Should you build your own Fillout?
Build a polished form that writes to a user-owned database and supports simple branching
The core loop is small enough for a capable coding agent to produce a useful local version in one sitting. For Fillout, build a polished form that writes to a user-owned database and supports simple branching. The hard boundary is excellent airtable and notion integrations, scheduling, payments, and hosted polish, plus integrations, deliverability, and workflow depth.
ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.
Build a personal replacement for Fillout in an empty repository.
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and Resend; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: build a public form that writes to a user-owned database and supports simple branching, validate submissions, notify the owner, and provide a private response table with CSV export.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Create a form builder with short text, long text, email, number, select, radio, checkbox, and file fields.
Publish each form at a stable slug with server-side validation and accessible labels.
Add honeypot, rate limiting, submission-size limits, and a clear privacy notice.
Store responses in SQLite and provide search, filters, detail view, and CSV export.
Send an owner notification without placing submitted values in logs.
Support a thank-you screen and one simple conditional branch.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Deliberately leave out payment collection.
Deliberately leave out hundreds of third-party integrations.
Deliberately leave out multi-brand enterprise workspaces and compliance attestations.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR
What would building your own look like?
Build a public form that writes to a user-owned database and supports simple branching, validate submissions, notify the owner, and provide a private response table with CSV export.
What you will need
- Node.js 22
- Resend API key or SMTP credentials
- self-hosted deploy target
People still pay for Fillout because a basic form is trivial; people pay when the form feeds a dependable business workflow and never loses a response. The recurring cost buys spam control, email delivery, storage, exports, accessibility, conditional logic, and integrations, not just the visible interface.
xexcellent Airtable and Notion integrations, scheduling, payments, and hosted polish
xadvanced branching
xpayment and CRM integrations
xlarge template libraries
xenterprise compliance
Prefer something ready-made?
License, setup, and limitations for each alternative.
How much does Fillout cost?
- Monthly billing
- $19/mo$19/mo
- Per year
- $228/yr$228/yr
- Annual billing
- $180/yr21% cheaper than paying monthly
- On a Brazilian card, with 3.5% IOF
- R$99.29/moR$941/yr
Saved to My list. You will see a notice on this site when the price changes.
You complete the purchase on Fillout’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (per month) | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/workspace | $0/workspace | Unlimited forms, seats, questions and file uploads; 1,000 responses/month; 20MB maximum file size; Fillout branding |
| starter | $19/workspace≈ $19 | $15/workspace≈ $15 | 2,000 responses/month and 20MB maximum file size; unlimited forms, seats, questions and uploads |
| pro | $49/workspace≈ $49 | $40/workspace≈ $40 | 5,000 responses/month; unlimited forms and seats |
| business | $89/workspace≈ $89 | $75/workspace≈ $75 | Unlimited responses, at least 1GB maximum file size, custom domain, unlimited forms and seats |
| enterprise | custom | - | 1 million+ database records, unlimited workflow runs, unlimited forms, seats and responses |
Free tierUnlimited forms, seats, questions and file uploads; 1,000 responses/month; 20MB maximum file size; Fillout branding
Billing termsmonthly + annual prepaid (-20%)
Additional costsFillout says responses continue to be collected after the monthly cap, but the account must upgrade, buy unpublished bulk-submission capacity or wait for reset to use them; Conversion Kit is a separately sold add-on with no public rate.
verified 2026-10-20 · source ↗
Is it cheaper to build or buy Fillout?
Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.
Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.
Starting hours estimated from the analysis (one sitting). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).
Can I rebuild Fillout?
Yes. A competent AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can build a usable personal Fillout replacement in one session with the prompt on this page. It runs on your own machine or server with no subscription.
How much does Fillout cost?
Fillout costs about $19/mo (Starter, checked 10/20/2026), which is $180 per year. That’s what you save by replacing it with one prompt.
What do I lose by replacing Fillout?
Honestly: excellent Airtable and Notion integrations, scheduling, payments, and hosted polish; advanced branching; payment and CRM integrations; large template libraries; enterprise compliance. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Fillout?
Yes: Baserow (Airtable's database half with public forms and your own disk underneath) The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.