Are you in search of an ideal contact form solution for your WordPress website? Contact forms are a fundamental necessity for any WordPress site, but the sheer abundance of available options can make choosing the right plugin a daunting task. In this article, we offer a comprehensive overview of several top-notch contact form plugins designed for WordPress, thoroughly examining their strengths and potential limitations, thus providing valuable insights to help you make an informed choice.
Deciding on the Ideal WordPress Form Plugin
Selecting the optimal WordPress contact form plugin is a decision that hinges on your unique needs and circumstances. While WPForms is witnessing a surge in popularity as a WordPress form plugin, there are instances where Formidable Forms or other alternative plugins may emerge as better-suited options. Therefore, it’s essential to consider your specific requirements and evaluate various plugins to ensure the perfect fit for your particular use case.
1. WPForms
WPForms stands out as the most user-friendly WordPress contact form plugin, earning the choice for WPBeginner and all associated websites. Developed by the WPBeginner team, the mission remains clear: to deliver a WordPress forms plugin that offers simplicity and robustness.
Advantages:
- Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Building: WPForms excels with its user-friendly drag-and-drop form builder, garnering the favor of over 6 million websites. Its reputation is well-deserved;
- Free Lite Version: You can find WPForms Lite for free in the official WordPress plugin directory, offering essential contact form features such as basic fields, captcha for spam prevention, email notifications, and a thank-you page for confirmation. It even enables Stripe payments with just a 3% fee;
- Premium Versatility: The premium version of WPForms expands your options, allowing the creation of various form types, including multi-page forms, email subscriptions, advanced payment forms, registration forms, and more;
- Effortless Payment Integration: WPForms seamlessly integrates with payment platforms like Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Authorize.net, facilitating swift payment form creation and acceptance of one-time or recurring payments, all without extra transaction fees;
- Abundant Features: WPForms Pro offers a plethora of powerful form fields and functionalities, encompassing smart conditional logic, file uploads, digital signatures, user-submitted content (post submissions), WordPress login and user registration, and access to over 900 pre-built form templates;
- Streamlined Management: WPForms enables you to conveniently access form submissions directly from your WordPress dashboard and configure personalized email notifications. Additionally, you can set up conditional notifications to ensure the right team member receives alerts;
- WPForms Surveys & Polls Addon: This feature sets WPForms as the ultimate WordPress survey solution, providing interactive survey reports, real-time polls for WordPress, and a comprehensive range of smart survey fields like star ratings, Likert scales, NPS, and more, eliminating the need for costly survey platform subscriptions;
- Form Landing Page Solution: WPForms offers a solution for creating distraction-free form pages within WordPress, positioning itself as a top alternative to Wufoo and Google Forms;
- Conversational Forms for WordPress: WPForms Pro includes the innovative Conversational Forms feature, boosting form completion rates by creating a more engaging user experience.
Additional Features:
- Workflow Enhancements: Features like revisions and access control streamline your workflow;
- Email Marketing Integrations: Seamlessly connect with popular email marketing services like Mailchimp, Salesforce, HubSpot, and many more;
- Conversion-Focused Tools: Unlock conversion-focused features such as user journey reports, form abandonment analytics, geolocation data, coupons addon, and more;
- Automation Integrations: WPForms integrates seamlessly with WordPress automation plugins like Uncanny Automator, further automating your workflows.
WPForms offers extensive documentation, guides, dependable email support, and an active Facebook group to assist you when needed.
Cons:
- While the Lite version is free, upgrading to Pro is necessary to access advanced features;
- WPForms prioritizes user-friendliness, which means it may lack some of the more intricate features found in other plugins.
WPForms stands out as the premier WordPress contact form builder. Its pre-designed templates simplify embedding contact forms into websites, blogs, or eCommerce stores with just a few clicks. Additionally, it boasts built-in spam protection and provides advanced features like conditional logic, conversational forms, automated workflows, and Ajax form submission for users seeking enhanced capabilities.
Pricing: WPForms offers licenses starting at $49.50 per year, and WPBeginner readers can benefit from a 50% discount on the premium version using the WPForms coupon.
2. Formidable Forms
Formidable Forms stands out as the pinnacle of sophistication among WordPress form plugins.
Pros:
- Formidable Forms: A comprehensive WordPress form builder equipped with powerful addons that expand beyond basic contact forms. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface empowers users to create complex forms, including quizzes, surveys, payment forms, custom user registration forms, profiles, and more;
- Diverse Form Fields: This plugin offers a wide range of form field types, including radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdowns, text fields, phone numbers, HTML, and more;
- Formidable Views: Advanced users can utilize the Formidable Views feature to format, filter, and display user-submitted data on the website’s front end. It’s a versatile tool suitable for crafting directories, job listings, management systems, event calendars, rating systems, and more;
- Advanced Calculation Fields: Formidable Forms includes advanced calculation fields, ideal for creating robust order forms and intelligent calculators like mortgage and car payment calculators, request-a-quote calculators, and more;
- Seamless Integrations: Its compatibility with popular email marketing and payment platforms, combined with a robust WooCommerce integration, positions Formidable Forms as a top choice for building product forms and WooCommerce product configurator forms directly linked to your cart.
