Tally is a Belgian, bootstrapped form builder whose free plan is generous, so people rarely leave over price. The reasons we see are narrower: a few upgrade-only features, a hosting setup that cannot be self-run, opt-in US subprocessors and a short feature list at the top. The alternatives below cover self-hosting, other European vendors and heavier form tooling.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to Tally in our form builder ranking are OpnForm, forms.app and HeyForm. We open the ranking with smaller vendors and put the established brands from fourth place onward. Choose OpnForm if you want the form software and the submissions on a server you control. Every one of the 11 products below comes from Best Online Form Builders in 2026, with a note on how it departs from Tally.
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Pricing: Free plan within fair-use limits; flat monthly plans, published
Established in: Belgium
Built for: Small teams that want unmetered forms and a predictable flat bill later
Not for: Buyers who need a negotiated contract with volume commitments
01
Why buyers look past Tally
01
Several everyday features sit behind the EUR 20 plan
Tally's pricing page puts branding removal, custom domains, partial submissions, custom CSS, workspaces and folders, drop-off analytics and 30-day version history on Pro at EUR 20 a month. The file upload block carries a 10 MB per-file limit until you pay for Pro. A team that wants a clean, branded form on its own domain therefore pays from the first form.
02
Data stays in Europe, but some opt-in services do not
Tally's GDPR page names Google Cloud in Belgium and Cloudflare storage in the EU as hosting. Its subprocessor table also lists SendGrid for email notifications and Stripe for payment forms, both in the US and both opt-in, and a DPA that is accepted by agreeing to the terms. A privacy officer who wants every processor in Europe, or a server of their own, will find the table is the thing to check.
03
Business is a short step up for enterprise needs
The Business plan at EUR 65 a month adds data retention controls, respondent email verification and 90-day version history. The pricing page mentions no SSO or HIPAA option, and the fair use policy says that sustained volume of about 50,000 submissions or 100 GB of uploads a month leads to a custom quarterly plan. Organisations with those requirements will want to compare against a vendor that lists them.
presentation and respondent experience matter more to you than cost
#9
03
What each one does differently
1
OpnForm
France · Published
OpnForm is the one you can run on your own server: the core is AGPLv3 and a community edition exists, with a hosted free plan offering unlimited forms and submissions in one workspace. The community edition allows two users, and captcha, custom domains and analytics begin on the hosted Pro tier. Its listed country is France.
Switch from Tally if you want the form software and the submissions on a server you control.
Forms App OÜ in Tallinn counts forms and file storage instead of responses, so replies and team members stay unlimited on every plan. The free account gives five forms and 10 MB of storage, Basic 25 forms, Pro unlimited forms. Over 5,000 templates, an AI generator and mobile apps come with it, though 10 MB makes uploads impractical on the free plan.
Switch from Tally if you want unlimited responses and a large template library from an Estonian vendor.
HeyForm publishes its AGPL-3.0 code with a Dockerfile, and also runs a hosted service through EarlyBird, Inc., which calls itself bootstrapped without investors. Hosted tiers start at 5,000 responses a month and the pricing page shows a 7-day trial. Payment commission is waived only on the Business tier.
Switch from Tally if you want one-question-at-a-time forms with code you could deploy yourself.
Developed in Timisoara, this vendor was acquired in September 2024 by Kiteworks, which is folding the technology into its platform. Gold starts at 5,000 submissions a month, and the plan table limits fields per form: ten at the free tier, 250 on Gold. Extra users are sold as additional licences on every paid plan.
Switch from Tally if you want a Romanian-built tool with high submission volumes on a paid tier.
Paperform, a founder-run company with a Sydney address, puts three products in each plan: forms, Papersign for signatures and Stepper for automation, with unlimited users. Bookings, payments and price calculations live in the form itself. The free plan allows 30 submissions a month, and roles and SSO need the Business plan.
Switch from Tally if you want bookings, signatures and automation bundled with the forms.
Fillout meters only responses: 1,000 a month at no charge, then 2,000, 5,000 and unlimited on three flat tiers, with unlimited forms and seats throughout. Payments, PDF generation and workflows come in from the start. Branding comes off on the third tier, while custom domain, analytics and partial submissions need the fourth.
Switch from Tally if you want a response-based price with every seat included and workflows built in.
Cognito Forms handles forms that compute: calculations, conditional logic and document generation are central, and the Team tier adds approvals, data lookups and a client portal. The Individual tier takes payments but stops at 100 entries a month and one user. HIPAA compliance and single sign-on wait for the top tier.
Switch from Tally if you need calculated totals, approvals or a client portal behind the form.
