The short version
Same starting point. Different route after submit.
Forminit is a polished endpoint with field validation and an llms.txt. Postbag lets an agent set up and prove a working form, keeps messages on the record, signs outgoing notifications, and can run on your own infrastructure.
The evidence
What each service says it does.
These are not ratings. They are the practical details that tend to matter after a Form is live.
| Capability | Postbag | Getform (now Forminit) |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 5 forms, 1,000 submissions/month, 5 destinations, 90-day retention | 100 submissions/month, 1 form (Forminit pricing) |
| Entry paid | Pro $15/month ($12/month billed yearly); Team $49/month ($39/month billed yearly) | Pro $19/month billed yearly |
| Management API | Your agent can create, inspect and manage forms from one API | REST API on Pro; submit and list-submissions documented, form CRUD not verified |
| Webhooks | Yes; HMAC-signed when a secret is configured, with visible retries | Yes on Pro; signing not verified |
| Yes (Resend), Reply-To from the submission | Yes | |
| Chat destinations | Telegram today; Slack and Discord next | Slack, Discord |
| Spam | Honeypot, rate limits, approved origins and Cloudflare Turnstile; flagged messages stay available to review | Honeypot, Turnstile, reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, domain allowlist, rate limits |
| File uploads | Not yet (text fields only; 256 KB) | Yes, including free tier |
| Self-hosting / source | Yes, the same product you use in the cloud | No |
| Keeping fields tidy | Keeps changing field names clear and catches surprises before they spread | "Form Blocks" typed validation; no versions or drift |
| Many sites, one place | Keep forms from many sites together, then send each one where it belongs | Workspaces (Business) |
| For AI agents | Your agent can set up, test and manage a form without a browser | llms.txt; marketing aimed at AI site builders; no MCP or CLI found |
On a small screen, the table scrolls sideways so the full wording stays readable.
Source note Getform (now Forminit) facts checked on against: forminit.com/pricing, Why Forminit (rename, Jan 2026), forminit.com/llms.txt. Prices and quotas change, so check the vendor pages before deciding. Tagline quoted: "A form backend for websites, apps, and AI-built frontends".
The practical choice
Both can be the right answer.
Choose Getform (now Forminit) if
- You need file uploads on the free tier.
- You want typed per-field validation set up in a UI.
Choose Postbag if
- You want changing field names to stay understandable, not just validated.
- Several sites must feed one partner, on a schedule that suits them.
- Your agent should create, test and connect the form without a human.
- You need self-hosting.
What Postbag keeps hold of
The Submission does not disappear into the notification.
Postbag treats a Submission as a database row before anything else and Delivery as an outbox drained by a worker. Each Delivery keeps its retry count and latest outcome, including for spam. Streams let many Forms with different field names map onto one versioned Schema and reach one partner or CRM with windows and digests. Add a secret and Postbag signs each webhook attempt. The same /openapi.json and /llms.txt describe the API an agent uses to create, verify and route a Form without a browser. And it ships as one Docker image plus Postgres, so the hosted product and a self-hosted install are the same thing.
