Gatsby contact form without a server or Gatsby Functions

The thank-you page

After a successful submission the redirect field sends visitors to /thanks/. It has to be an absolute http(s) URL, so the component joins siteUrl with withPrefix("/thanks/"). Without a redirect, Formlane uses the default redirect from your form settings, or its own hosted thank-you page.

• On a GitHub Pages project site, set pathPrefix: "/repo-name" and build with gatsby build --prefix-paths. The redirect becomes https://example.com/repo-name/thanks/.
• The value comes from siteUrl, so during gatsby develop the redirect also points to your live site, not to localhost. Test the full flow with gatsby build && gatsby serve or on a preview deploy.

Optional: stay on the page

If you'd rather show a message without a page change, send the form with fetch(). With Accept: application/json, Formlane answers {"success": true, "message": "Form submitted successfully", "id": "…"} or {"success": false, "error": "limit_reached", "message": "…"} with a 4xx/5xx status. message is always English, so the component shows its own text per error code.

import * as React from "react";

const MESSAGES = {
  limit_reached: "This form can't take more messages this month. Please email us directly.",
  rate_limited: "Too many messages in a short time. Please try again in a few minutes.",
};

export default function ContactFormInline() {
  const [status, setStatus] = React.useState("idle"); // idle | sending | sent | error
  const [error, setError] = React.useState("");

  async function handleSubmit(event) {
    event.preventDefault();
    setStatus("sending");
    try {
      const res = await fetch(event.currentTarget.action, {
        method: "POST",
        headers: { Accept: "application/json" },
        body: new FormData(event.currentTarget),
      });
      const json = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
      // Spam caught by the honeypot or the content rules also gets success: true.
      if (json.success) return setStatus("sent");
      setError(MESSAGES[json.error] || "Sorry, that didn't work. Please try again later.");
      setStatus("error");
    } catch {
      setError("Sorry, that didn't work. Please try again later.");
      setStatus("error");
    }
  }

  if (status === "sent") return <p>Thanks! We'll get back to you.</p>;

  return (
    <form action="https://smallwerk.com/formlane/api/submit" method="POST" onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <input type="hidden" name="access_key" value={process.env.GATSBY_FORMLANE_KEY} />
      <input type="checkbox" name="botcheck" style={{ display: "none" }} tabIndex={-1} autoComplete="off" />

      <label htmlFor="cfi-name">Name</label>
      <input id="cfi-name" type="text" name="name" autoComplete="name" required />

      <label htmlFor="cfi-email">Email</label>
      <input id="cfi-email" type="email" name="email" autoComplete="email" required />

      <label htmlFor="cfi-message">Message</label>
      <textarea id="cfi-message" name="message" rows={5} required />

      <button type="submit" disabled={status === "sending"}>
        {status === "sending" ? "Sending…" : "Send"}
      </button>
      {status === "error" && <p role="alert">{error}</p>}
    </form>
  );
}

Without JavaScript, the browser still posts the form normally. Add the hidden redirect field from the first component if you want the thank-you page in that case too.

Spam protection without a captcha

• Honeypot: the hidden botcheck checkbox. If a bot ticks it, Formlane returns a normal success response and stores nothing.
• Rate limit: 10 submissions per 10 minutes per visitor and form.
• Content rules: messages with 4 or more links, link markup or typical spam phrases go to a separate spam tab. Spam doesn't count toward your monthly limit.
• Allowed domains: limit the form to your own domain in its settings.

Limits worth knowing

• Up to 64 KB per submission, 50 fields and 10,000 characters per field.
• Content types: application/x-www-form-urlencoded, multipart/form-data (text fields only) and application/json.
• File uploads are not supported yet. If your form needs attachments, use one of the alternatives below.

Alternatives, honestly compared

Where the data is stored

Stored in Frankfurt, in a Supabase database in the eu-central-1 region. The app runs on Vercel: our server functions run in Frankfurt (fra1); static files and edge routing are served by Vercel's global network. Notification emails are sent through Resend, a US company. All providers are listed in the privacy policy. Formlane is run by Mindcaptain Services OÜ in Tallinn, Estonia. A data processing agreement is included in the Terms (Art. 28 GDPR, smallwerk.com/dpa), and IP hashes are deleted after 30 days. Add the contact form to your own privacy policy, and delete old submissions in the dashboard when you no longer need them.

Pricing

Free: 250 submissions a month and up to 5 forms. Starter: $8/month for 2,500 submissions. Pro: $19/month for 25,000 submissions. Prices are in USD incl. VAT where applicable (also available in EUR). A read-only REST API and MCP server are included on every plan, including Free.

Related guides

• React contact form
• HTML contact form
• GitHub Pages contact form
• Contact form spam without a captcha

FAQ