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formbasevsTally
Tally is formbase's closest counterpart — both use a document-style editor. Here's where they diverge.
Try without loginTL;DR
Both share a document-style editor, slash menu, in-app AI builder, and MCP server. formbase adds in-app AI response analysis, reusable AI Skills, multi-language versions of one source form, native Cal.com scheduling, per-link analytics, abandoned and cross-device recovery, and team workspaces on every plan—including Free. Tally has a longer track record and more generous fair-use Free allowance. Pick formbase for those connected workflows; pick Tally for a one-off high-volume survey on fair-use Free or unlimited Pro file uploads.
At a glance
| Capability |   | Tally |
|---|---|---|
| In-app AI builder + credit-free MCPchat to generate, refine, and translate forms in the builder — or attach a screenshot / PDF and have AI rebuild it as native blocks; plus an MCP server whose actions don't spend AI credits | ✓in-app AI, screenshot/PDF rebuild, and MCP | ✓in-app AI builder/editor and MCP |
| AI analysis of responsesask plain-English questions about your submissions — trends, drop-off risks, segment comparisons | ✓ | ✗in-app; MCP only |
| AI Skillsreusable domain-knowledge instructions your team activates per AI conversation | ✓Pro | ✗ |
| Full multilingual translationAI-translate questions, options, and notification emails — side-by-side editor with outdated-row tracking | ✓ | ✗AI can rewrite form content; no side-by-side multi-language versions |
| Per-link analyticslive Viewed → Engaged → Completed funnel you can scope to a single share link | ✓ | ✗source/device breakdowns, but no per-link filter |
| Per-link controlsmultiple share links per form, each with custom URL, expiry date, and use-limit | ✓ | ✗custom URL only |
| Abandoned + cross-device recoveryemail respondents and fire integrations on drop-off; respondents resume on any device | ✓Pro | ✗Partial submissions (Pro) capture drop-offs — no recovery email, integration trigger, or cross-device resume |
| Native Cal.com scheduling integrationOAuth, event types, live slots, attendee mapping, logic, and booking details in submissions | ✓All plans | ✗generic Cal/Calendly iframe embed only |
| Delivery health + native GitHubauto token refresh, auto-pause on repeated failures, and one-click replay; plus native GitHub Tally lacks | ✓ | ✗no GitHub, sync log you monitor by hand |
| Free workspaces + team memberscreate workspaces and invite members by shareable link (expiry + use-limit) on any plan | ✓All plans | ✗Pro only — no workspaces or invites on Free |
| One account, many organizationsbelong to unlimited workspaces from different owners with a single login | ✓ | ✗one Pro org per account; joining moves your forms in (can't be moved back to a personal account) |
| Separate light + dark themesdistinct light/dark themes per form; respondents pick or system-match | ✓All plans | ✗ |
| Repeating groupsrepeatable sub-forms for line items, attendees, or multiple entries — on every plan | ✓All plans | ✗ |
| Submission retention controlsauto-delete submissions after N days or on a fixed date, per form | ✓ Business | ✓ Business |
| Invisible bot protectionblock bots without a visible puzzle or checkbox | ✓Cloudflare Turnstile on every form — on by default, free | ✗reCAPTCHA v2 — challenge can appear on suspicious traffic, can expire on multi-page |
In-app AI builder + credit-free MCPchat to generate, refine, and translate forms in the builder — or attach a screenshot / PDF and have AI rebuild it as native blocks; plus an MCP server whose actions don't spend AI credits
AI analysis of responsesask plain-English questions about your submissions — trends, drop-off risks, segment comparisons
AI Skillsreusable domain-knowledge instructions your team activates per AI conversation
Full multilingual translationAI-translate questions, options, and notification emails — side-by-side editor with outdated-row tracking
Per-link analyticslive Viewed → Engaged → Completed funnel you can scope to a single share link
Per-link controlsmultiple share links per form, each with custom URL, expiry date, and use-limit
Abandoned + cross-device recoveryemail respondents and fire integrations on drop-off; respondents resume on any device
Native Cal.com scheduling integrationOAuth, event types, live slots, attendee mapping, logic, and booking details in submissions
Delivery health + native GitHubauto token refresh, auto-pause on repeated failures, and one-click replay; plus native GitHub Tally lacks
Free workspaces + team memberscreate workspaces and invite members by shareable link (expiry + use-limit) on any plan
One account, many organizationsbelong to unlimited workspaces from different owners with a single login
Separate light + dark themesdistinct light/dark themes per form; respondents pick or system-match
Repeating groupsrepeatable sub-forms for line items, attendees, or multiple entries — on every plan
Submission retention controlsauto-delete submissions after N days or on a fixed date, per form
Invisible bot protectionblock bots without a visible puzzle or checkbox
Where formbase fits better
Editor and AI
Same editor model—document canvas, slash menu, drag-to-reorder. Both now have in-app AI that creates and edits forms, plus MCP servers. formbase’s remaining AI differences are workflow depth: attach screenshots or PDFs to rebuild them as native blocks, analyze submissions inside the app, and activate reusable AI Skills on Pro. formbase MCP actions are direct API operations that do not spend formbase AI credits. Tally AI and MCP are free on every plan.
Multilingual
Tally AI can translate or rewrite form content, but Tally’s saved form-language setting still translates system text only—error messages, closed-form copy, and default thank-you text. Serving several respondent languages from one source form still requires separate content or an external tool such as Weglot. formbase stores language versions together in a side-by-side editor with AI translation and outdated-row tracking; questions, options, thank-you pages, and notification emails stay synchronized.
