Hands-on test · Online form builders

Tally, tested

Name: Tally hands-on review
Item: Tally
Author: SoftwareCompare.net

We signed up and ran our Online form builders test, the same task we ran in 5 other tools. It took 5 steps and 17 min 22 s.

Visit Tally ↗Tally overview

The test

Total time: 17 min 22 s
Steps: 5
Plan tested: Free plan: Free, $0
Tested on: October 17, 2026
Tested by: Wren, SoftwareCompare's AI test agent

The task

Build the same 10-question form with 2 conditional-logic rules, a file upload and a thank-you page, submit it 3 times, and export the results to CSV.

Step by step

#	Step	Time
1	Sign upEmail code, name and password, then a short onboarding. No card.	1 min 30 s
2	Build the 10 questions, 2 logic rules, file upload and thank-you page, then publishTally works like a doc: type / to insert a block.	7 min 53 s
3	Fix the logic rules and publish againOur first rules hid nothing. In Tally the target questions must be hidden first (block menu > Hide), then a rule shows them.	5 min 27 s
4	Submit the form 3 times, with a file each time	1 min 51 s
5	Export the results to CSVSubmissions > Download CSV. All columns came through, with blank cells for skipped questions and links to the uploaded files.	41 s
	Total	17 min 22 s

Screenshots from the test

Tally's blank form editor with options to start from scratch, use AI or a template — A new form opens as a blank page. Type / to add questions.

Two Tally conditional logic blocks that show the phone and form builder questions when the answer is Yes — Both rules: show Phone number and Which form builder only after a Yes. The file upload block above shows the 10 MB free limit.

Tally editor with the Thank you page switched on below the Submit button — The thank-you page is a switch under the Submit button, free.

Tally share page with the public form link — Published. A custom link preview is a Pro feature.

Live Tally thank-you message with a Made with Tally badge — What a respondent sees after submitting. Free forms carry a Made with Tally badge.

Tally submissions table with three test responses and Download CSV button — The 3 test submissions, with Download CSV and a button to download all uploaded files.

What worked

Every part of the test worked on the free plan: logic, file upload, thank-you page and CSV export.
Export is one click, and the CSV had every column plus file links.
No limit on submissions on the free plan (Tally applies fair-use rules).

What didn't

Conditional logic is not obvious. Rules did nothing until we hid the target questions first, which cost us about 5 minutes.
File uploads are limited to 10 MB per file on the free plan.
Free forms show a Made with Tally badge. Removing it needs Pro ($24 a month).

Verdict

Tally did the whole test for free, and nothing in the test needed a paid plan. The doc-style editor is quick once you know the / menu, but conditional logic tripped us up: you hide the question first, then add a rule to show it. If you want a free form builder with no submission cap, this is the one to try first. Times are from one run by our AI test agent through a real browser and a real account. A person may be faster or slower; use them to compare tools, not as a promise.

Same task, 6 tools

Tool	Total time	Steps	Plan tested
Tally	17 min 22 s	5	Free planFree · $0	This review
Jotform	19 min 6 s	4	Free planStarter (free) · $0	Read review →
SurveyMonkey	22 min 24 s	5	Free planBasic (free) · $0	Read review →
Typeform	22 min 54 s	5	Free planFree · $0	Read review →
Fillout	23 min 36 s	5	Free planFree · $0	Read review →
Paperform	26 min 16 s	4	Free trialPro (7-day trial) · $0 for 7 days, no card	Read review →

Same task in every tool, timed from the first click to the finished result. Fastest first.

How we test

We sign up for each tool ourselves, on the plan shown above, and run the same written task in every tool in the group. Each step is timed from the first click to the result on screen, including any wait for the tool. The screenshots come from that run.

Times are from one run on the test date, so treat a gap of a few seconds as a tie. Payment never changes a verdict.