Form backend defined.
A form backend is a hosted service that receives your HTML form's POST, then stores, filters and delivers the submission, so your site needs no server of its own.
How a form backend works
Your form's action attribute points at the backend's endpoint instead of a server you run. When a visitor submits, the browser POSTs the fields straight there: the backend validates them, runs spam checks, stores the submission durably, emails it to you, and fans it out to any integrations you've switched on.
Build that yourself and you're running a server, wiring up SMTP for reliable delivery, adding spam filtering, and maintaining a database to keep every submission. A form backend is that whole stack as one hosted endpoint, so a purely static site can still collect form data.
What a form backend handles.
Delivery
It emails each submission to you and forwards it to Slack, Sheets or a webhook, with retries and visible status.
Spam filtering
Honeypot fields, captcha and rate limits sit in front of your inbox, so bots are stopped before you ever see them.
Storage & data access
Every submission is kept as a durable record you can search, export, or pull back as JSON.
Related questions
No. A form builder like Typeform or Google Forms hosts the form UI for you, so your visitors fill in a form on their domain. A form backend leaves the frontend to you: you keep your own HTML and design, and it only handles what happens after submit: receiving, storing and delivering the data.
Yes, because the key is a public identifier, not a password. It tells the backend which account a submission belongs to; it can't read your stored data or sign you in. With FormWire, delivery is also locked to recipients you've verified, so the key can only ever route a submission to you.
What a form endpoint is →Only if you want more than the host gives you. Netlify, Vercel and similar hosts include basic form capture, but tie your data to that platform. A standalone form backend works on any host and adds durable storage, delivery status, spam controls and integrations you'd otherwise build yourself.
Most have a free tier that covers personal sites and side projects, with paid plans for higher volume, more recipients and extra features. FormWire's free tier is permanent.
See pricing →Want to see it working?
Read the docsUse a form backend on your next site.
Free tier forever. No credit card required.