Point any HTML form at one endpoint. 500 free submissions — no card, no time limit — and unlimited forms.
Create free accountDisclosure: splitforms publishes this guide and is one of the options in it. There is no overall ranking: options are listed alphabetically and each pick names the use case it wins. Form-tool figures were read from each vendor's own pricing page (Tally, Web3Forms and Jotform checked October 10, 2026, Basin September 27, 2026). Admissions and student-information software is described in general terms with no prices; check each vendor's own pricing page. Plans change, so confirm before you buy.
What does a school website form need to do?
School websites serve several audiences: prospective parents researching enrollment, current parents communicating with staff, students seeking resources and community members asking about events. Each needs a different form with different fields and routing. What matters most:
- Admissions inquiry: parent name, email, phone, student name, current grade, grade applying for, school year, tour preference. This is the highest-stakes form, since every submission is a potential enrollment.
- General parent communication: parent name, email, student name, grade, teacher (optional), message. Routes to the front office.
- Tour scheduling: parent name, email, preferred date, preferred time, number of attendees. The admissions office confirms; no live calendar is needed.
- Department routing: admissions, athletics, counseling, transportation, after-school care, each inquiry type going to the right staff member.
- Mobile-first. Parents often fill the form out on a phone between meetings or in the carpool line.
Which option is best for each use case?
Each row names the option whose published plan or product category fits that job best. Competitors win most rows.
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full admissions pipeline, applications and enrollment records | Admissions or student-information software (Finalsite, Blackbaud, PowerSchool, Infinite Campus) | Built for applications, records and communication with families. A form backend only delivers the inquiry; see each vendor's pricing page for current plans. |
| A hosted builder at a school discount | Jotform | Eligible schools and nonprofits get 50% off the Bronze, Silver and Gold plans. The free Starter plan is 5 forms and 100 submissions a month. |
| A no-code form with webhooks on a free plan | Tally | Free plan: unlimited forms and submissions under fair use, webhooks, 10 MB uploads. Free forms show a "Made with Tally" badge. |
| Form data must stay in the EU | Tally or Jotform | Tally keeps form data in Europe. Jotform has an EU data center (Frankfurt), automatic for EU accounts and optional for others. |
| Zero cost and the school already uses Google Workspace | Google Forms | Free hosted forms that save to Google Sheets. It hosts the form for you rather than receiving your own HTML form. |
| Largest monthly free tier for an HTML form | Web3Forms | 250 submissions a month free, unlimited forms and domains. |
| Largest one-time free allowance, no card, no expiry | splitforms | 500 submissions total, with email notifications free on every plan. |
| Low-cost signed webhooks to department channels | splitforms Pro | $5/month for 5,000 submissions a month, with HMAC-signed webhooks. Tally is the free-webhook alternative if you accept a hosted form. |
What are the options, in alphabetical order?
- Basin: form backend. Free is 50 submissions a month on 1 form with 100 MB of uploads.
- Finalsite, Blackbaud, PowerSchool, Infinite Campus: school website, admissions and student-information platforms that manage applications, records and parent communication.
- Google Forms: free hosted forms that save to Google Sheets.
- Jotform: hosted drag-and-drop builder with payments, an EU data center option and 50% off paid plans for eligible schools (checked October 10, 2026).
- splitforms: HTML form backend. Free is 500 submissions in total; Pro is $5/month for 5,000 a month. Not a visual builder and not a CRM; no school discount.
- Tally: free hosted builder, EU-stored data, unlimited forms and submissions under fair use, with webhooks and payments.
- Web3Forms: form backend with 250 free submissions a month; file uploads start on its Pro plan.
How does a form backend fit a school?
School budgets are tight and IT staff are often stretched thin, so a form tool needs to be affordable, reliable and simple enough for a non-technical staff member to manage. If your school already has an admissions platform, check its built-in inquiry form first. A hosted form backend is a good fit when your public website is separate and you just need inquiries routed. What it typically gives you:
- Department routing. Separate forms for admissions, front office and counseling, each notifying the right person, or routed by webhook on plans that include them.
