FormLoom

Honeypot

Glossary

A hidden form field that bots fill in and humans skip — the simplest, CAPTCHA-free bot filter.

Definition

A honeypot field is a form input styled to be invisible to humans (`display:none` + `tabindex='-1'`) but visible in the DOM to bot scrapers. When a bot fills it in, the server knows the submission isn't from a real person. FormLoom checks for a filled `botcheck` field by default.

Why it matters for form backends

It eliminates the need for a CAPTCHA for most bot traffic without adding friction for legitimate users.

Example

html
<input type="text" name="botcheck"
  style="display:none" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="off" />

FAQ

Some do — that's why FormLoom pairs honeypot detection with AI spam scoring and optional Turnstile captcha.

Related terms

Ready to put this into practice?

Add a form to your site in minutes — free access key, copy-paste snippet.

Honeypot — form backend glossary · FormLoom