EmailJS vs Forminit.com: Complete Comparison

Forminit is a form backend that stores submissions, handles file uploads, and connects to your systems via webhooks and API. Forminit provides a complete inbox experience where you can search, filter, and manage all your submissions in one place.

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Overview

EmailJS sends form data to your email. Forminit is a complete form backend that stores, validates, and makes your form data accessible.

Feature	EmailJS	Forminit
Primary function	Email delivery	Form backend with storage
Submission storage	No	Yes — dashboard with search and export
Retrieve submissions	No	Yes — REST API access
File uploads	Limited by email attachment size	Up to 25 MB per submission
Server-side validation	No	Yes — email, phone, URL, country, date
Webhooks	No	Yes — forward to any endpoint
UTM tracking	No	Yes — auto-captures attribution data
Geolocation	No	Yes — country, city, timezone from IP
API key protection	Limited	Server-side proxy handlers available
Email notifications	Yes	Yes

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Benefits of Forminit

1. Submission Storage and Dashboard

Forminit stores every submission in a searchable dashboard. You can:

• View all submissions in one place
• Search and filter by any field
• Export to CSV or JSON
• Access data anytime without relying on email

2. File Upload Support

Forminit accepts file uploads up to 25 MB per submission with proper storage and retrieval.

<input type="file" name="fi-file-resume" accept=".pdf,.doc,.docx" />
<input type="file" name="fi-file-documents[]" multiple />

3. Server-Side Validation

Forminit validates data on the server before storing:

Field Type	Validation
email	Valid email format
phone	E.164 international format
url	Valid URI format
country	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code
rating	Integer between 1 and 5
date	ISO 8601 format

Invalid submissions return clear error messages with specific field information.

4. Webhooks

Forminit can forward submissions to any URL. Use webhooks to connect with:

• CRM systems (HubSpot, Salesforce)
• Databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
• Communication tools (Slack, Discord)
• Spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Airtable)
• Your own backend services

5. REST API Access

Retrieve submissions programmatically:

curl -X GET 'https://api.forminit.com/v1/forms/YOUR_FORM_ID' \
  -H 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'

Query, filter, and paginate through all your form data.

6. API Key Security

Forminit provides proxy handlers for Next.js and Nuxt.js that keep API keys on the server:

// app/api/forminit/route.ts
import { createForminitProxy } from 'forminit/next';

export const POST = createForminitProxy({
  apiKey: process.env.FORMINIT_API_KEY,
});

Client-side code never sees the API key.

7. Marketing Attribution

Forminit automatically captures:

• UTM parameters (source, medium, campaign, term, content)
• Ad platform click IDs (gclid, fbclid, msclkid, ttclid, twclid)
• Referrer URL
• Geolocation (country, city, timezone)

No additional code required.

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Use Case Comparison

Use Case	EmailJS	Forminit
Contact form with email notification	✅	✅
Store and search past submissions	❌	✅
File uploads over 5 MB	❌	✅
Connect to CRM or database	❌	✅
Track lead sources	❌	✅
API access to form data	❌	✅
Team access to submissions	❌	✅

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Quick Start

1. Create a Form

Sign up at forminit.com and create a form to get your Form ID.

2. Install the SDK

npm install forminit

3. Implement

HTML / JavaScript:

<form id="contact-form">
  <input type="text" name="fi-sender-firstName" placeholder="First name" required />
  <input type="text" name="fi-sender-lastName" placeholder="Last name" required />
  <input type="email" name="fi-sender-email" placeholder="Email" required />
  <textarea name="fi-text-message" placeholder="Message" required></textarea>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

<script src="https://forminit.com/sdk/v1/forminit.js"></script>
<script>
  const forminit = new Forminit();
  
  document.getElementById('contact-form').addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    
    const { data, error } = await forminit.submit('YOUR_FORM_ID', new FormData(e.target));
    
    if (error) {
      console.error(error.message);
      return;
    }
    
    console.log('Submitted:', data.hashId);
    e.target.reset();
  });
</script>

Next.js:

// app/api/forminit/route.ts
import { createForminitProxy } from 'forminit/next';

export const POST = createForminitProxy({
  apiKey: process.env.FORMINIT_API_KEY,
});

// components/ContactForm.tsx
'use client';

import { Forminit } from 'forminit';

const forminit = new Forminit({ proxyUrl: '/api/forminit' });

export function ContactForm() {
  async function handleSubmit(e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) {
    e.preventDefault();
    
    const { data, error } = await forminit.submit('YOUR_FORM_ID', new FormData(e.currentTarget));
    
    if (error) {
      console.error(error.message);
      return;
    }
    
    console.log('Submitted:', data.hashId);
    e.currentTarget.reset();
  }

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <input type="text" name="fi-sender-firstName" placeholder="First name" required />
      <input type="text" name="fi-sender-lastName" placeholder="Last name" required />
      <input type="email" name="fi-sender-email" placeholder="Email" required />
      <textarea name="fi-text-message" placeholder="Message" required />
      <button type="submit">Send</button>
    </form>
  );
}

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Migrating from EmailJS

Field Name Mapping

EmailJS	Forminit
name="user_name"	name="fi-sender-fullName"
name="user_email"	name="fi-sender-email"
name="message"	name="fi-text-message"
name="phone"	name="fi-sender-phone"

Code Changes

EmailJS:

emailjs.sendForm('service_id', 'template_id', form, 'public_key');

Forminit:

const forminit = new Forminit();
forminit.submit('YOUR_FORM_ID', new FormData(form));

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FAQ

Does Forminit send email notifications?

Yes. Forminit sends email notifications and stores submissions.

Can I use Forminit without a framework?

Yes. Use the CDN for vanilla HTML/JavaScript:

<script src="https://forminit.com/sdk/v1/forminit.js"></script>

What spam protection options are available?

Forminit integrates with:

• reCAPTCHA
• hCaptcha
• Honeypot

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Related Documentation

• Form Blocks Reference — Available field types
• File Uploads — File upload handling
• Next.js Integration — Next.js setup
• Nuxt.js Integration — Nuxt.js setup
• Node.js Integration — Server-side usage
• List Submissions API — Retrieve submissions
• Submit Form API — API reference