- Submission history. Accepted inquiries stay in a dashboard if an email notification is delayed or filtered.
- Spam filtering. School forms are frequent spam targets. splitforms uses a honeypot, a time trap and rule-based filtering; other vendors use reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha or similar.
For privacy, review each vendor's data-processing terms against your district's requirements (splitforms: security and DPA). splitforms makes no FERPA or COPPA claim.
Copy-paste: admissions inquiry form
Drop this on your /admissions or /inquire page. The example works with any HTML form backend that accepts a POST and is wired to splitforms; replace YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with the key from a free splitforms account. The fields give admissions staff enough to prepare for the callback without overwhelming prospective parents.
<form action="https://splitforms.com/api/submit" method="POST">
<input type="hidden" name="access_key" value="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" />
<input type="hidden" name="subject" value="New admissions inquiry" />
<label>Parent / Guardian name
<input type="text" name="parent_name" required autocomplete="name" />
</label>
<label>Email
<input type="email" name="email" required autocomplete="email" />
</label>
<label>Phone
<input type="tel" name="phone" required autocomplete="tel" />
</label>
<label>Student name
<input type="text" name="student_name" required />
</label>
<label>Current grade
<select name="current_grade" required>
<option value="">Choose one</option>
<option>Pre-K</option>
<option>Kindergarten</option>
<option>Grade 1</option>
<option>Grade 2</option>
<option>Grade 3</option>
<option>Grade 4</option>
<option>Grade 5</option>
<option>Grade 6</option>
<option>Grade 7</option>
<option>Grade 8</option>
<option>Grade 9</option>
<option>Grade 10</option>
<option>Grade 11</option>
<option>Grade 12</option>
</select>
</label>
<label>Grade applying for
<select name="applying_grade" required>
<option value="">Choose one</option>
<option>Pre-K</option>
<option>Kindergarten</option>
<option>Grade 1</option>
<option>Grade 2</option>
<option>Grade 3</option>
<option>Grade 4</option>
<option>Grade 5</option>
<option>Grade 6</option>
<option>Grade 7</option>
<option>Grade 8</option>
<option>Grade 9</option>
<option>Grade 10</option>
<option>Grade 11</option>
<option>Grade 12</option>
</select>
</label>
<label>School year
<select name="school_year" required>
<option value="">Choose one</option>
<option>2026–2027</option>
<option>2027–2028</option>
<option>Future year</option>
</select>
</label>
<label>How did you hear about us?
<select name="referral">
<option>Friend or family</option>
<option>Online search</option>
<option>Social media</option>
<option>School fair</option>
<option>Community event</option>
<option>Other</option>
</select>
</label>
<label>Would you like to schedule a tour?
<select name="tour_interest">
<option>Yes, please contact me</option>
<option>Not at this time</option>
</select>
</label>
<label>Questions or comments
<textarea name="message" rows="3"></textarea>
</label>
<!-- honeypot -->
<input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off" />
<button type="submit">Submit inquiry</button>
</form>Route inquiries to admissions staff: Slack webhook or Teams webhook. Track in a spreadsheet: Google Sheets.
What mistakes do schools make with contact forms?
- One form for everything. Admissions, attendance, counseling and bus schedules shouldn't share one inbox. Create separate forms so each goes to the right staff member.
- Slow follow-up. Prospective parents often contact several schools at once, and a prompt reply helps. Wire alerts to a channel staff watch.
- Collecting sensitive data on a public form. Medical records, IEPs, custody documents and SSNs belong in your secured student information system, not on a public website form.
- Long, intimidating forms. A 20-field form asking for household income, both parents' employers and essay questions is likely to be abandoned. Capture the lead first; collect details later.
- Poor mobile layout. Many parents will use a phone. Native HTML input types bring up the right keyboard.
