Run it by vs Fillout for AI agents

The short version

Fillout is a full form builder: a person designs a form in its editor, shares one link, and the API reads the submissions. Run it by has no editor. The agent sends a JSON Schema with each request, each person gets their own link, and the answer comes back as typed JSON.

If a person designs the form once and shares it widely, Fillout does more than we do. If the agent decides what to ask at runtime and needs answers from specific people, that’s what Run it by is for.

Facts about Fillout were checked against its own pages in November 2026. Pricing and features change; follow the links for current details.

Who builds the form

Fillout’s REST API works on every plan. It lists forms, reads and creates submissions, and manages webhooks, but its API reference has no endpoint that creates a form. Forms are made in the editor, where Form Agent can draft one from a prompt or a PDF. That helps a person build faster; an agent running on your server still can’t create a new form for each question.

With Run it by, the schema the agent writes is the form. A new question is a new request, and the answer is validated against that same schema on the server before it reaches you.

Getting answers back

Fillout has webhooks on every plan, including Free. You protect your endpoint with a static header you set yourself, such as an Authorization token, and a failed delivery can be retried by hand from the Results page.

Run it by signs every webhook with an HMAC over the timestamp and the body, retries a failed delivery four times over about two and a half hours, and keeps the answer in getStatus either way. An agent connected over MCP can also wait for the answer or, on Builder and Pro, be told the moment it arrives.

Knowing who answered

A Fillout form has one link. To tell people apart you add URL parameters that fill hidden fields, which anyone can edit in the address bar, or put a login page in front of the form, from the Starter plan up.

Run it by gives each named person their own link, 1 to 50 per request. Every answer is attributed, the agent sees who hasn’t answered yet, and it can email a reminder to just those people.

Approvals

Fillout Approvals add a step after a submission: a member of your organization approves or rejects it from the Results page, by email or in Slack. It suits internal sign-off on a request someone submitted, like an expense or a job application.

In Run it by the approval is the request itself. The agent states what it wants to do, names the people who decide (anyone with an email), and sets a policy: any, all, majority or a number. An optional email code proves each person is who the link was sent to, and no answer in time ends as expired, never a silent yes.

Side by side

When Fillout is the better choice

• A person designs the form once and shares it with many people.
• You need logic branching, several pages, payments, scheduling, signatures or file uploads. Run it by doesn’t do these.
• Answers should land straight in Airtable, Notion, HubSpot or Salesforce through a built-in integration.
• You want a lot of responses for free: Fillout’s free plan allows 1,000 a month.

Run it by is the better fit when the agent writes the question, specific people need to answer or decide, and you want typed data or a verdict back without anyone building a form. For Typeform, Tally and Google Forms too, see Run it by vs form builders.