Web3Forms: a contact-form API that grew 'really slowly' to verified $44K MRR
Surjith S M built a backend-free contact form for his own static sites over a Christmas break. Years of SEO and daily support later, Paddle-verified revenue on TrustMRR shows a slow side project that compounded.
- Product
- Web3Forms
- Founder
- Surjith S M
- Launched
- 2020
- Model
- Freemium API (250 free submissions/month) with paid plans
Published · 2 min read · 2 sources
- #forms
- #api
- #jamstack
- #side-project
- #bootstrapped
- #seo
- #trustmrr
- #slow-growth
Key takeaways
- Built over Christmas holidays to solve his own problem: contact forms on static sites without PHP.
- Founder in Feb 2025: it grew 'really slowly' and Google is the #1 acquisition channel.
- TrustMRR (Paddle-verified, 3 Nov 2026): $43,886 MRR, 3,188 active subscriptions, $355,378 all-time revenue, bootstrapped.
What it is
Web3Forms is a contact form API: you point an HTML form at it and submissions arrive in your inbox, with no server or backend code (TrustMRR). The free plan covers 250 submissions a month, with paid plans above that (TrustMRR).
Timeline
- 2015: Surjith S M starts freelancing and selling website templates on Envato Market (IndieHustle).
- Christmas holidays: he builds a proof of concept for his own templates and client sites, with "no plans to monetize it that time" (IndieHustle).
- Dec 2020: founding date listed on TrustMRR (TrustMRR).
- Feb 2025: in an interview he calls it "still a side project," about four years old, with plans starting at $8/month (IndieHustle).
- 3 Nov 2026: $43,886 MRR, 3,188 active subscriptions and $355,378 all-time revenue, verified with a Paddle API key; listed as bootstrapped (TrustMRR).
Why it worked
- A real, boring pain. PHP
mail()was "prone to spam plus there were many deliverability issues," and Jamstack sites had no backend at all (IndieHustle). - SEO from day one. "Google is currently the #1 acquisition channel"; Twitter brought few conversions because "the audience did not match" (IndieHustle).
- Support as the main job. He answers support questions daily and fixes reported bugs fast (IndieHustle).
- Generous free tier. Developers start free and upgrade for Pro features (IndieHustle).
What to learn
- Small developer utilities can compound for years if they rank on search for the exact problem.
- Find where your buyers actually search. Here they came from Google, not from the founder's social feed.
- "Overnight success is a myth. Playing the long term game is the way to go" (IndieHustle).
Risks and what didn't work
- Growth was slow for years; in his words, "I mean really slowly" (IndieHustle).
- The founder calls it a competitive market (IndieHustle), and form backends are easy to copy.
- Free form endpoints attract spam and abuse, which raises support and infrastructure costs.
- Interview details are self-reported; the revenue figures are from TrustMRR's Paddle connection (TrustMRR).
FAQ
Short answers drawn from the sections above.
What is Web3Forms?
Why did Web3Forms work?
- A real, boring pain. PHP
mail()was "prone to spam plus there were many deliverability issues," and Jamstack sites had no backend at all (IndieHustle). - SEO from day one. "Google is currently the #1 acquisition channel"; Twitter brought few conversions because "the audience did not match" (IndieHustle).
- Support as the main job. He answers support questions daily and fixes reported bugs fast (IndieHustle).
- Generous free tier. Developers start free and upgrade for Pro features (IndieHustle).
What can indie builders learn from Web3Forms?
- Small developer utilities can compound for years if they rank on search for the exact problem.
- Find where your buyers actually search. Here they came from Google, not from the founder's social feed.
- "Overnight success is a myth. Playing the long term game is the way to go" (IndieHustle).
What didn't work for Web3Forms, and what are the risks?
- Growth was slow for years; in his words, "I mean really slowly" (IndieHustle).
- The founder calls it a competitive market (IndieHustle), and form backends are easy to copy.
- Free form endpoints attract spam and abuse, which raises support and infrastructure costs.
- Interview details are self-reported; the revenue figures are from TrustMRR's Paddle connection (TrustMRR).
Sources
Every link cited above, in order of first use.
- 1.TrustMRR (trustmrr.com)
- 2.IndieHustle (indiehustle.co)
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