A Netlify Forms alternative that survives a host change.

Netlify Forms work while the site is on Netlify. The data-netlify="true" attribute is a build rewrite. Move the same repo to Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages, or Vercel and the POST 404s.

Swap the action

<!-- before: Netlify-only -->
<form name="contact" method="POST" data-netlify="true">

<!-- after: any host -->
<form action="https://smote.sh/f/FORM_ID" method="POST">

Create the URL in the dashboard. Deploy wherever hugo, astro build, or the HTML folder already goes.

Side by side

	smote	Netlify Forms
Works off Netlify	Yes	No
Setup	Form `action`	`data-netlify` + build
Inbox	smote dashboard	Netlify UI
Captcha on your page	Not required	Often required
Free	1 form, 50 / month	Tied to the Netlify plan

If the site will never leave Netlify and you already like their UI, stay. If you want the form to outlive the host, use smote.

Get an action URL Static site guide

Questions

Does smote work if I stay on Netlify?

Yes. Delete the data-netlify attribute and point action at your smote URL. Same HTML, portable later.

What happens to old Netlify submissions?

They stay in the Netlify UI. New posts go to the smote inbox. There is no import.

Do I need a captcha on the Netlify form?

Not with smote. Leave reCAPTCHA off the page.