Cal.com scheduling
Tally can place Cal or Calendly inside a form through its generic iframe embed, and logic can show or hide that embed based on earlier answers. The iframe does not turn booking into a Tally question: booking completion cannot drive form logic, become required, or appear as native submission data. formbase connects Cal.com through OAuth and exposes Schedule appointment as a native question with event types, availability, attendee-field mapping, conditional visibility, required booking, and booking details in submissions, PDFs, notifications, exports, and integrations.
Analytics and recovery
Both track drop-off and break traffic down by source and device on Pro. The difference is scope: formbase’s dashboard updates live and runs a Viewed → Engaged → Completed funnel you can filter to a single share link — Tally shows source and device breakdowns too, but its insights can’t be filtered per link, and on Free visit history is limited to 7 days. After a drop-off, Tally only shows the partial capture — formbase Pro emails the respondent, fires your integrations after an adjustable delay, and lets them resume on any device.
Integrations and delivery health
Both share Discord, Linear, Slack, Notion, Sheets, and Airtable. formbase adds native GitHub (which Tally lacks) and keeps deliveries healthy: it refreshes OAuth tokens before they expire, auto-pauses after repeated failures, and lets you replay any failed delivery in one click. Tally surfaces a sync log you monitor by hand.
Workspaces and team
formbase gives unlimited workspaces and team members on every plan, invited by shareable link with expiry and use-limits. On Tally, both workspaces and member invites are Pro features — they don’t exist on Free at all, so collaborating with even one teammate forces a Pro upgrade. formbase lets a whole team collaborate on the Free plan. One more catch for agencies and freelancers: a Tally account can belong to only one Pro/Business organization, and joining one moves your existing forms into it (and those forms can’t be moved back to a personal account — support can only move an account between organizations) — so working across clients usually means juggling separate accounts. A single formbase login works across every workspace you own or are invited to, and one Pro workspace covers the whole team — every member, even on a free account, gets Pro features at no per-seat cost.
Themes and retention
formbase stores separate light and dark themes per form — preset or from scratch — and respondents pick or follow system preference. Tally offers a light, dark, or custom theme per form, but a single form stores one theme — it can’t hold a separately-designed light and dark variant that respondents switch between or system-match the way formbase does. Retention is parity: both gate “delete after N days” and “delete on a fixed date” behind their Business plans at the same price point.
Payments
Both route through Stripe Connect for multi-currency one-time charges, and neither collects recurring payments through the form payment field. Neither adds a platform fee on top of Stripe’s own processing fees — on either tool you keep every dollar after Stripe — and formbase keeps payments enabled on every plan, including Free.
Pricing and limits
Tally Pro is $29/month or $290/year; formbase Pro is similarly priced. formbase Pro bundles AI credits and includes custom domains, abandoned recovery, advanced analytics, and version history (50 snapshots) — features Tally splits between Pro and Business. Tally Business is $89/month; formbase Business adds up to 20 custom domains, shared AI credits, respondent email verification, and custom data retention.
Where Tally fits better
Tally has genuine strengths. Weigh these if any is a must-have for your team:
Longer track record + larger community. Tally has shipped since 2020 with a public template gallery and a deep Notion / indie-SaaS following — useful when stakeholders want a recognisable name.
Fair-use Free tier. One-off high-volume surveys (a single launch, newsletter signup, hackathon RSVP) can sit on Tally Free indefinitely. formbase Free is a fixed 1,000 submissions / month — generous, but bounded.
Unlimited file uploads on Pro. Tally Pro has no documented per-file or pooled storage cap; formbase Pro pools 500 GB across the workspace.
Granular workspace roles. Tally manages access rights per workspace. formbase has one owner plus members, with no role tiers.
More built-in question types. Tally ships NPS and CSAT fields formbase doesn’t have natively yet. formbase does support linear scale, but only through AI or the MCP server — it isn’t in the slash menu.
Tier-by-tier pricing
| Plan | | Tally |
|---|---|---|
| Free submissions / mo | 1,000 (fixed) | Unlimited (fair-use) |
| Free forms | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Free file uploads | 200 MB pooled | 10 MB per file, no documented total cap |
| Free workspace members | Unlimited | None on Free (Pro only) |
| Promonthly | Pro — see pricing | $29 / mo |
| Proannual | Annual available | $290 / yr (2 months free) |
| Pro submissions / mo | 50,000 | Unlimited (fair-use) |
| Pro file uploads | 500 GB pooled | Unlimited, no per-file cap |
| Pro workspace members | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Pro custom domains | Up to 5 | Unlimited |
| Pro branding removal | Included | Included |
| Pro abandoned-response recovery | Included (adjustable delay + threshold) | Partial capture only — no recovery email or integrations |
| Pro included AI credits | Included AI credits | No credit model; Tally AI is free on all plans |
| Pro version history | 50 most recent snapshots | 30 days |
| Business tier | Business — 20 custom domains, respondent email verification, shared AI credits, custom data retention | $89 / mo — 90d version history, email verification, data-retention auto-delete |
Free submissions / mo
Free forms
Free file uploads
Free workspace members
Promonthly
Proannual
Pro submissions / mo
Pro file uploads
Pro workspace members
Pro custom domains
Pro branding removal
Pro abandoned-response recovery
Pro included AI credits
Pro version history
Business tier
Official Tally sources
Fact-checked July 12, 2026 against Tally’s own documentation:
Plans and pricing
Tally AI builder and editor
Tally MCP server
Generic calendar embeds
Partial submissions
Form Insights
Team collaboration and organization limits
Form-language scope
How to choose
Pick formbase for AI response analysis, screenshot/PDF rebuilds, AI Skills, native Cal.com scheduling, full multilingual translation, per-link analytics, abandoned and cross-device recovery, or free team workspaces.
Pick Tally for unlimited Pro file uploads, granular workspace roles, or the longest track record in the category. Its Free tier is also more forgiving for one-off high-volume surveys within its fair-use limits.
