Form Webhooks and Email Alerts Made Simple

A new reply lands in your form. Would it not be nice to know right away, instead of checking the inbox all day? With email alerts and form webhooks, every submission taps you on the shoulder the moment it arrives. This guide explains both options in plain words.

First, what is a webhook?

A webhook is like a doorbell for your apps. Normally, one app has to keep opening the door to see whether anything arrived. With a webhook, the visitor rings the bell instead. The moment someone submits your form, EesyForm sends the news straight to any web address you choose.

So instead of other software asking any new replies yet? over and over, the answer gets pushed out the second it exists. You hear the chime instantly.

Way one: email alerts

This is the simplest option. Add any email address in your form's settings, and from then on that inbox receives a message for every completed submission. Use your own address, a teammate's, or a shared inbox like hello@yourbusiness.com so nobody misses a thing.

Under the hood, these emails are delivered through the Brevo email service, which handles the actual sending for you. You do not have to configure anything about it.

Email alerts are a great fit when you simply want to see replies as they come in, without wiring up any other tools.

Way two: form webhooks

Paste any URL into your form's settings, and every completed submission is delivered to that address automatically as JSON data. JSON just means the answers arrive neatly labelled: each field name paired with what the person answered. Other software can read it without any guesswork.

This is perfect for feeding your own tools or triggering automations. A new submission could add a row to your database, post in your team chat, or nudge your order system along. If you would rather connect to popular apps without building anything yourself, see our guide to connecting forms to your tools.

Every payload carries a wax seal

Here is a detail worth knowing if you run your own server. Each webhook message is signed with something called HMAC. Think of it as a tamper-proof wax seal on an envelope.

When your server receives a delivery, it checks the seal. If the seal matches, you know two things: the message truly came from EesyForm, and nothing was altered on the way over. If anyone tried to fake a submission or fiddle with one mid-journey, the seal would break and the check would fail.

Unless you write server code, you will never need to touch this. It is simply nice to know the guard dog is on duty.

Failed deliveries get another chance

Internet hiccups happen. Maybe your server restarts at the exact moment a submission arrives. EesyForm tries every webhook delivery up to three times — the first attempt plus two retries with linear backoff (1 second, then 2 seconds). If the last attempt also fails, the delivery is dropped and the failure is logged on our servers. There is no queue to babysit and nothing to resend by hand, so if your endpoint is back up, the next submission goes through normally.

Turning them on takes minutes

Both options live in the same spot: open your form's settings and look under notifications. From there you can add an email address, paste a webhook URL, or do both at once. A couple of clicks and you are done.

One honest note before you go looking for the settings: webhooks are included on the free plan (one webhook per form). Email alerts are a Pro plan feature. On the free plan you can still open your form's responses any time to read every reply, as covered in tracking form responses, and export responses to CSV whenever you need them elsewhere.

When you use the "Generate test response" button, test submissions also fire webhooks — and email alerts, where your plan includes them — they are tagged with an "isTest" flag in the payload and a "[Test]" subject prefix so you can filter them out in your automation.

Frequently asked questions

What is a webhook in simple words?

A push notification between apps. Instead of other software repeatedly checking for new replies, EesyForm sends each completed submission to the web address you give it, right away, as tidy labelled data.

Do I need coding skills to set this up?

No. Both options are set up in your form's settings under notifications: you add an email address or paste a URL. Checking webhook signatures does take some light developer work, but only if you build your own receiving server.

Whose email addresses can receive alerts?

Any address you like. Yours, a teammate's, or a shared inbox for the whole team. Every completed submission triggers its own message, so nothing slips through quietly.

Are notifications included on the free plan?

Webhooks are included on the free plan (one webhook per form). Email alerts require the Pro plan. Both are set up in your form's settings under notifications. The free plan still gives you full access to read responses in your form's inbox, plus CSV export when you want the data somewhere else.