# Getting started FAQ

Common questions about your first hour with formbase.

## Getting started FAQ

Quick answers to the questions every new formbase user asks in their first hour.

<h2 id="is-it-free">Is formbase really free?</h2>
<p>
  Yes. The Free plan includes unlimited forms, 1,000 submissions and requests a month from one shared allowance, 100 MB of storage,
  unlimited workspaces and members, conditional logic, file uploads, integrations, translations, CSV and Excel exports, and email
  notifications to your own address. No credit card to start. AI works on Free too — you buy a credit pack, the same as on every plan.
</p>
<p>
  Need more room? Pro and Business raise the allowance to 50,000 a month, storage to 500 GB, and add request invitations and reminders,
  custom domains, custom themes, advanced analytics, and AI Skills. Business adds version history. Pro starts with a 14-day free trial on
  monthly billing. See <a href="/subscription-billing/plans-pricing">plans &amp; pricing</a> for the full comparison.
</p>

<h2 id="respondent-account">Do respondents need a formbase account to fill out a form?</h2>
<p>
  No. Anyone with the share link (or a published embed) can submit with no account. You can optionally gate a form behind a password, or
  require respondents to log in with a formbase account (via Google or email magic link) before they can submit. See{' '}
  <a href="/sharing-publishing/authentication-gate">authentication gate</a> for details.
</p>

<h2 id="what-is-a-request">What is a request, and how is it different from a share link?</h2>
<p>
  A share link is public: anyone who has it can submit, any number of times. A <strong>request</strong> is one assignment of the same form
  to one named person — with values you already know prefilled (and optionally locked), one completion, its own expiry, its own reminders,
  and a signed callback to your workflow the moment they finish.
</p>
<p>
  Both are channels on the same form, and a form can use both at once. Create a request by hand from{' '}
  <strong>Share → Requests → Manual</strong>, or from Make, Zapier, Claude via MCP, or the API. Handing out the link yourself works on every
  plan; having formbase email the invitation and chase it needs Pro or Business, though a Free account can have formbase email its first 10
  invitations to try it. See the <a href="/requests/overview">requests overview</a>.
</p>

<h2 id="submissions">Where do submissions go?</h2>
<p>
  Into one inbox per form, whichever channel they came through. The <strong>Submissions</strong> button in the form toolbar has three views:{' '}
  <strong>Summary</strong> (charts per question), <strong>Submissions</strong> (the response list), and <strong>Analytics</strong> (traffic,
  conversion, and device breakdown — Pro). You can also get an email on every response (more addresses on Pro), or route submissions to
  Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, Slack, Discord, Linear, GitHub, or a signed webhook. See{' '}
  <a href="/getting-started/see-answers-arrive">see answers arrive</a> for the walkthrough.
</p>

<h2 id="delete-account">Can I delete my account and all my data?</h2>
<p>
  Yes. Click your avatar at the bottom of the sidebar → <strong>Settings</strong>, then scroll to <strong>Delete Account</strong> in the
  Danger Zone. Type your email address to confirm. This permanently removes your forms, submissions, files, and the workspaces you own.
  There is no undo.
</p>
<p>
  If you have an active Pro or Business subscription, deleting your account also cancels it — formbase tells Polar to stop billing as part
  of the deletion, so you won't be charged again.
</p>

<h2 id="ai-off">Can I use formbase without AI?</h2>
<p>
  Yes. AI is optional throughout — ignore the AI button and build every form by hand with the slash menu. Credits are only spent when you
  ask AI to do something. When they run out, the editor keeps working; only AI chat stops.
</p>

<h2 id="mobile">Can I use formbase on mobile?</h2>
<p>Yes. The editor, dashboard, and all management features work on mobile browsers. Respondent-facing forms are fully responsive.</p>

<h2 id="workspace-vs-account">What's the difference between a workspace, an account, and a form?</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
    <strong>Account</strong> — you, the person. Tied to your email, your plan, and your AI credits. One per human.
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Workspace</strong> — a shared container for forms, submissions, members, domains, and integrations. Unlimited on every plan.
  </li>
  <li>
    <strong>Form</strong> — one document with questions, logic, and a theme. It reaches people through requests and share links. Lives
    inside a workspace.
  </li>
</ul>

<h2 id="transfer">Can I transfer a form or workspace to someone else?</h2>
<p>
  You can duplicate a form within the same workspace and share access by inviting that person to the workspace. There is no self-serve way
  to move a form to a different workspace or transfer workspace ownership — contact support for either.
</p>

<h2 id="undelete">I deleted a form by accident — can I get it back?</h2>
<p>
  Yes. Open <strong>Trash</strong> in the sidebar and click <strong>Restore</strong>. You pick the folder it comes back to. Deleted forms
  stay in Trash for 30 days before formbase removes them for good.
</p>

<h2 id="inactive-form-archival">Will my forms be deleted if I stop using them?</h2>
<p>
  On the Free plan, yes — eventually. A free-plan form that goes more than a year without any edits or submissions is automatically moved to
  Trash — and only after formbase emailed you a warning at least 30 days earlier. You then have 30 days to restore it before it's
  permanently deleted along with all its submissions and files. Pro and Business forms are never auto-archived for inactivity. See{' '}
  <a href="/subscription-billing/limits-quotas#inactive-forms">Limits &amp; quotas</a> for full details.
</p>

<h2 id="auth-gate-account">If I turn on authentication, do my respondents need to create a formbase account?</h2>
<p>
  Yes. When authentication is required, respondents must log in with a formbase account — via Google or an email magic link. See{' '}
  <a href="/sharing-publishing/authentication-gate">authentication gate</a>. If you only need to confirm an email <em>answer</em>, Business
  plans offer <a href="/building-forms/email-verification">respondent email verification</a> — a one-time code on the email question itself,
  no account needed.
</p>

<h2 id="integrations">What integrations does formbase support?</h2>
<p>
  formbase delivers submissions to Google Sheets, Notion, Airtable, Slack, Discord, Linear, GitHub, and signed webhooks, and connects to
  Cal.com for <strong>Schedule appointment</strong> blocks. Every plan can stream form analytics to Google Analytics and Axiom. There is no
  per-plan cap on how many integrations a form has. Zapier and Make are listed as <em>Coming soon</em> on the Integrations page — but both
  already run the whole request loop through their HTTP steps today. See the <a href="/integrations/overview">Integrations</a> section.
</p>

<h2 id="next-steps">Next steps</h2>
<div class="not-prose grid gap-3 sm:grid-cols-2">
  - [Understanding the editor](/building-forms/understanding-the-editor) — Slash menu, blocks, drag-to-reorder, and more
  - [Plans & pricing](/subscription-billing/plans-pricing) — Compare Free, Pro, and Business side by side
  - [Authentication gate](/sharing-publishing/authentication-gate) — Password protect or require login to submit
</div>