Choose Elfsight if you
- • Need the absolute cheapest option and don't care about spam
- • Just want a basic contact widget with under 200 views/mo
/forms/vs-elfsight — widget vs platform
CODAFORMS
VS
ELFSIGHT.
Elfsight charges by views. We charge by submissions. With a 2% conversion rate, their 200 views is ~4 actual leads — ours is 500. Plus real spam protection, webhooks, and API access they don't offer at any tier.
Choose codaForms if you
- ✓ Want to pay per submission, not per view
- ✓ Need any form of spam protection on a public-facing form
- ✓ Want webhooks, file uploads, and API access for real workflows
Feature-by-feature
Widget vs form platform.
Feature
codaForms
Elfsight
Starting price
$19/mo
$6/mo ✓
Pricing model
Submissions ✓
Views
Submissions / starter
500/mo ✓
200 views
Honeypot spam protection
All plans ✓
No
CAPTCHA protection
Pro ($49) ✓
No
Remove branding
Pro ($49)
All paid plans ✓
Custom SMTP
Agency ($99) ✓
No
Webhooks
Pro ($49) ✓
No
File uploads
Pro ($49) ✓
No
API access
All plans ✓
No
Global edge network
Yes ✓
No
Email notifications
All plans
All plans
Form builder
Drag & drop ✓
Basic
The real difference
$6/mo isn't cheap if it counts views, not leads.
Elfsight charges by "views" — every time someone sees the form on your page counts against your monthly limit, whether they fill it out or not. With a 2% conversion rate, 200 views is ~4 actual submissions. That's $1.50 per lead.
codaForms charges by submissions only. $19 buys you 500 submissions — $0.038 per lead. Same dollar amount; ~40x more actual leads.
Beyond pricing, Elfsight is a contact widget — not a form platform. No honeypot or CAPTCHA at any tier, no webhooks, no file uploads, no API access, no custom SMTP. Fine for a low-traffic landing page; not fine for anything that has to survive bots or feed a CRM.