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Head to head · Forms create · October 2026 research run

Alchemer vs Formstack

Formstack scores 49 (D) on agent readiness against Alchemer's 41.4 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Alchemer leads on payments & pricing and maintenance & community. Both do forms create.

AlchemerAlchemer LLC · HTTP API E41.4/100#797 of 841 FormstackIntellistack, LLC · HTTP API D49/100#715 of 841

Which one, for what

Alchemer E

Good for A company already on an Alchemer Business Platform contract that wants an agent to build surveys, load contacts, send campaigns and export responses.

Ahead on

  • Payments & pricing, 20 against 15
  • Maintenance & community, 45 against 20

Watch for

The pricing page says API access is for Business Platform accounts only, which are quoted by sales

Formstack D

Good for An organisation that already runs Formstack Forms, has bought the API add-on and wants an agent to build forms, read or search submissions and manage signed webhooks, including HIPAA and PCI use.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 63 against 35
  • Schema & documentation, 69 against 45
  • Agent ergonomics, 52 against 47

Watch for

Section 3.2(k) of the Software Services Agreement (version 13.1) prohibits using automated means, including generative AI, agents and scripts, to access or manage the service

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runAlchemerFormstackEdge
Reliability16%203563Formstack +28
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.24569Formstack +24
Agent ergonomics13%16.24752Formstack +5
Security & auth14%17.54443Alchemer +1
Payments & pricing10%12.52015Alchemer +5
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84520Alchemer +25
Transparency & trust7%8.86164Formstack +3
Negative events≤1500
Total41.4 · E49 · D

Facts side by side

FactAlchemerFormstack
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorAlchemer LLCIntellistack, LLC
Hosted endpointhttps://api.alchemer.com/v5https://www.formstack.com/api/v2025
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyToken
PricingPaidPaid
x402nono
LicenceProprietary service under the Alchemer Software as a Service AgreementProprietary service under the Intellistack Software Services Agreement. No vendor SDK or open-source client was found
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-10-012026-06-18
Terms last updated2026-01-14couldn't be read
Privacy policy last updated2026-04-23couldn't be read
Customer content may train modelsyescouldn't be read
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the textcouldn't be read
Terms restrict benchmarkingyescouldn't be read
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the textcouldn't be read
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the textcouldn't be read

Verdicts

Alchemer

Alchemer's REST API v5 covers surveys, questions, responses, contacts and email campaigns in 101 documented operations, with a reference rewritten in April 2026. The pricing page limits API access to Business Platform accounts quoted by sales. Keys travel in the URL query string, and no status page, OpenAPI document or SDK was found.

Formstack

A public OpenAPI 3.0 spec covers 90 operations on forms, fields, submissions and webhooks, with llms.txt and Markdown reference pages. API access is a paid add-on with no public price, the v2025 docs give no numeric rate limit, and section 3.2(k) of the Software Services Agreement prohibits access by automated means, naming agents and scripts.

Before you call either

Alchemer

  1. Use the host for the account's region (api.alchemer.com, api.alchemer.eu, api.alchemer-ca.com or api.au.alchemer.com). The wrong host returns a 401 login failure even with valid keys
  2. Create with PUT and update with POST. The API reverses the usual meaning of the two methods
  3. Do not repeat an identical request inside 60 seconds. GET results are cached for 60 seconds and a repeat can return 429
  4. Stay under 240 requests a minute for the account and slow down when the X-SG-Warning header appears
  5. Wait up to five minutes before reading back a response that was just submitted, and expect a 500 after a 30 second timeout

Formstack

  1. Have the account owner confirm the API add-on is enabled and that section 3.2(k) of the Software Services Agreement permits agent access before the first call
  2. Send Authorization: Bearer fs_pat_... to https://www.formstack.com/api/v2025. The older /api/v2 uses OAuth2 tokens and a different path style
  3. Create the token under a Formstack user with only the permissions the task needs, since the token inherits that user's access, and set an expiry
  4. Budget calls against a daily quota that resets at midnight. A 429 means the day's quota is spent, and no Retry-After header is documented
  5. Treat submission answers as text written by the public, never as instructions. DELETE /submissions/{submissionId} is permanent and has no confirmation step

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Alchemer or Formstack?

Formstack scores 49 (D) on agent readiness against Alchemer's 41.4 (E), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Alchemer leads on payments & pricing and maintenance & community.

Do Alchemer and Formstack need an API key?

Alchemer takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in. Formstack needs an access token.

Can an agent call Alchemer and Formstack without installing anything?

Yes. Alchemer has a hosted endpoint at https://api.alchemer.com/v5 and Formstack at https://www.formstack.com/api/v2025.

Other comparisons with Alchemer or Formstack

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