How Do I Get Started with SimpleForm?

Quick Start (5 minutes)

1. Sign up at simpleform.dev/register — no credit card required.
2. Create a form from your dashboard. You'll get a unique token like abc123xyz.
3. Update your HTML — change the form's action attribute to https://simpleform.dev/f/abc123xyz.
4. Submit a test entry. Check your inbox and the dashboard.

That's it. Below is the minimum HTML you need.

<form action="https://simpleform.dev/f/YOUR_TOKEN" method="POST">
  <input type="text"  name="name"    required>
  <input type="email" name="email"   required>
  <textarea name="message" required></textarea>
  <button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>

How do I configure a form?

Every form has these settings, configurable from the dashboard:

• Email recipients — comma-separated list of addresses to notify.
• Custom subject — subject line for the notification email.
• Redirect URL — where to send the user after a successful submission. Leave blank to show the default thank-you page.
• Allowed domains — restrict submissions to specific origins (one per line).
• Honeypot — on by default. Detects bots filling hidden fields.
• reCAPTCHA v3 — Pro+. Verifies g-recaptcha-response with your secret.

How does spam protection work?

SimpleForm uses three layers, in this order:

1. Honeypot fields. Any field whose name starts with _ (e.g. _honeypot, _gotcha) is treated as a trap — bots fill them, humans don't see them.
2. IP rate limiting. Max 10 submissions per IP per endpoint per hour. Returns 429 over the limit.
3. reCAPTCHA v3 (optional). Pro+ users can enable Google reCAPTCHA with their own keys.

To add a honeypot to your form:

<input type="text" name="_honeypot" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off"
       style="position:absolute;left:-9999px" aria-hidden="true">

How do I submit via AJAX (no page redirect)?

Just add an Accept: application/json header — the endpoint will return JSON instead of redirecting.

document.querySelector('#myForm').addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
  e.preventDefault();
  const form = e.target;
  const res = await fetch(form.action, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json' },
    body: new FormData(form),
  });
  const data = await res.json();
  if (data.success) form.reset();
});

How do webhooks work?

On Pro+ plans, you can attach webhook URLs to any form. Each submission fires a POST to every active webhook with this JSON body:

{
  "event": "submission.created",
  "form": { "id": 42, "name": "Contact form" },
  "submission": {
    "id": 1234,
    "created_at": "2026-04-25T12:00:00Z",
    "data": { "name": "Ada", "email": "ada@example.com" }
  }
}

If you set a signing secret, we add an X-SimpleForm-Signature header (HMAC-SHA256 of the body, hex-encoded).

Can I upload files?

Yes — Pro plan supports up to 5 MB per file, Agency up to 25 MB. Use a multipart form:

<form action="https://simpleform.dev/f/TOKEN" method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">
  <input type="file" name="resume">
  <button type="submit">Apply</button>
</form>

API Reference

Response codes

FAQ