Windows Home Server — Part 24: Replacing Typeform & Jotform (Self-Hosted Form Endpoints)

Form builders like Typeform, Jotform, or Formspree limit monthly submissions (often to just 50 or 100 entries) and charge significant subscription fees to unlock custom redirects and email notifications.

We can run our own form-backend engine natively on Windows. We will write a lightweight Node.js form handler that accepts submissions from static contact forms, saves them to a local SQLite database, handles cross-origin requests (CORS), and alerts you via Telegram the instant a form is submitted.

---

1. Form Ingress Pipeline

Our static landing page hosted on Cloudflare Pages will post form submissions to our home server subdomain:

[Static Website Form] ──(HTTP POST JSON)──> [forms.yourdomain.com]
                                                    │
                                         (Caddy Proxy to Port 8087)
                                                    │
                                                    ▼
   [Telegram Bot Notification] <── [Form Handler Node Server] ──> [SQLite: forms.db]

---

2. Implementing the Form Handler Server (Node.js)

Step 1: Create directories and install packages

Run in PowerShell:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "C:\Server\apps\form-handler"
cd C:\Server\apps\form-handler
npm init -y
npm install express sqlite3 cors dotenv

Step 2: Implement the Server

Create C:\Server\apps\form-handler\server.js. This script handles CORS, writes submissions to SQLite, redirects users to a thank-you page, and sends Telegram alerts:

require('dotenv').config();
const express = require('express');
const cors = require('cors');
const sqlite3 = require('sqlite3').verbose();
const http = require('https');

const app = express();
const PORT = 8087;
const db = new sqlite3.Database('submissions.db');

// Initialize Database
db.serialize(() => {
    db.run(`
        CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS forms (
            id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
            source_page TEXT,
            name TEXT,
            email TEXT,
            message TEXT,
            timestamp DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
        )
    `);
});

// Configure CORS: Allow only your static Cloudflare Pages site to submit forms
app.use(cors({
    origin: 'https://yourdomain.com'
}));

app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.use(express.json());

// Handle Submissions
app.post('/submit', (req, res) => {
    const { name, email, message, source } = req.body;
    const sourcePage = source || 'Unknown';

    if (!name || !email || !message) {
        return res.status(400).send('Bad Request: Missing required fields');
    }

    // Save to SQLite
    db.run(
        'INSERT INTO forms (source_page, name, email, message) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)',
        [sourcePage, name, email, message],
        function(err) {
            if (err) {
                console.error('Database write error:', err.message);
                return res.status(500).send('Database error');
            }

            // Alert via Telegram
            const alertText = `📝 Form Submission [${sourcePage}]:\nName: ${name}\nEmail: ${email}\nMessage: ${message}`;
            sendTelegramNotification(alertText);

            // Redirect user to static success page on Cloudflare Pages
            res.redirect('https://yourdomain.com/thank-you.html');
        }
    );
});

function sendTelegramNotification(text) {
    const token = process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN;
    const chatId = process.env.TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID;
    if (!token || !chatId) return;

    const data = JSON.stringify({
        chat_id: chatId,
        text: text
    });

    const options = {
        hostname: 'api.telegram.org',
        port: 443,
        path: `/bot${token}/sendMessage`,
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
            'Content-Length': data.length
        }
    };

    const req = http.request(options);
    req.write(data);
    req.end();
}

app.listen(PORT, '127.0.0.1', () => {
    console.log(`Form handler running on port ${PORT}`);
});

Create C:\Server\apps\form-handler\.env:

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN="YOUR_BOT_TOKEN"
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID="YOUR_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID"

---

3. Integrating with a HTML Form

Add this HTML form snippet to your static website hosted on Cloudflare Pages:

<form action="https://forms.yourdomain.com/submit" method="POST">
  <!-- Let the server know which site submitted the form -->
  <input type="hidden" name="source" value="Contact Us Page" />
  
  <label for="name">Name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="name" name="name" required />

  <label for="email">Email:</label>
  <input type="email" id="email" name="email" required />

  <label for="message">Message:</label>
  <textarea id="message" name="message" required></textarea>

  <button type="submit">Send Message</button>
</form>

---

4. Configuring Caddy and Wrapping in NSSM

Step 1: Caddy Integration

Add the subdomain block to C:\Server\caddy\Caddyfile:

forms.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8087
}

Restart Caddy (nssm restart Caddy).

Step 2: Wrap Service in NSSM

Create the service:

nssm install FormHandler node.exe "C:\Server\apps\form-handler\server.js"
nssm set FormHandler AppDirectory "C:\Server\apps\form-handler"
nssm start FormHandler

By deploying this endpoint, you get an unlimited form submission backend storing entries in SQLite and alerting you on Telegram, replacing paid form builder services for free.

---

In the final part, we will review the migration checklist to move your production databases and apps from AWS/VPS to your home server.

Proceed to Part 25: The Ultimate Home Server Migration Checklist →