FreeFillableForms is basically like doing the paper forms by hand and it's much easier to make a mistake than using something like turbotax. I've used both that and the excel files at https://sites.google.com/view/incometaxspreadsheet/home in the past but I realized that the hassle if I screwed something up was much worse than paying for tax prep software.
I'm very glad that the IRS is going to be making something that's more comparable to turbotax now.
I think the URL is freefilefillableforms.com (note the "file", the "FreeFillableForms" domain is parked by someone) based on some light googling and a contact email I saw on the irs.gov site.
Glad a digital equivalent to paper forms exists, the US tax code is far less hellish than I previously believed.
The actual tax code is still hellish. Physically filling out the forms is the easiest part. Figuring out what to put in the forms is all the effort. Each page of form usually has many pages of instructions, which are long and complicated because the tax code is long and complicated.
If you are a typical tech employee and have highish income, incentive stock options, interest, dividends, capital gains, etc. don't think you can use freefillableforms to do your taxes in a couple hours.
I'm a self-employed highish income person, no stock options (that was long, long ago), interest, dividends, capital gains, rental property income, a spouse who also has to file schedule C twice.
Takes me about 2 hours on ffff ....
.. mostly because I've done my own taxes for the whole 34 years I've lived in the USA (including the first year when I got the US government to pay me the excess of what I'd paid the UK government, and the year I paid taxes on amzn stock that exceeded everything I had ever earned until that time).
This stuff is not as complicated as people make out, though I would concede that it is likely easier for a software developer-type person than a personal grooming specialist or firefighter. There's a whole industry out there predicated on the idea that you can't do this yourself.
It's basically backed by the IRS and implemented by Intuit et al, but appears independent.
It works a little better every year, but you do still have to manually carry over some numbers from form to form.
I've been using it for the last 8 years at least. I don't love it to death, but if it wasn't available I'd do my own paper forms anyway.