Cons:
- While Formidable Forms excels in providing advanced capabilities, its builder may not be as intuitive as that of WPForms. This is primarily because it caters to advanced users and developers. However, this emphasis on complexity positions it as the most extensible solution available.
Formidable Forms offers exceptional value for those seeking an advanced contact form plugin. It obviates the need for a plethora of third-party addons, which would be necessary with plugins like Gravity Forms to access comparable features.
Pricing: Formidable Forms provides yearly licenses ranging from $79 to $599, offering a range of options to suit varying needs.
3. HubSpot Forms
HubSpot offers a free all-inclusive marketing plugin for WordPress, encompassing a WordPress form builder, live chat, analytics, CRM, and more.
Pros:
- HubSpot’s multifaceted marketing toolkit comprises a form builder, live chat, popups, analytics, and various other marketing functionalities tailored for websites. The standout feature of HubSpot is its seamless integration with their robust CRM and sales tools;
- This integration enables you to connect forms, manage contacts, segment them into groups and lists, and gain insights into every visitor interaction with your website. Such comprehensive data enhances your understanding of marketing and sales performance.
If you already utilize HubSpot’s email marketing and other sales tools, employing their form builder is a logical choice. However, HubSpot also offers effortless integration with other form tools, such as WPForms and Formidable Forms, providing you with ample options.
Cons:
- While HubSpot’s base plugin grants free access to CRM, forms, live chat, and analytics, unlocking their additional paid features necessitates an upgrade to a Starter plan, starting at $45 per month. For those just starting or with limited budgets, this can prove to be relatively expensive;
- HubSpot Forms may not match the capabilities of WPForms or Formidable Forms, particularly when it comes to WordPress-specific features like custom user registration forms, login forms, post submissions, and more.
HubSpot Forms seamlessly integrate with HubSpot’s existing tools, streamlining your marketing workflow if you’re already utilizing these resources. This integration can save considerable time and effort.
Pricing: The HubSpot Forms plugin can be downloaded for free. However, for advanced features, removal of HubSpot branding from your forms, and access to multiple automated emails per form, upgrading to a paid plan is necessary. Pricing starts at $45 per month.
4. Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a premium WordPress form builder plugin renowned for its wealth of advanced functionalities, particularly favored by developers for crafting intricate form-based solutions.
Pros:
- Gravity Forms stands as a robust drag-and-drop contact form plugin tailored for WordPress, offering substantial versatility;
- With the incorporation of supplementary add-ons, Gravity Forms expands its utility to encompass surveys, user-generated content, quizzes, and even web directories;
- The plugin seamlessly integrates with a multitude of popular plugins and applications, including Heroic KB, requiring users to consult your knowledge base before submitting a support ticket form;
- Gravity Forms extends premium support avenues, offering FAQs, forums, and email support to ensure assistance is readily available when needed.
Cons:
- Gravity Forms does not offer a free version, rendering it relatively pricier compared to other WordPress contact form plugins. Nevertheless, if you deploy Gravity Forms across multiple sites and projects, its licenses still offer decent value for the investment;
- Gravity Forms lacks inherent features like Views, tables, and directories, necessitating the purchase of these add-ons from third-party developers like GravityKit and GravityWiz, which contributes to annual expenses.
In contrast, the iBusiness plan of Formidable Forms includes all these features, potentially leading to substantial cost savings.. Gravity Forms is a highly adaptable contact form plugin, offering an array of add-ons. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop form builder empowers users to create diverse forms with ease.
Pricing: Gravity Forms licenses range from $41 to $159 per year.
5. Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms stands as a versatile freemium WordPress contact form plugin, offering effortless creation of highly interactive forms.
Pros:
- The base plugin can be freely downloaded from the official WordPress repository, granting the flexibility to install it on an unlimited number of sites. This feature proves ideal for individuals with multiple websites or those overseeing a WordPress multisite network;
- Premium extensions are available to enhance functionality. These extensions facilitate integration with various services such as Campaign Monitor, FreshBooks, Salesforce, SMS notifications, and more.
Cons:
- While the main Ninja Forms plugin is downloadable at no cost, extensions require payment. Acquiring two or more extensions or even opting for the developer bundle can amount to nearly the same expenditure as WPForms or Formidable Forms. Consequently, this might not be the optimal choice for those with budget constraints.
Ninja Forms empowers users to craft unlimited forms without necessitating coding skills. As a freemium plugin, you can commence with the complimentary base plugin and subsequently incorporate extensions as needed. This adaptability renders Ninja Forms suitable for a wide array of projects.
Pricing: The base plugin can be downloaded for free from the official WordPress repository. Additionally, individual add-ons or addon subscriptions are available for purchase, commencing at $99 per year.
Avoid: Contact Form 7
Although generally discouraged, the inclusion of Contact Form 7 in this list is warranted due to its status as the oldest and most widely downloaded contact form plugin found in the official WordPress plugin directory.
