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formbasevsFillout
Two modern, integration-heavy form builders. Fillout leans toward forms that read and write your database (Airtable, Salesforce, HubSpot). formbase leans toward authoring speed, in-app AI on every plan, and flat pricing.
Try without loginTL;DR
Both target the same integration-first buyer. They split on the core surface. Fillout is built to read and write your connected databases — Airtable, Salesforce, and HubSpot — across a tiered price ladder (Free, Starter, Pro, Business, plus Enterprise) that scales response caps. formbase is built for fast authoring: a document-style editor, AI in the builder on every plan including Free, side-by-side multilingual translation that’s free on every plan, abandoned-response recovery, and flat pricing with unlimited workspace members.
Pick formbase for fast authoring, multilingual on every plan, AI in the builder from the Free plan, and one Pro price that unlocks everything. Pick Fillout when your form must read and write Airtable, Salesforce, or HubSpot records natively without a Zapier hop.
At a glance
| Capability |   | Fillout |
|---|---|---|
| In-app AI chatgenerate, refine, translate, and analyze forms via chat in the builder | ✓Every plan, including Free | ✓AI form builder + AI workflows; no single unified in-builder chat that also translates and analyzes |
| AI Skillsreusable domain-knowledge instructions your team can activate per AI conversation | ✓Pro | ✗ |
| Native GitHubGitHub as a first-party integration — not Zapier-bridged (Discord and Linear are native on both) | ✓ | ✗Zapier / REST only |
| Multilingual question contentside-by-side translator with AI translate, RTL, and outdated-row tracking | ✓Every plan, including Free | ✗Business+ only ($75 / mo, ~36 languages, no AI translate, no outdated-row tracking) |
| Abandoned-response triggersemail respondents and fire integrations when a form is left incomplete | ✓Pro (adjustable delay + threshold) | ✓Partial submissions on Business — no documented inactivity-delay email |
| Separate light + dark themesdesign distinct light/dark themes per form; respondents pick or system-match | ✓Pro | ✗Single theme + custom CSS |
| Submission retention controlsauto-delete after N days or on a fixed date, per form | ✓Business | ✗Not documented |
| Per-link analyticsfilter analytics by share link for campaign attribution | ✓Pro | ✗Form-level analytics only (Business) — no per-link filter |
| First-party MCP serverdrive the builder from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor; MCP actions never spend AI credits | ✓Every plan, no AI-credit cost | ✗Native MCP server, but not credit-free |
| Free-plan file uploadshow big a single uploaded file can be on the free plan | ✓200 MB pooled — any individual file size counts against the pool | ✗20 MB max per file |
| Workspace seats on standard paid tiers | Unlimited on Pro | Unlimited on every tier — but feature ladder by tier |
| Custom domain | ✓Pro — up to 5 | ✓Business — $75 / mo |
In-app AI chatgenerate, refine, translate, and analyze forms via chat in the builder
AI Skillsreusable domain-knowledge instructions your team can activate per AI conversation
Native GitHubGitHub as a first-party integration — not Zapier-bridged (Discord and Linear are native on both)
Multilingual question contentside-by-side translator with AI translate, RTL, and outdated-row tracking
Abandoned-response triggersemail respondents and fire integrations when a form is left incomplete
Separate light + dark themesdesign distinct light/dark themes per form; respondents pick or system-match
Submission retention controlsauto-delete after N days or on a fixed date, per form
Per-link analyticsfilter analytics by share link for campaign attribution
First-party MCP serverdrive the builder from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor; MCP actions never spend AI credits
Free-plan file uploadshow big a single uploaded file can be on the free plan
Workspace seats on standard paid tiers
Custom domain
Where formbase fits better
Editor and AI
Both ship polished builders. The split is AI. Fillout has an AI form builder for generation and AI workflows that summarize, classify, and extract from submissions. formbase puts generation, refinement, translation, and response analysis into one chat inside the builder — and it works on every plan, including Free (you start at a $0 credit balance and buy credit packs; Pro and Business add included monthly credits). A first-party MCP server lets AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor build forms directly. Fillout also ships a native MCP server, but formbase’s MCP actions are direct API operations that never consume AI credits.
Multilingual
This is the clearest gap. Fillout paywalls translation entirely to its Business tier ($75 / mo), covers around 36 languages, and has no AI auto-translation. formbase includes multilingual on every plan — including Free — with 40+ built-in UI languages, browser-language auto-detection, and a side-by-side translator that adds AI translate, RTL rendering, and outdated-row tracking. When the source changes, every affected string is flagged — question content, options, and notification emails included. Run 5+ languages and outdated-row tracking saves you from re-checking every translation by hand.
