Tally
Form builder with a document-like editor, a generous free plan and a few paid options such as removing the branding.
A form that records responses, sends them by email or webhook and exports them as CSV is a classic application: a weekend is enough. Tally is generous on the free plan, so the saving is mainly for those who pay to remove the branding or connect a domain. It is for you to judge whether it is worth a weekend of development and a server to watch.
What you lose
- The polished editor, usable by everyone.
- Unlimited free use on basic forms.
- Partial responses saved as people fill in the form.
- The custom domain and ready-made integrations.
- The team space and spam protection of an established service.
Existing alternatives to Tally
- OpnFormOpen source
Free form builder with unlimited respondents, self-hostable with Docker.
- HeyFormOpen source
Free conversational form builder, without Tally's document-style editor.
The prompt to build it yourself
Build me a personal form builder to replace Tally. Stack: a single Node app, Express, better-sqlite3, server-rendered pages, deployed on my VPS behind Caddy. No front-end framework. To do: - An administration at /admin, protected by an ADMIN_TOKEN in .env, no accounts: create a form, add fields (text, long text, email, choice list, checkbox, file), make them required, reorder them. - Each form has a public page /f/<slug>: one column, an accent colour, client-side and server-side validation, honeypot field and per-IP rate limit against spam. - Responses in SQLite. Uploaded files in uploads/<slug>/, limited to 10 MB. - Two optional notifications per form: an email on each response (SMTP in .env) and a JSON POST to a webhook. - On the admin side: a sortable table of responses with CSV export. - No telemetry, no third-party service: respondents' data stays in my SQLite file. Out of scope: partial responses, conditional logic, payments, team spaces, template gallery. README: .env variables, example Caddy config, location of the database and files.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Tally be replaced by a custom-built tool?
- casevibecode verdict: Replaceable. A form that records responses, sends them by email or webhook and exports them as CSV is a classic application: a weekend is enough. Tally is generous on the free plan, so the saving is mainly for those who pay to remove the branding or connect a domain. It is for you to judge whether it is worth a weekend of development and a server to watch.
- What is Tally used for?
- Form builder with a document-like editor, a generous free plan and a few paid options such as removing the branding.
- What alternatives to Tally already exist?
- OpnForm (open source), HeyForm (open source). Options to compare before committing to a custom build.
Community feedback
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