How to send form responses to Google Sheets (without Google Forms)

The usual way to collect form answers in a spreadsheet is Google Forms, and if it does what you need, it's a fine choice. This guide is for the other cases: you want the answers in a sheet you already have, in your own column order, and you want something to happen with each one, like a Slack message, an email or a call to your API. It uses a hosted Foliot form and the Add row to Google Sheets step, with no code.

Before you start

• A Foliot account. The free plan is enough to build and test this.
• A Google account that can edit the spreadsheet.
• A spreadsheet with column headers in row 1, for example Submitted, Name, Email, Company, Budget. Foliot fills each new row by matching these headers, so you can reorder or add columns later.
• Somewhere for the form: its own page at https://usefoliot.com/f/… that you share, or a page of your website where you embed it.

Set it up

1. Create the workflow and build the form

Create a new workflow and choose When a form is submitted as its trigger. A new form starts with a Name and an Email field. Use Add field for the rest: short text, email, number, long text, a dropdown or a checkbox, each optionally required. Set the Form title, an optional description and the Button text.

2. Submit the form once

Open the Form link. While the workflow is off, the form shows a “Test mode” banner and saves answers as sample data instead of running anything. Fill it in once so you can preview real values in the next step.

3. Add the Google Sheets step

Click + after the trigger and choose Add row to Google Sheets. Then:

1. Under Google account, connect your Google account. Foliot only asks for access to files you pick, not your whole Drive.
2. Paste the spreadsheet's link and click Load sheet, or use Browse your Drive. Google's file picker opens so you can give Foliot that one file.
3. Choose the tab. Foliot reads row 1 and shows one field per column header.
4. Fill each column with an answer from the data picker, like Trigger → Email. Answers are labelled by the form field, and they keep working if you rename the field later. For the time, pick Trigger → submittedAt. Leave a column empty to skip it.

4. Test the step, then turn the workflow on

Test this step adds a real row with the sample answers. When it looks right, switch the workflow on and share the link. Each submission now adds a row within seconds, and the person sees “Thanks! Your response was sent.” To put the form on your own website, open the trigger, choose Put this form on your website and paste the code into your page.

Useful variations

• Tell the team: add Post to Slack after the sheet step. See form submissions to Slack.
• Confirm by email: add Send email to Trigger → Email. See a form that emails you and the sender.
• Different tabs for different answers: a Branch on a dropdown, with an Add row to Google Sheets step on each path, each pointing at its own tab.
• Your own form, elsewhere: if the data comes from another tool that can send webhooks, see webhook data to Google Sheets.

Good to know

• Values are entered as if typed, so numbers and dates become real numbers and dates. Anything that would start a formula (like =…) is stored as plain text, so form answers can never run a formula in your sheet.
• The step always adds a new row. It doesn't update or look up existing rows.
• Spam protection is a hidden honeypot field plus a limit of 10 submissions a minute from one visitor. There's no CAPTCHA.
• Every form shows a small “Powered by Foliot · Report abuse” line at the bottom.
• Each submission is one run: 500 runs a month on the free plan, 10,000 on Pro ($12 a month). The form has no file uploads.

When Google Forms is the better choice

Google Forms is free, saves responses to a linked sheet on its own, and has more question types, sections, quizzes and file uploads. If all you need is answers in a sheet, use it. Foliot is worth it when:

• the answers should go into a sheet you already have, matched to your own column headers;
• each submission should also do something: post to Slack, send an email, wait and follow up, or call an API;
• you want a run history showing each submission and what happened with it.

If the form has to match your site's own HTML and styles exactly, a form builder or form backend service with a Google Sheets integration is the better fit. Foliot's form can be embedded in your page, but it keeps its own look.