Abandoned-response recovery
Fillout’s Business tier captures partial submissions. formbase Pro goes further. Wait for an adjustable idle window (12 hours to 1 week), then email the respondent a resume link and trigger your integrations. A required-field threshold keeps half-empty drafts from firing.
Paired light and dark themes
formbase stores separate light and dark themes per form, from a preset library or built from scratch. Respondents pick at fill time or follow system preference. Fillout exposes one theme plus custom CSS — strong for one-off brand fidelity, but no paired light/dark variants out of the box.
Pricing, retention, and limits
Fillout climbs Free → Starter ($15 / mo, $180 / yr, 2,000 responses) → Pro ($40 / mo, $480 / yr, 5,000 responses) → Business ($75 / mo, $900 / yr, unlimited), plus a contact-sales Enterprise tier. Features ladder by tier: custom themes on Starter, branding removal + custom emails + custom CSS on Pro, and custom domain + form analytics + partial submissions + translations on Business.
formbase has three tiers: Free, Pro, and Business. Branding removal, custom domains (up to 5), abandoned-recovery, advanced analytics, and unlimited workspace members are all on Pro. Custom themes are included on Free. Business adds up to 20 custom domains, shared AI credits, respondent email verification, and submission retention controls (“delete after N days” and “delete on a fixed date”) — Fillout doesn’t document a comparable per-form setting. formbase Pro bundles custom domains, advanced analytics, abandoned-recovery, and unlimited members — features Fillout splits across its Pro ($40) and Business ($75) tiers.
Where Fillout fits better
Fillout has genuine strengths. Weigh these if any is a must-have for your team:
Airtable round-trip is best-in-class. Fillout reads and writes Airtable rows natively — field-level updates, lookups, and prefill from existing records. formbase syncs to Airtable but doesn’t read rows back into the form.
Salesforce + HubSpot field-level mapping. Fillout maps form fields directly to Salesforce / HubSpot object fields with native API auth. formbase routes via signed webhooks — fine for write-only, more work for two-way sync.
Scheduling block. Fillout has a native scheduling / calendar embed, so respondents pick a slot inside the form. formbase embeds Calendly and other scheduling tools as content blocks, but has no built-in calendar field.
Larger template directory. Fillout’s mature gallery covers verticals like real estate, recruiting, and consulting. formbase has a smaller library, but AI generates any form from a prompt or a screenshot of an existing one.
Tier-by-tier pricing
| Plan | | Fillout |
|---|---|---|
| Free submissions / mo | 1,000 (fixed) | 1,000 |
| Free file storage | ✓200 MB pooled | ✗20 MB max per file (unlimited uploads, no documented total pool) |
| Free workspace members | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Multilingual / translationstranslate question content into other languages | ✓Every plan, including Free (AI translate, 40+ languages) | ✗Business ($75 / mo) only — ~36 languages, no AI translate |
| Entry paidmonthly | Pro — see pricing | $15 / mo Starter — 2,000 responses, custom themes (no custom emails / no branding removal) |
| Entry paidannual | Annual available | $15 / mo Starter ($180 / yr) |
| Mid paidmonthly | — | $40 / mo Pro — 5,000 responses, branding removal, custom CSS |
| Top paidmonthly | — | $75 / mo Business — unlimited responses, custom domain, partial submissions, form analytics, translations |
| Paid workspace members | Unlimited (Pro) | Unlimited across all tiers |
| Branding removal | Pro | Pro ($40) |
| Custom domain | Pro — up to 5 | Business — $75 / mo |
| AI in the builder | ✓Every plan, incl. Free (buy credit packs); Pro and Business add included monthly credits | ✗AI form builder + workflows; no documented free AI credit entitlement |
Free submissions / mo
Free file storage
Free workspace members
Multilingual / translationstranslate question content into other languages
Entry paidmonthly
Entry paidannual
Mid paidmonthly
Top paidmonthly
Paid workspace members
Branding removal
Custom domain
AI in the builder
How to choose
Choose formbase if you want AI in the builder and multilingual forms from the Free plan, side-by-side translation with outdated-row tracking, abandoned-response recovery, paired light/dark themes, and one flat Pro plan that covers features Fillout splits across its Pro and Business tiers. Unlimited workspace members included.
Choose Fillout when the form must read and write Airtable, Salesforce, or HubSpot records natively without a webhook hop, or when a native scheduling block is required.
