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formbasevsTypeform
Typeform pioneered one-question-at-a-time forms. formbase is document-style. Here's how they compare.
Try without loginTL;DR
Typeform pioneered conversational card-by-card forms. formbase is the document-style alternative: in-app AI on every plan, multilingual question content from Free, and abandoned-response recovery. One flat Pro plan unlocks every feature with unlimited team members, versus Typeform’s Basic → Plus → Business → Growth ladder, where the features most teams want are spread across $39–$379/mo tiers.
Pick formbase for predictable pricing, a free tier you can ship on, and features Typeform gates behind higher tiers. Pick Typeform when card-by-card animation, video questions, or signed-BAA HIPAA is the whole reason for the form.
At a glance
| Capability |   | Typeform |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan limitswhat you can collect before paying | 1,000 submissions / mo, unlimited questions per form | 10 responses / mo |
| In-app AI chatgenerate, refine, translate, and analyze forms inside the builder | ✓All plans | ✗Split across products: Creator AI builder (Basic+), Smart Insights analysis (Growth Flow+), separate translation — not one unified chat |
| AI Skillsreusable domain-knowledge instructions your team can activate per AI conversation | ✓Pro | ✗ |
| Native Discord, Linear, GitHubdeveloper tools wired in directly, not through Zapier | ✓ | ✗Zapier-only |
| Rich content blocks in formtables, lists, images, embeds (Maps/YouTube/Calendly), WYSIWYG-formatted text — like Notion | ✓ | ✗Statement cards + inline text formatting — no tables, lists, or embeds |
| PDF attached to notification emailsself + respondent notifications include a formatted PDF copy of the submission — no Zapier / Make required | ✓Pro / Business | ✗Not native — requires Zapier / Make |
| Edit after submissionrespondents reopen their submission and update answers — no duplicate row | ✓ | ✗Not supported natively |
| Digital signature fieldsign with mouse or finger; saved as an image alongside the submission — formbase includes signatures on every plan incl. Free, while Typeform gates them to its top tiers | ✓All plans, including Free | ✗Growth Flow / Growth Custom / Enterprise only |
| Respondent email verificationrequire a real, verified email via a 6-digit one-time code before the submission is accepted | ✓Business | ✗No native respondent email OTP |
| Per-file upload capmaximum size for a single uploaded file | ✓Pooled storage (200 MB Free / 500 GB Pro) — no per-file cap | ✗10 MB per file across all plans |
| Self-serve GDPR / DPAEU-law data processing agreement that applies the moment you collect personal data | ✓Formbase AS (Norway, EU/EEA law) — DPA applies automatically, no signature step; encryption at rest + TLS 1.2+, SCC/adequacy for transfers | ✗DPA must be requested/signed; BAA gated to Growth Custom |
| Password protect formgate the form behind a password without writing a workaround | ✓ | ✗No native password — hidden-field + logic workaround only |
| Invisible bot protectionblock bot submissions with no puzzles, on by default for every form | ✓Cloudflare Turnstile on every form — auto-matches theme + language | ✗Google reCAPTCHA — invisible needs Plus+ |
| Custom email domainnotifications come from your domain — better deliverability and branding | ✓Pro | ✗Plus+ with paid Contacts & Automations add-on — default is a typeform.io address |
| Per-link controlsmultiple share links per form, each with custom URL, expiry date, use-limit, default language, and analytics | ✓ | ✗One link + custom slug (Plus+) — no per-link expiry, use-limit, or analytics |
| Multilingual question contenttranslate the actual questions and options, not just system text | ✓All plans, with RTL + outdated-row tracking | ✓Business plan and above |
| Abandoned-response triggersemail respondents and fire integrations when a form is left incomplete | ✓Pro — inactivity-delay + required-field threshold, fires anywhere in the form | ~ "Send partial responses to integrations" toggle + Partial Submit Points; no inactivity-delay or required-field threshold |
| Custom domainserve forms on your own domain | ✓Pro — up to 5 | ✗Enterprise or Growth Custom only — up to 10 per account |
| Form paymentscollect money inside the form | ✓Stripe Connect, one-time, multi-currency | ✓ Stripe + PayPal, one-time only — no recurring |
| Branding removaldrop the "Powered by" tag | ✓Pro | ✗Plus tier and above ($79 / mo monthly, $56 / mo annual) |
| MCP serverdrive form authoring from Claude or any MCP client | ✓Production, OAuth + API keys — actions don't consume AI credits | Beta, personal access token only — plan around response caps |
| SSO, HIPAA, SOC 2enterprise security checklist | ✗Not offered today | ✓SSO + SOC 2 on Enterprise; HIPAA BAA on Growth Custom |
Free plan limitswhat you can collect before paying
In-app AI chatgenerate, refine, translate, and analyze forms inside the builder
AI Skillsreusable domain-knowledge instructions your team can activate per AI conversation
Native Discord, Linear, GitHubdeveloper tools wired in directly, not through Zapier
