About ALTCHA
ALTCHA is a GDPR-compliant form abuse protection option that effectively prevents automated form submissions without requiring respondents to solve a puzzle. When enabled, respondents see "Protected by ALTCHA" at the bottom of the form (as pictured above).
If ALTCHA validation fails, respondents will be unable to submit their form response.
ALTCHA is on by default for new forms.
As of October 20th, 2026, if your account is on a Team plan or higher, ALTCHA is turned on when you create a new form. Forms you created before October 20th, 2026 do not change. To protect an existing form, turn on ALTCHA for that form. See "Turn on ALTCHA for an existing form" below.
- You can turn ALTCHA off on any form
- You can use either reCAPTCHA or ALTCHA on forms, but not both at the same time.
- Akismet, which uses post-submission spam filtering, can be used in addition to ALTCHA
Visit ALTCHA's website for more information about how it works.
Requirement
To use ALTCHA, a FormAssembly user must be part of a Team plan or higher.
Enable ALTCHA
ALTCHA is available for use on forms and workflows.
We suggest turning on ALTCHA for forms that you publish to the public, forms that send emails to respondents or to your team, and forms that start workflow steps or send data to other systems.
Turn on ALTCHA for an Existing Form
By default, ALTCHA is enabled on new forms. To turn on ALTCHA on existing forms created before this new default, follow the steps below.
- Navigate to the Processing page of your form
- Scroll to the Spam Protection Before Submission section
- Select ALTCHA
- Click Apply at the very bottom of the page
Enable ALTCHA on a Form in a Workflow
- Within the Workflow Builder, open the Form Properties of the Form step
- Select the Configure tab
- Select ALTCHA under Spam Protection Before Submission
- Save the workflow
Disable ALTCHA
Turn off ALTCHA on a form
- Go to the form's Processing page
- Scroll to Spam Protection Before Submission
- Select None (no before submission spam protection), or select reCAPTCHA
- Click Apply at the bottom of the page
Disable ALTCHA on a Form in a Workflow
- Within the Workflow Builder, open the Form Properties of the Form step
- Select the Configure tab
- Select None (no before submission spam protection) under Spam Protection Before Submission, or select reCAPTCHA
- Save the workflow
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ALTCHA turned on for my existing forms?
No. We did not change existing forms. Turn it on for each form you want to protect.
Can I use ALTCHA on a Basic, Pro, Prem, or Essentials plan?
No. ALTCHA requires a Team plan or higher. For other ways to reduce spam, see "Preventing Spam Responses".
Can I use ALTCHA and reCAPTCHA together?
No. Choose one for each form.
Can I use ALTCHA with Akismet?
Yes. Akismet checks responses after submission. ALTCHA checks before submission.
Will ALTCHA stop all spam?
No. ALTCHA blocks automated submissions. It does not stop a person who submits spam by hand. Use more than one method. Refer to our article Preventing Spam Responses.
A respondent cannot submit my form. What do I do?
There are potential causes for a form to be unable to submit when ALTCHA is enabled. The following are a few examples:
- The respondent may have JavaScript turned off
- The respondent may have a browser extension that blocks scripts
- An API or server-side embed does not load the ALTCHA widget
To submit the form without ALTCHA, turn off ALTCHA for that form.