Pros:
- The pros are quite limited, primarily revolving around its status as a free contact form plugin. Frequently, newcomers mistakenly opt for Contact Form 7 due to its high active installation count, primarily attributed to its use on many older websites;
- Furthermore, numerous third-party plugins serve as add-ons for Contact Form 7, with many available for free;
- However, if you seek a free WordPress form plugin, alternatives like WPForms Lite, Formidable Forms Lite, and Ninja Forms offer substantially superior solutions compared to Contact Form 7.
Cons:
- Contact Form 7 falls short as a solution for creating a basic contact form for your blog, making it less than ideal. Its setup can be challenging for absolute beginners, and the user interface can be quite confusing;
- As a free plugin, you’ll receive limited support;
- While there are several third-party addons accessible for Contact Form 7, the official plugin website lacks an addons directory, making it arduous to locate extensions to enhance the base plugin’s functionality.
Selecting the Ideal WordPress Contact Form Plugin
- The plugins featured in this article can all assist you in crafting contact forms for your WordPress site. However, the optimal WordPress form builder plugin is contingent upon your specific requirements;
- For beginners seeking a cost-free option, WPForms Lite comes highly recommended;
- Business owners aiming to create robust custom forms without delving into CSS coding or hiring a developer should opt for the WPForms Pro version;
- Developers in pursuit of the means to construct intricate forms will find Formidable Forms to be an unmatched solution.
FAQ
WordPress plugins generally store contact data within your WordPress database. This means that your data is hosted on your server, granting you complete ownership.
Yes, the majority of popular WordPress form plugins, such as WPForms, adhere to GDPR compliance standards. Customer data is stored on your server rather than on third-party platforms. Additionally, WPForms includes built-in GDPR enhancements to facilitate compliance, such as cookie deactivation, user IP storage prevention, GDPR agreement field inclusion, and other critical GDPR-related functions.
In research, WPForms emerged as the premier choice for survey and poll functionalities. WPForms automatically generates visually appealing reports featuring graphs and charts based on survey responses. You can display survey results on any WordPress page using a shortcode or redirect users to the results page after completing the survey. Notably, WPForms also permits the activation of survey reports for any existing forms. Formidable Forms is the secondary recommendation in this category.
Absolutely! You can effortlessly set up most WordPress contact form plugins to automate the export of data to Google Sheets. For instance, WPForms offers seamless integration with Google Sheets. This integration enables you to connect any form to Google Sheets, map form fields to specific columns, implement conditional logic, and much more.
In cases where a form builder lacks a built-in Google Sheets integration, you can typically rely on Uncanny Automator, a highly-regarded WordPress plugin for automation. Uncanny Automator empowers you to establish connections between various WordPress form plugins and Google Sheets. Supported plugins include WPForms, Formidable Forms, Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, and many others. Moreover, you have the flexibility to link your form builder to other services like Airtable, all without incurring intermediary fees associated with other automation tools such as Zapier.
WPForms stands out as the superior choice for creating forms when compared to Contact Form 7. This distinction is primarily due to WPForms’ user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible for beginners. In contrast, Contact Form 7 necessitates coding skills to construct forms.
Even when evaluating the free version of WPForms, it surpasses Contact Form 7 in several aspects. Notable advantages include enhanced anti-spam features (employing Google reCAPTCHA instead of Honeypot), extensive customization options, and more robust functionality.
The appearance of your contact form in WordPress is primarily dictated by your chosen WordPress theme. Nevertheless, certain WordPress form builders offer customization options to enhance the form’s visual appeal.
For instance, WPForms empowers you to tailor your form’s field layouts effortlessly through a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface. Additionally, WPForms offers a conversational form addon, enabling you to craft a stunning, contemporary full-page contact form optimized for mobile devices. Formidable Forms also provides a similar conversational form feature to enhance the aesthetics of your contact forms.
Most major WordPress contact form plugins support the creation of donation forms for non-profit organizations. If you seek a completely free WordPress payment form plugin for accepting donations, it is suggested to explore WPForms Lite or WP Simple Pay.
The top three free form plugins for WordPress, each with a substantial user base, are:
1. WPForms – boasting over 6 million active installations.
2. Formidable Forms – with more than 300,000 active installations.
3. HubSpot Forms – also exceeding 300,000 active installations.
Certainly, there are numerous online form software options available.
The top recommendation for the best WordPress form builder plugin is WPForms. It combines ease of use with robust functionality and has a user base of over 6 million, establishing it as the fastest-growing form software globally. If you’re just starting, you can begin with the free version of WPForms and later upgrade to the paid version as your website or business expands.
Conclusion
In 2023, the top five contact form plugins for WordPress, including WPForms, Formidable Forms, HubSpot Forms, Contact Form 7, and Fluent Forms, provide a variety of features to meet diverse user needs. These plugins simplify form creation, automation, GDPR compliance, and responsive design. Your choice depends on your unique requirements. These plugins remain essential tools for enhancing user engagement and streamlining data collection in the WordPress ecosystem.