Rich content blocks in formtables, lists, images, embeds (Maps/YouTube/Calendly), WYSIWYG-formatted text — like Notion
PDF attached to notification emailsself + respondent notifications include a formatted PDF copy of the submission — no Zapier / Make required
Edit after submissionrespondents reopen their submission and update answers — no duplicate row
Digital signature fieldsign with mouse or finger; saved as an image alongside the submission — formbase includes signatures on every plan incl. Free, while Typeform gates them to its top tiers
Respondent email verificationrequire a real, verified email via a 6-digit one-time code before the submission is accepted
Per-file upload capmaximum size for a single uploaded file
Self-serve GDPR / DPAEU-law data processing agreement that applies the moment you collect personal data
Password protect formgate the form behind a password without writing a workaround
Invisible bot protectionblock bot submissions with no puzzles, on by default for every form
Custom email domainnotifications come from your domain — better deliverability and branding
Per-link controlsmultiple share links per form, each with custom URL, expiry date, use-limit, default language, and analytics
Multilingual question contenttranslate the actual questions and options, not just system text
Abandoned-response triggersemail respondents and fire integrations when a form is left incomplete
Custom domainserve forms on your own domain
Form paymentscollect money inside the form
Branding removaldrop the "Powered by" tag
MCP serverdrive form authoring from Claude or any MCP client
SSO, HIPAA, SOC 2enterprise security checklist
Where formbase fits better
A free tier you can ship on
Typeform Free caps at 10 responses/month — great for a quick test, tight for anything you run regularly. formbase Free gives you 1,000 submissions/month, no question cap, 200 MB pooled file storage, and the same editor and AI chat as Pro. Retention controls — “delete after N days” and “delete on a fixed date” — sit in form settings on the Business plan. Typeform doesn’t document a comparable per-form setting on standard plans.
AI authoring and MCP
Typeform splits AI across several products: Creator AI for building (from the Basic plan), Smart Insights for analysis (Growth Flow+), and Formless for conversations. Its MCP server is in beta. formbase keeps it to one AI chat inside the builder. It generates, refines, translates, and analyzes forms on every plan. Attach a screenshot or PDF of an existing form and AI recreates it as native blocks — Typeform AI accepts PDF, document, and spreadsheet uploads too, but not image or screenshot files. On a Pro or Business plan, AI Skills let your team save reusable domain-knowledge instructions and turn them on per conversation. formbase AI runs on AWS Bedrock, so under AWS Service Terms your data is not used to train models and is not retained after the request. The MCP server is production-ready and works with Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client — and because MCP actions are direct API operations, they don’t consume your formbase AI credits (Typeform’s MCP beta asks you to plan around response caps).
Multilingual on every plan
Typeform’s multi-language forms need Business ($129/mo monthly, $91/mo annual) or higher. Its translation covers questions and options but not respondent follow-up emails. formbase ships multilingual on every plan, including Free, with a side-by-side translator, RTL scripts, AI translate, and outdated-row tracking that flags which strings drifted when you edit the source. Question content, options, welcome and thank-you screens, and notification emails are all in scope.
Abandoned-response recovery
Typeform captures answers up to a “Partial Submit Point” marker you place in the form. Markers are capped at 1 on Basic/Plus and 3 on Business+, so anyone who drops off before that marker isn’t captured. formbase Pro works differently: it waits for an adjustable idle window (12 hours to 1 week), then emails the respondent a resume link and triggers your integrations. It works anywhere in the form, with no markers needed.
Multiple share links with per-link analytics
Typeform is one form, one link. You can set a custom slug on Plus and above, but you can’t spin up several links per form with their own expiry, response cap, or analytics. There’s no native per-link reporting either. Attribution falls back to UTM hidden fields, which Typeform’s own docs note get dropped on multi-page and embedded forms. formbase gives you as many links per form as you need, each with its own custom URL, close date, response limit, default language, and QR code. Analytics then filter by link with checkboxes — view one link, all links, or any subset across the Summary, Submissions, and Analytics tabs. You can attribute responses to a campaign without a workaround.
Custom domain at Pro pricing
Typeform’s full custom domain is gated to Enterprise or Growth Custom, and its Growth Flow tier already runs $379/mo monthly. Plus and Business get a Typeform subdomain only. formbase gives you up to 5 full custom domains on the Pro plan.
