The narrow reasons to look past Tally
- Branding on Free. Removing “Made with Tally” needs Pro, which also brings custom domains and custom CSS.
- The 10 MB file cap. Pro's feature list includes removing the 10 MB per-file limit on uploads, so bigger files on Free are out.
- Fair use is a judgment call. Unlimited responses come with a fair-use policy rather than a number, which some teams cannot plan procurement around.
- It is still an embed. A Tally form is Tally's markup in an iframe or page; your typography and components stop at its border.
| Service | Free plan | Telegram |
|---|---|---|
| Tally | Unlimited forms and responses within fair use, EU-hosted | Not listed |
| Formgong (your own form) | 1,000 submissions a month, unlimited forms, email and Telegram on Free, CSV export | Every plan |
| Typeform | 10 responses a month across the account | No (integrations list) |
| Web3Forms (your own form) | 250 submissions a month, unlimited forms | Paid plans |
Where Tally is simply the right answer
Surveys, quizzes, registrations, anything with conditional questions and many fields: Tally's editor is fast, the free plan has no response counter to watch, and the EU hosting answers the GDPR question most builders stumble on. If you came to this page unsure, the honest advice is that most people searching “Tally alternative” for a survey should stay with Tally.
When the real alternative is your own form
Contact, quote and order forms on a business site have different priorities than surveys: they should look native to the page, submit without a third-party frame, and deliver reliably. That is HTML you own plus a backend: take a template or the form generator's markup, point it at Formgong, and the form is a first-class part of your site with an inbox, spam filtering and Telegram behind it.
Replacing an embedded Tally form with your own form
A builder embed is replaced in two steps: a form that matches your site, and a backend that receives it.
- Take a form from our templates, or describe what you need to the form generator and download the markup.
- Point it at
https://formgong.com/submitwith your free access key, paste it where the embed was, and send a test.
The form inherits your site's fonts and colours because it is your own HTML, and submissions land in the dashboard inbox, your email and Telegram. The HTML docs cover redirects, autoreplies and the honeypot.
1. Formgong
Best for: Static and AI-built sites that want leads in Telegram and email, EU storage and 12 interface languages.
- Free plan: 1,000 submissions a month, unlimited forms, CSV export.
- Telegram: Every plan, including Free; several chats per form.
- Data location: Submissions stored in Cloudflare D1 with EU jurisdiction.
Watch out: A young service with few native integrations: webhooks, email, Telegram and Google Sheets. Files are limited to 5 MiB each.
2. Web3Forms
Best for: A generous free quota with one access key and no account dashboard work.
- Free plan: 250 submissions a month, unlimited forms, 1 recipient.
- Telegram: Starter, Pro and Agency, not Free.
- Data location: Infrastructure on AWS, Cloudflare and Hetzner; data may be processed in several regions.
Watch out: Stops accepting submissions at the monthly limit. Telegram and other integrations need a paid plan.
3. Formspree
Best for: Teams that need many plugins (CRM, Sheets, Stripe), team seats and a long track record.
- Free plan: 50 submissions a month, 30-day archive.
- Telegram: Telegram plugin on every plan.
- Data location: May be processed in the United States and other countries where Formspree operates.
Watch out: The free plan is meant for testing; prices per submission are high on the small paid plans.
Questions
Is there a better free form builder than Tally?
For most survey-type needs, no: unlimited forms and responses within fair use, EU hosting and file uploads on Free set the bar. Alternatives make sense for the specifics, branding removal, files over 10 MB, or wanting your own markup instead of an embed.
Does Tally store data in the EU?
Yes. Tally's pricing page says it is made and hosted in the EU and stores all form data in Europe, from a Belgium-based company. Formgong also stores submissions with EU jurisdiction, in Cloudflare D1.
What does Tally Pro add over Free?
Per Tally's pricing page: removing Tally branding, custom domains, custom CSS, custom email domains, unlimited team members, partial submission capture, longer version history, and lifting the 10 MB per-file upload cap.
When is a form backend better than Tally?
When the form should be part of your page rather than an embed: your HTML and CSS, no frame, and a backend for delivery and storage. That suits contact and order forms on business sites; surveys usually stay with the builder.
Sources
Checked on 23.10.2026 against these public pages: Tally pricing, Typeform: Free plan, Formgong pricing, Web3Forms pricing.