When is splitforms not the right choice?
- You need an admissions system. Applications, records and re-enrollment belong in admissions or student-information software. splitforms is not a CRM and not a scheduling or booking engine.
- You need a school discount. splitforms has none. Jotform takes 50% off paid plans for eligible schools.
- You need EU data residency. splitforms hosts data in the US under Standard Contractual Clauses (see the DPA). Tally keeps form data in Europe and Jotform offers a Frankfurt data center.
- Your procurement requires FERPA, COPPA, a BAA or a SOC 2 report. splitforms makes no FERPA or COPPA claim, has no BAA and has no SOC 2 report yet. Choose a vendor that publishes what your district requires.
- You want webhooks or file uploads on a free plan. On splitforms both need a paid plan. Tally includes webhooks and 10 MB uploads on Free, and Basin includes 100 MB of uploads on Free.
- You want to build the form visually. splitforms takes an HTML form you paste in. Tally, Jotform and Google Forms are visual builders.
What to do next
- If you use the template above: get a free splitforms access key (500 submissions total, no credit card).
- Related: church forms · clinic forms
- Add to your site: WordPress · Squarespace
- Questions? Email [email protected]
FAQ
Is this guide biased toward splitforms?
splitforms publishes this guide and is one of the options in it, so read it as vendor-written. There is no overall ranking: options are listed alphabetically, each pick names the use case it wins, and a section lists when splitforms is not the right choice (for example when you need an admissions system, a school discount, data stored in the EU, or free webhooks). Competitor figures come from each vendor's own pricing page.
What fields should a school contact form include?
For an admissions inquiry: parent name, email, phone, student name, current grade, grade applying for, school year, and how they heard about the school. For general parent communication: parent name, email, student name, grade, teacher (optional) and message. Keep it under 8 fields, because prospective parents are shopping several schools and a long form is easy to abandon.
How much does a school contact form cost?
It ranges from free to the price of an admissions or student-information system. Tally's free plan has unlimited forms and submissions under fair use, and it stores form data in Europe. Web3Forms gives 250 submissions a month free. Jotform's free Starter plan is 5 forms and 100 submissions a month, and eligible schools get 50% off its paid plans. splitforms gives 500 submissions total, one-time, then Pro is $5/month for 5,000 a month (Annual is $49/year for 15,000 a month). Admissions platforms such as Finalsite and student-information systems such as PowerSchool set their own prices; check each vendor's pricing page.
How do we route different types of inquiries to different staff?
Create separate forms for admissions, general office, counseling and athletics, each with its own key or form ID, and route notifications to the right person. Email routing is available on most tools; webhooks to Slack or Teams are free on Tally and on paid plans of most form backends, including splitforms (Pro, $5/month). Admissions systems also route inquiries to staff inside the platform.
Can we schedule school tours through a contact form?
Yes, as a request. Add preferred date and time fields to your admissions inquiry form, and the admissions office calls or emails to confirm. A live booking calendar is a feature of scheduling or admissions software, not of a form backend. Keeping it a request that staff confirms also lets the school manage capacity for tour days.
Is student data safe in a contact form?
Keep the public form limited to basic contact information: parent name, student name, grade level and contact details. Do not collect sensitive information such as medical records, IEPs, custody arrangements or Social Security numbers on a public website form. Collect those through your secured student information system (PowerSchool, Infinite Campus and similar) after enrollment. splitforms stores submissions in the US under Standard Contractual Clauses (see its DPA) and makes no FERPA or COPPA compliance claim, so check your district's own privacy and procurement requirements before choosing any form tool.
Will an HTML form work on my school website?
Usually yes. Whether the site is on WordPress, Finalsite, Blackbaud, Squarespace or custom, you can paste an HTML form and point it at a form backend endpoint, though some school platforms restrict custom code. If yours does, use the platform's built-in form or embed a hosted builder such as Tally, Jotform or Google Forms.