Invisible bot protection
formbase uses Cloudflare Turnstile on every form — it’s on by default and free. It runs in the background with no image puzzles, and the widget auto-matches your form’s theme and language. On a custom domain (available on Pro and Business) you bring your own Turnstile keys. Typeform relies on Google reCAPTCHA, and invisible reCAPTCHA needs Plus or higher.
Separate light and dark themes
formbase themes light and dark modes independently per form. Respondents see whichever matches their device, and you can force a mode when you embed. The dashboard has dark mode too. Typeform offers a single theme per form, with no respondent-facing dark mode.
Pricing predictability
Typeform has six-plus tiers from Free to Enterprise, and each gates different features — branding removal on Plus ($79/mo), multilingual on Business ($129/mo), custom domain on Growth/Enterprise ($379+/mo) — with seats that scale alongside response limits.
formbase has three tiers: Free, Pro, and Business. Business adds up to 20 custom domains, shared AI credits, respondent email verification, and custom data retention, for less than Typeform’s Business tier. Pro unlocks everything most teams need, with unlimited workspace members and AI credits included per user — every member gets Pro features, with no per-seat upgrade or separate paid account.
Where Typeform fits better
Typeform has genuine strengths. Weigh these if any is a must-have for your team:
Brand recognition + design polish. A decade of card-by-card UX, signature easing, and a recognisable visual language. For brand-led teams where the form is part of the marketing surface, Typeform is the safer pick.
Conversational + video question depth. Native video questions, record-and-reply video prompts, and Formless, Typeform’s separate AI-conversation product — useful for talent screening, qualitative research, or interview-style forms.
Larger native integration directory. 120+ native integrations including HubSpot, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Intercom, and Slack. formbase covers Slack, Notion, Airtable, Google Sheets, Discord, Linear, and GitHub natively — the rest work through signed webhooks or Zapier.
Enterprise SSO, signed BAA for HIPAA, and SOC 2. Typeform ships SAML/OIDC SSO + SCIM and SOC 2 Type II on Enterprise, and signs a BAA on Growth Custom (commonly bundled into Enterprise contracts). formbase doesn’t offer those tiers today — if compliance review blocks the contract, Typeform is the path.
Logic Jumps maturity. Quiz scoring, piping answers into later questions and the thank-you screen, and end-screen variants. formbase has conditional logic with page + field show/hide and answer piping, but Typeform’s branching engine is more mature for complex surveys.
Audience scale + research-grade analysis. Smart Insights, response analysis, and integrations with research tools (Hotjar, Mixpanel) make Typeform a stronger fit for high-volume product research.
Tier-by-tier pricing
| Plan | | Typeform |
|---|---|---|
| Free submissions / mo | 1,000 (fixed) | 10 |
| Entry paidmonthly | Pro — see pricing | $39 / mo Basic — 100 responses, 1 user |
| Entry paidannual | Annual available | $28 / mo Basic |
| Branding removal | Pro | Plus — $79 / mo monthly, $56 / mo annual, 1,000 responses, 3 users |
| Multilingual + AI Smart Insights | All plans (multilingual) / Pro (AI credits) | Business — $129 / mo monthly, $91 / mo annual, 10,000 responses, 5 users |
| Pro / mid-tier workspace members | Unlimited (all plans) | 1 (Basic) / 3 (Plus) / 5 (Business) |
| Pro included AI credits | Included AI credits | — (no bundled AI credits) |
| Custom domain | Pro — up to 5 full custom | Plus / Business — subdomain only; Growth Flow / Custom / Enterprise — full custom (up to 10 per account) |
| SSO / HIPAA / SOC 2 | Not offered today | SSO + SOC 2 on Enterprise; HIPAA BAA on Growth Custom |
| File uploadper file cap | Pooled storage (200 MB Free, 500 GB Pro), no per-file cap | 10 MB per file across all plans |
Free submissions / mo
Entry paidmonthly
Entry paidannual
Branding removal
Multilingual + AI Smart Insights
Pro / mid-tier workspace members
Pro included AI credits
Custom domain
SSO / HIPAA / SOC 2
File uploadper file cap
How to choose
Choose formbase for AI in the builder on every plan, multilingual question content from Free without a Business-tier upsell, abandoned-response recovery anywhere in the form, custom domain on Pro instead of Enterprise, unlimited workspace members, and a free tier you can ship on (1,000 submissions/mo vs Typeform’s 10). Three tiers — Free, Pro, and Business — replace Typeform’s Free → Basic → Plus → Business → Growth → Enterprise ladder.
Choose Typeform for its card-by-card UX, video questions, Formless-style AI conversations, and native HubSpot/Salesforce/Mailchimp integrations. SAML SSO and SOC 2 Type II are Typeform Enterprise, and a signed BAA for HIPAA comes on Growth Custom — formbase doesn’t offer those today. If those are blocking requirements, weigh the gap explicitly.
