DropForm vs Basin: Which Form Backend Fits Your Static Site?

Overview: DropForm and Basin in a nutshell

Basin is a no-code form automation and processing service designed for static sites, no-code projects, and Jamstack apps. You point your HTML form or AJAX request to a Basin endpoint, and it handles submissions, spam filtering, and basic automation for you.

DropForm is also a form backend for static and headless sites, but it focuses on giving you a shared inbox for all submissions. Instead of just piping data into your email or exports, DropForm lets your team read, search, and route submissions into tools like Slack or Google Sheets.

Both tools remove the need to build your own form backend. The biggest differences are in collaboration, integrations, and how they fit into modern composable architectures.

Quick comparison

Positioning

• DropForm: Form backend + shared submissions inbox, built for static, Jamstack, and headless apps that need native integrations.
• Basin: No-code form processing and automation for static sites, Webflow, WordPress, and Jamstack apps.

Setup

• DropForm: Create a form in the dashboard, copy its endpoint, and send submissions via classic HTML forms or JSON requests.
• Basin: Attach a Basin endpoint to your form, optionally enable spam filtering, redirects, and notifications, and you're ready to go.

Free plan & limits

• DropForm: A free tier aimed at real projects, so you can launch and validate before upgrading.
• Basin: A typical SaaS model with a free tier for low-volume usage and paid plans that increase submission limits and add features.

Integrations & automation

• DropForm: Focuses on routing submissions into tools like Slack, Google Sheets, Trello, Notion, Airtable, and webhooks.
• Basin: Offers integrations and automation around email, redirects, and no-code workflows, with exports when you need raw data.

What Basin is good at

Basin is a great fit when you want to bolt a reliable form backend onto a static, Jamstack, or no-code project without thinking too much about infrastructure.

• Static-site friendly: Works with static sites, Webflow, Jamstack, and more.
• Spam & security: Built-in spam filtering and protection controls.
• File uploads: Support for file attachments in forms.
• Redirects & success pages: Send users to custom thank-you pages after submission.

If your main goal is “receive submissions somewhere safe and occasionally export them”, Basin gives you most of what you need out of the box.

How DropForm is different from Basin

DropForm focuses on making submissions easier to work with once they arrive. Instead of thinking in terms of “webhooks + exports”, you think in terms of conversations and workflows.

Inbox-first collaboration

• DropForm: Central inbox for all your forms with filters, search, and per-form views. It's easier to manage demo requests, contact messages, and bug reports as a team.
• Basin: More oriented around receiving and forwarding submissions than acting as a shared collaboration space.

Routing and integrations

• DropForm: Route specific forms into specific Slack channels, spreadsheets, boards, or other tools. Great when you have multiple projects or domains.
• Basin: Good for simpler automations around email, redirects, and basic integrations, but complex multi-tool routing typically requires more external glue.

MACH & headless approach

DropForm is designed as a headless form backend service you can plug into a composable stack alongside other APIs. You treat it as one of the core building blocks of your architecture, not just a bolt-on email gateway.

Pricing and limits

Both Basin and DropForm follow usage-based pricing: the more submissions and forms you run, the higher the plan you'll need. The key difference is how early you're forced to upgrade and which features are gated.

• Basin: A small free tier suitable for trying the service and running very small projects, with paid plans unlocking higher submission limits and enterprise features.
• DropForm: A free tier tuned for side projects and early-stage SaaS or client work, with paid plans focused on scaling usage rather than locking core features.

Developer experience: frameworks and workflows

Both Basin and DropForm work anywhere you can send an HTTP POST from a frontend or serverless function.

• Basin: Good documentation and examples for static HTML forms and JAMstack frameworks.
• DropForm: A clean, framework-agnostic API plus guides for React, Vue, Astro, and other modern setups, with an emphasis on MACH and headless architectures.

When to choose DropForm vs Basin

Use Basin if…

• You want a simple form backend for a static or no-code site.
• You're happy to handle most follow-up in your email inbox.
• You just need basic automation and occasional exports.

Use DropForm if…

• You want an inbox-style interface to manage submissions across multiple forms and projects.
• You rely on tools like Slack, Sheets, Trello, or Notion and want native integrations and webhooks.
• You're building static, JAMstack, or headless apps and want a composable form backend that scales with you.

Migrating from Basin to DropForm

Migrating from Basin to DropForm is typically just a few code changes:

1. Create a new form in DropForm and copy its endpoint URL.
2. Replace the Basin endpoint in your action attribute or AJAX code with the DropForm endpoint.
3. Update any success/error handling if your previous integration relied on Basin-specific responses or redirects.
4. Recreate email notifications and routing to Slack, Sheets, or other integrations inside DropForm.
5. Send test submissions and start using the DropForm inbox for day-to-day work.