Frequently Asked Questions

How is this different from other form-builders?

Formulate lets you build forms using an actual programming language (Javascript). You can build conditional logic and other types of complex flows in a powerful, intuitive way without resorting to fiddly and limiting drag-and-drop UIs.

Formulate also lets you make arbitrary HTTP requests as the user is working their way through the form, which opens the door to all sorts of interesting and dynamic behavior.

How is this different from building my own form from scratch?

Formulate gives you the power to define your form's layout and logic using a programming language, while simultaneously allowing you to ignore implementation details like web server hosting, UI code, and a persistence layer.

This sort of tool lies somewhere on the spectrum between no-code/low-code tools and building a custom form yourself, from scratch. If you know how to code but don't want to worry about UI code or persistence, Formulate is perfect for you!

Can I use this if I don't know how to code?

You could, but it isn't necessarily the right tool for you. If you want to explore a new powerful way to build forms and learn basic coding skills at the same time, head to our intro tutorial or gallery to get started. It's going to be challenging but fun!

If this doesn't sound like something you want to do, we'd recommend a drag-and-drop form builder like Tally or something more traditional like Google Forms.

What does it mean for Formulate to be "in alpha"?

We're in the process of figuring out if this tool (or even this kind of tool) is something people would use, and would be willing to pay money for. The product may be incomplete or unpolished in certain ways, and is probably missing a ton of features that we'd expect a generally-available version to have.

With that said, we take reliability and the security of your data very seriously, so feel free to use this tool "in production" as long as you're willing to live with minor bugs and inconsistencies. Let us know if you see any issues – this helps us make the product more reliable for everyone. You can also post/comment in our community if you run into trouble.

The roadmap has a rough sketch of the path we have in mind to get to a full v1 release of Formulate.

Why can't I create a user account?

The simple answer is that we didn't want to waste time building an authentication system while writing up the initial version. We'll probably have real user accounts before Formulate becomes generally available, although the current low-auth approach is growing on us to some extent.

Why doesn't Formulate have feature X?

Formulate is in alpha, and is expected to have a not-quite-complete feature set. Our roadmap has a rough list of features we expect to build before Formulate hits the generally-available stage.

If you have a feature request that isn't on that list, create a post in our community or contact us.