branding. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Formester | Tally BV |
| Price read from | formester.com | tally.so |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Formester
- Conditional logic and branding removal need Personal or above.
- API access, PDF exports and team seats need Business.
- AI credits are small on the lower plans and rise on higher ones.
- Enterprise pricing is available only by contacting sales.
Tally
- Removing Tally branding, custom domains and team collaboration all require Pro.
- Partial submissions, drop-off analytics and the Google Analytics and Meta Pixel integrations are paid features.
- The free plan limits file uploads to 10 MB per file.
- Free use falls under a fair use policy: sustained volumes around 50,000 submissions a month lead to a custom plan.
Key features
Formester
- AI form creator
- Creates forms from a prompt; each plan includes a monthly allotment of AI credits.
- Card-style forms
- Step-by-step layout, plus quiz auto-scoring and drop-off analysis.
- Payments
- Collect payments through forms using PayPal and Authorize.net.
- Conditional logic
- Rules and conditional logic start on the Personal plan.
- Native integrations
- 35 integrations listed, including Airtable, HubSpot, Google Sheets and Notion.
- Team features
- Business adds 25 seats, real-time collaboration and partial submission views.
Tally
- Document-style editor
- Type questions onto a page as in a text document and insert input blocks for contact details, ratings, rankings, dates, file uploads and more.
- Conditional logic and calculations
- Show or hide blocks, branch respondents and use variables to calculate values, scores and prices. Both are part of the free plan.
- Payments and signatures
- Build checkout forms that accept payments and collect e-signatures. The pricing page lists both among the free features.
- Hidden fields and answer piping
- Pass data into a form through URL parameters, pre-fill fields with known details, and mention earlier answers in later questions.
- Embeds, popups and custom domains
- Embed forms in a website or a Notion page, show them as popups or share a link. Hosting forms on a custom domain or subdomain needs Pro.
- Integrations and webhooks
- Send submissions to Notion, Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack or Coda, post events to webhooks, or reach other tools through Zapier, Make or Pipedream.
Plans
Formester
Free$0
Unlimited forms and responses, AI form creator, all field types and custom email notifications.
Personal$12
per month, billed annually ($13 billed monthly)
Removes branding and adds conditional logic, redirects, backend-only forms, GTM and GA4, and email verification.
Business$45
per month, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
API access, PDF exports, 25 team members, real-time collaboration, 50 GB storage and translations.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom limits, unlimited webhooks and signatures, high-volume uploads and priority support.
Tally
Free$0
Unlimited forms and submissions under fair use, with logic, calculations, payments, signatures, file uploads and core integrations.
Pro$24
per month, billed yearly ($290); $29 billed monthly
Removes Tally branding and adds custom domains, unlimited team members, partial submissions, custom CSS, drop-off analytics and 30-day version history.
Business$74
per month, billed yearly ($890); $89 billed monthly
Everything in Pro, plus submission data retention controls, respondent email verification and 90-day version history.
Ways to pay less
Formester
- Annual discount
Annual pricing saves one month
The pricing page labels annual billing as saving one month: Personal $12 and Business $45 against $13 and $49 monthly.
Tally
- Annual discount
2 months off with yearly billing
Pro costs $290 per year instead of $29 per month, and Business $890 per year instead of $89 per month. The pricing page describes this as 2 months off.
- Nonprofit
30% off Tally Pro for non-profits
Non-profits that are first-time Pro customers get 30% off Tally Pro with no end date: $20 per month instead of $29, or $203 per year instead of $290.
- Education
30% off Tally Pro for students and educators
Students and educators get 30% off Tally Pro for 1 year: $20 per month or $203 per year. It applies to new customers only and cannot be renewed.
- Startups
Partner Program discount for startups
Startups that belong to a Tally partner such as an accelerator, VC firm or community can apply for a Tally Pro discount with a partner code. No percentage is published.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Formester or Tally?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Formester is cheaper to start with: $12 a month, against $24 a month for Tally. Formester starts at $12 per month, billed annually ($13 billed monthly), and Tally starts at $24 per month, billed yearly ($290); $29 billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Formester or Tally?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Formester and Tally 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.