Deftform vs Tally
Tally is a great free form builder. When you need your own domain and no Tally branding, it becomes a subscription. Deftform includes a custom domain on every plan and offers a one-time Lifetime option, hosted in Germany.
Side by side
Both are simple, EU-based form builders with unlimited responses. These are the differences. Tally details are taken from tally.so/pricing.
Competitor details as published on their website, checked October 2026.
Pricing
Tally is free until you need your brand front and center. Then it's Pro or Business.
Sold in packs of 5. Buy more forms whenever you need them, with no long-term commitment.
Everything Deftform has to offer in one plan, including the Business add-on.
Pay once, use forever. Also available as 12 monthly payments of €16.
Unlimited forms and submissions within fair use.
Billed monthly, or $290/year.
Billed monthly, or $890/year.
Deftform prices are in EUR and exclude VAT; pre-paid forms are sold in packs of 5. Optional add-ons for Pre-paid and Lifetime: Business €18/month, Extended €19 one-time, removing the "Powered by Deftform" backlink €10 one-time. Tally prices are list prices in USD from tally.so/pricing, checked October 2026; Tally may show prices in another currency depending on your location.
Cost example
Five people work on client forms, which must run on the client's domain without third-party branding.
Honestly: in year one, Tally Pro and Deftform Complete cost about the same. Deftform Lifetime is cheaper from the start, and from year two it costs nothing.
Prices as published, checked October 2026. Deftform prices exclude VAT. Competitor prices are shown in the currency they publish; we don't convert currencies.
Why switch
Tally and Deftform share a lot. Here is where Deftform is different.
Drag and drop fields, change their width and save reusable form styles with logo, colors, background image, field and button styles.
Invite every designer, project manager and client contact. Every plan includes unlimited team members, so the bill stays the same.
A campaign that takes off won't close your forms or push you into a bigger plan. Responses are unlimited on every plan.
Point a CNAME such as forms.client.com to Deftform and share forms on your own domain with SSL, even on Pre-paid.
Three workspaces are included, each with its own forms, team members, custom domain and settings. Extra workspaces cost €6 one-time.
Lifetime for €189 one-time, Pre-paid at €4 per form, or Complete at €25/month if you prefer one subscription with everything included.
Testimonials
“We were looking for a cost-effective form solution that didn't compromise on features or ease of use — and Deftform exceeded expectations. It's intuitive, reliable, and fits perfectly into our workflow. Highly recommended for teams who need performance without the overhead.”
“Simple. Fast. Effective. I've been looking for a full-featured form builder that I can use for my small marketing agency and this definitely fits the bill. I've tried many other solutions out there, but this had the perfect balance of price and features. It has all the field options I need, payments, API and webhooks. For me, it's perfect. I'm looking forward to see this app evolve.”
Switching
Most Tally forms are straightforward to rebuild. Here is the order we recommend.
List the forms you actively use, where they are embedded and which tools they send data to. Usually a handful of forms do most of the work.
Drag and drop fields, or describe the form to our AI Assistant (experimental) and let it suggest fields. Add conditional logic and multiple pages where needed.
Create a reusable form style with logo and colors, then connect a domain like forms.example.com with a CNAME record.
Turn on email notifications and webhooks, or connect Slack, Discord, HubSpot, Google Sheets, Airtable, MailerLite, Make or Pabbly Connect.
Export your existing Tally submissions before you cancel Pro or move forms, so the history stays with you.
Replace your Tally links and embed codes with your Deftform ones on your own domain, then cancel your Tally subscription.
FAQ
Tally earned its popularity honestly. Its free plan includes unlimited forms and submissions within fair use, along with logic, file uploads and integrations, and its editor is fast. Most people start looking around for one reason: they want forms that carry their own brand. On Tally, removing the branding and using a custom domain are part of Pro, which costs $29/month or $290/year at the time of writing. Business ($89/month or $890/year) adds data retention controls and email verification.
That's a fair price, but it's another subscription that renews every year, whether you run one campaign or twenty.
Deftform doesn't have a free-forever plan. Your first form is free to try, and then you choose how to pay:
Pre-paid: €4 per form, sold in packs of 5, with no long-term commitment.
Complete: €25 per month, including the Business add-on with email verification and data retention controls.
Lifetime: €189 one-time, or 12 monthly payments of €16.
Every plan includes a custom domain with SSL, unlimited responses and unlimited team members. Removing the "Powered by Deftform" backlink is a one-time €10 for the whole account and is included in Complete.
Tally works like a document: you type and add blocks. Deftform uses a visual drag-and-drop builder where you can change field widths, make fields mandatory and arrange multi-page forms, with an AI Assistant (experimental) that suggests fields from a prompt. Custom form styles let you save a brand look, with logo, colors, background image and field and button styles, and reuse it across forms and workspaces. Neither approach is better for everyone. Try both and keep the one that suits you.
Three workspaces are included, each with its own forms, team members, custom domain and settings. That makes it easy to keep clients separate and give each one their own domain. Extra workspaces cost €6 one-time each. Responses can be exported as CSV or PDF, sent by webhook or email, or pulled through the API.
If you're fine with Tally branding, its free plan is excellent value. Tally also offers answer piping, password protection, partial submissions on Pro, a Notion integration and 45+ languages with RTL support.
Tally is based in Belgium and stores form data in Europe. Deftform is built by ivy.mayhem GmbH in Germany. Most data is stored in Falkenstein, Germany, files stay within the EU, and our server providers are ISO 27001 certified.
Stay on Tally Free if branding doesn't matter. If you would otherwise pay for Tally Pro year after year, Deftform Lifetime gives you your own domain, unlimited responses and your whole team for €189, once. Your first form is free to try.
Your first form is free to try. No credit card, no seat count, no response meter.