Netlify Forms Alternative

Forminit is a form backend that works with any hosting provider and offers file uploads, webhooks, and API access.

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How Forminit Differs from Netlify Forms

Netlify Forms is a form handling feature built into Netlify’s hosting platform. Forminit is a standalone form backend that works with any hosting provider or framework.

Feature	Netlify Forms	Forminit
Works with any host	No — Netlify hosting only	Yes — any hosting provider
Framework support	Static sites on Netlify	Any framework, any platform
File uploads	10 MB limit	25 MB per submission
Webhooks	Paid plans only	Yes — all plans
Server-side validation	No	Yes — email, phone, URL, country, date
UTM tracking	No	Yes — auto-captures attribution data
Geolocation	No	Yes — country, city, timezone from IP
API access	Limited	Full REST API
Submission storage	Yes	Yes — with search and export
Email notifications	Yes	Yes
Spam protection	Akismet, honeypot	reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, honeypot
Free tier submissions	100/month	Check pricing page

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Benefits of Forminit

1. Works with Any Hosting Provider

Forminit is not tied to a specific hosting platform. Use it with:

• AWS
• Cloudflare Pages
• GitHub Pages
• DigitalOcean
• Self-hosted servers
• Any static or dynamic hosting

Your form backend remains the same if you change hosting providers.

2. Works with Any Framework

Forminit provides SDKs and integrations for:

• HTML / Vanilla JavaScript
• Next.js (with proxy handler)
• Nuxt.js (with proxy handler)
• Node.js
• React, Vue, Svelte, or any frontend framework

No build plugins or platform-specific configuration required.

3. Larger File Uploads

Forminit accepts file uploads up to 25 MB per submission.

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

4. 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.

5. Webhooks on All Plans

Forminit can forward submissions to any URL:

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

6. Full REST API

Retrieve and query submissions programmatically:

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

Paginate, search, and filter through all your form data.

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.

8. API Key Security

Forminit provides proxy handlers for Next.js and Nuxt.js that keep API keys on the server. See Next.js Integration and Nuxt.js Integration for setup guides.

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Use Case Comparison

Use Case	Netlify Forms	Forminit
Static site on Netlify	✅	✅
Site hosted on other platforms	❌	✅
Self-hosted application	❌	✅
File uploads over 10 MB	❌	✅
Webhooks on free tier	❌	✅
Track lead sources	❌	✅
Full API access	Limited	✅
Server-side validation	❌	✅

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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. Implement

HTML / JavaScript (works on any host):

<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>

Framework Integrations:

• Next.js Integration
• Nuxt.js Integration
• Node.js Integration

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Migrating from Netlify Forms

Remove Netlify-Specific Attributes

Netlify Forms:

<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">
  <input type="hidden" name="form-name" value="contact" />
  <input type="text" name="name" />
  <input type="email" name="email" />
  <textarea name="message"></textarea>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

Forminit:

<form id="contact-form">
  <input type="text" name="fi-sender-fullName" />
  <input type="email" name="fi-sender-email" />
  <textarea name="fi-text-message"></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;
    }
    
    e.target.reset();
  });
</script>

Field Name Mapping

Netlify Forms	Forminit
name="name"	name="fi-sender-fullName"
name="email"	name="fi-sender-email"
name="phone"	name="fi-sender-phone"
name="message"	name="fi-text-message"
name="company"	name="fi-sender-company"

What Changes

Netlify Forms	Forminit
data-netlify="true" attribute	SDK script and submit handler
Hidden form-name field	Form ID in submit call
Automatic detection at build	Explicit form creation in dashboard
Netlify hosting required	Any hosting provider

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FAQ

Does Forminit require a specific hosting provider?

No. Forminit works with any hosting provider including AWS, Cloudflare, GitHub Pages, DigitalOcean, or self-hosted servers.

Can I use Forminit with a static site?

Yes. Include the SDK via CDN and submit forms with JavaScript. No server-side rendering required.

Does Forminit send email notifications?

Yes. Forminit sends email notifications and stores submissions in a searchable dashboard.

What spam protection options are available?

Forminit integrates with:

• reCAPTCHA
• hCaptcha
• Honeypot

Can I migrate existing Netlify Forms submissions?

Forminit does not import historical data from Netlify Forms. Export your existing submissions from Netlify before migrating.

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Related Documentation

• Form Blocks Reference — Available field types
• File Uploads — File upload handling
• HTML Integration — Static site setup
• 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