Formspree is a form backend: you write the HTML or JavaScript yourself and point it at a Formspree endpoint, which validates, filters spam, stores and forwards submissions. Plans run from 50 submissions a month free to 20,000 on Business. Forms are written as code rather than dragged together, and file uploads need a paid plan.
Switch from Tally if your developers already write the form markup and need only the back end.
Zoho Forms sits inside a wider suite and offers drag-and-drop building, payments and PDF output. The free plan allows three forms and 500 submissions a month for one user. Approvals start at Standard and HIPAA compliance at Premium, and a custom brand name starts above the free plan.
Switch from Tally if you already use other Zoho products and want approvals on a mid tier.
Jotform, bootstrapped in San Francisco, claims over 40 million users and 150-plus integrations, and exports submissions as CSV, Excel or PDF. Every tier caps active forms, submissions, views, upload space and stored submissions separately, with Starter at 100 submissions a month. HIPAA features begin on Gold.
Switch from Tally if you want the widest set of integrations and export formats and accept a complex plan table.
Typeform SL of Barcelona sells forms built on conversational logic, one question at a time. Free allows 100 responses a month for one user; Plus includes 1,000 responses and three users, Business 10,000 and five, and the badge comes off on Plus. It is the pricier route here.
Switch from Tally if presentation and respondent experience matter more to you than cost.
You want the forms and the submissions on your own server
OpnForm: The core is AGPLv3 and can be self-hosted, and the hosted free plan has unlimited forms and submissions in one workspace.
02
You get a lot of replies and want a price that ignores them
forms.app: Responses and team members are unlimited on every plan, with forms and storage as the meter.
03
Your forms need calculations, approvals or a client area
Cognito Forms: Calculations and document generation are core, and the Team tier adds approvals and a client portal.
04
Your developers write the form markup themselves
Formspree: You post your own HTML or JavaScript form to an endpoint; the free plan covers 50 submissions a month.
05
You want every teammate included and workflows in the form
Fillout: Forms and seats are unlimited on every tier, and the free plan includes 1,000 responses a month.
04
When Tally is still the right choice
Tally stays a good choice when you mainly need straightforward forms, a text-document editor and a free plan with unlimited forms and submissions, including payments, signatures, conditional logic and webhooks. Its operator, Tally BV in Ghent, is a small team that calls itself bootstrapped and funded by customers, and form data is stored in Europe. If the paid features you miss cost EUR 20 a month, compare that before moving.
05
What moving off Tally involves
01
Forms need rebuilding by hand
Our pages do not describe a Tally form importer on any alternative, so plan to rebuild each form. Doc-style layouts, answer piping and calculations map to different blocks elsewhere. Start with your three busiest forms, and check logic and webhooks against test submissions.
02
Export your data and repoint embeds
Download past submissions from Tally before cancelling a paid plan, because the GDPR page says deleted data leaves backups within 90 days. Replace embedded forms and links on your site, and update any Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, Zapier or Make connections that you set up.
06
Questions about replacing Tally
6 answers
Is Tally actually free?
Tally's pricing page lists a free plan with unlimited forms and submissions, subject to its fair usage guidelines, and no time limit. Branding removal and custom domains need Pro at EUR 20 a month.
Where does Tally store form data?
Tally's GDPR page says data is stored in Europe, with Google Cloud in Belgium and Cloudflare storage in the EU. Opt-in services such as SendGrid for email notifications and Stripe for payment forms are listed in the US.
When does Tally's fair use policy apply?
The policy gives about 50,000 submissions a month, 100 GB of uploads a month or 500 GB of total storage as examples. If that continues for roughly three to four months, Tally offers a custom plan billed quarterly.
Which Tally alternative can I host myself?
OpnForm and HeyForm both publish AGPL code. OpnForm's community edition allows two users, and HeyForm's repository includes a Dockerfile. Self-hosting means you run updates, backups and security yourself.
What does Tally Business add over Pro?
Business, at EUR 65 a month, adds data retention controls, email verification for respondents and 90-day version history. We found no mention of SSO or HIPAA on the pricing page.
Which option fits developers who write their own forms?
Formspree takes your HTML or JavaScript form and handles validation, spam filtering and storage through an endpoint. The free plan covers 50 submissions a month.
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Sources
Checked 4 November 2026
Tally pricing: Free plan, Pro EUR 20 and Business EUR 65 per month, feature lists, 10 MB per-file limit, data stored in Europe.
Tally fair use policy: 50,000 submissions, 100 GB uploads a month, 500 GB storage, custom quarterly plan.
Tally GDPR help page: Subprocessors incl. Google Cloud Belgium, SendGrid and Stripe US opt-in, DPA, 90-day backup deletion.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Author and fact-checker: Sebastiaan Smits. This page was last reviewed on 7 November 2026; our review process is public.
