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5 Best Contact Form Plugins for WordPress Compared (2023)

Are you looking to add a contact form on your WordPress site?

Not sure which one of the thousands of WordPress contact form plugins to use? There are so many choices out there, from free options on the WordPress.org plugin repository to premium options that you can get overwhelmed.

In this article, we have hand-picked the 5 best contact form plugins for WordPress and compared their pros and cons, so you can easily add a contact form in WordPress.

Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins

Which is the Best WordPress Form Plugin? (Video)

The answer to which is the best WordPress form plugin varies based on your needs and use-cases.

While WPForms is the fastest-growing WordPress form plugin, in some cases Formidable Forms or another plugin might be a better fit. This is why we have created a comprehensive video guide to help you pick the best WordPress form builder.

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If you prefer the text version, then please continue reading.

1. WPForms

WPForms is the most beginner-friendly WordPress contact form plugin. We use it on WPBeginner and all of our other websites. WPForms is built by the same team as WPBeginner with a single goal: Make a WordPress forms plugin that’s both easy and powerful.

WPForms Best WordPress Contact form plugin

Pros

WPForms’ drag & drop online form builder makes it the most user-friendly form plugin for WordPress, and that’s why over 5 million websites use it.

WPForms Lite is available for free in the official WordPress plugin directory meaning you can install it on as many sites as you like for free.

The free version comes with all the basic contact form features including basic form fields, captcha for spam protection, email notifications, and a thank-you page for form confirmation.

The premium version allows you to extend the functionality, so you can build any type of forms such as multi-page forms, email subscription forms, payment forms, order forms, and more.

WPForms pro also comes with other powerful form fields and features like smart conditional logic, file upload, geo-location, signature feature, form abandonment, user-submitted content (post submissions), login and user registration for WordPress, and over 500+ pre-made form templates.

You can see all your form submissions right inside your WordPress dashboard as well as get customized email notifications. You can even setup conditional notifications, so the right person in your team gets notified.

They have built-in features to improve your workflow such as saving templates, form revisions, access control, and more.

WPForms surveys & polls addon is by far the best WordPress survey solution in the market. It comes with interactive survey reports, real-time polls for WordPress, and all smart survey fields like star ratings, likert scale, NPS, etc. This saves you from paying for extra subscriptions for expensive survey platforms like Survey Monkey.

They also have a form landing page solution to help you create distraction-free form pages in WordPress which makes WPForms the best Wufoo and Google Forms alternative for WordPress.

Recently WPForms also announced their signature Conversational Forms for WordPress which helps you improve your form completion rate by making your forms feel more human.

WPForms integrates with all popular email marketing services like MailChimp, Salesforce, HubSpot, and dozens more.

They also have integrations with payment platforms like Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Authorize.net, so you can quickly create payment forms and accept one-time or recurring payments. There are documentation and guides available along with email support and Facebook group to help you when you need it.

Aside from that, they also have several conversion-focused features like User Journey, Form abandonment, Geolocation, and more.

WPForms is being used by over 5 million websites and have built quite a loyal following (See: WPForms user reviews).

Cons

While the lite version is free, you need to upgrade to WPForms Pro to unlock more powerful features.

Even though WPForms is powerful, the #1 goal of this plugin is to make it user-friendly. That’s why it doesn’t have the more complex features that some other form plugins offer.

Aside from that, WPForms is hands down the best WordPress form builder in the market.

You can use it alongside a WordPress automation plugin like Uncanny Automator to further automate your workflows.

WPBeginner users can use this WPForms coupon that will give you 50% off the premium version of WPForms.

Get WPForms Pro Now »

Alternatively, you can start with WPForms Lite for Free which in our opinion is the best free WordPress form plugin.

Bonus: if you’re a registered non-profit organization, then you can qualify for WPForms non-profit discount which gives you 75% off the regular price. WPForms loves supporting non-profit organizations to improve the world.

2. Formidable Forms

Formidable Forms is the most advanced WordPress form plugin in the market. They specialize in helping developers build complex form-focused solutions quickly.

Formidable Forms Advanced WordPress form plugin

Pros

Formidable is an all-in-one WordPress form builder that comes with powerful addons to help you go beyond simple contact forms.

You can use the Formidable Forms drag-and-drop interface to create advanced forms like quizzes, surveys, payment forms, registration forms, profile forms, and more.

Advanced users will really love the Formidable Views feature because it allows you to format, filter, and display user-submitted data on the front-end of your website. You can use it to create form-focused solutions like directories, job board listings, event calendars, management systems, rating systems, and more.

You can use Formidable’s advanced calculation fields to create powerful order forms as well as smart calculators like Mortgage calculator, car payment calculator, request a quote calculator, and more.

Formidable integrates with all popular email marketing and payment platforms.

They also have a powerful WooCommerce integration to help you build product forms and even WooCommerce product configurator forms that ties directly to your cart.

The price point for Formidable forms is a real advantage for developers because to accomplish the same tasks with competing plugins like Gravity Forms, you will be paying at least 2 – 3x more since you’ll have to purchase third-party addons whereas those advanced features are built-in to Formidable.

Cons

The Formidable Forms builder is not as intuitive as WPForms because they focus on advanced users and developers.

But it makes up for it by being the most extendable form solution in the market. If you’re a developer or agency looking to build form-based solutions or data-driven web applications, then nothing in the market comes close to Formidable Forms.

3. HubSpot Forms

HubSpot’s WordPress plugin is a free all-in-one marketing plugin that comes with tools like WordPress form builder, live chat, analytics, CRM, and more.

HubSpot WordPress Form Builder

Pros

HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing toolkit that comes with a form builder, live chat, popups, analytics, and other marketing features for your website. The main appeal for HubSpot is their plugin seamlessly integrates with their powerful CRM and sales tools.

You can connect your forms, manage contacts, segment contacts into groups / lists, and see every interaction a visitor has had with your website. This gives you great insight for your marketing and sales performance.

If you’re using HubSpot’s email marketing and other sales tools, then using this form builder is a no-brainer.

Also keep in mind that HubSpot also easily integrate with other form tools in our list such as WPForms, Formidable, and more.

Cons

While you can use CRM, forms, live chat, and analytics for free in the HubSpot plugin, you have to upgrade to a Starter plan (starting at $45 per month) or above to use their other paid features which can get quite expensive for beginners.

HubSpot forms are not as powerful as WPForms or Formidable Forms, since they lack WordPress-specific features like custom user registration forms, login forms, post submission, and other advanced form features.

4. Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms is a paid WordPress form builder plugin that comes with a lot of advanced functionality and features. They also specialize in helping developers build complex form-related solutions.

Gravity Forms WordPress form plugin

Pros

Gravity Forms is a powerful drag-and-drop contact form plugin for WordPress.

With the help of additional add-ons, Gravity Forms can be used to create surveys, quizzes, user-submitted content, and even web directory.

It comes with premium support options like FAQs, knowledge base, forums, and email support. This means that help is available when you need it.

Cons

Gravity Forms does not have a free version, so it can be a bit expensive than other WordPress contact form plugins. However, if you are using it on multiple sites and projects, then the cost should not be a big deal.

Gravity Forms does not include powerful features like Views, Tables & Directories, and others by default. Instead, you will need to purchase these addons from 3rd-party developers like GravityKit and GravityWiz which further increases your annual costs.

Whereas similar features like Views, Tables, Directories, etc are all included in the Business plan of Formidable Forms at a fraction of the price.

5. Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms is a freemium contact form plugin for WordPress. It can be used to create highly interactive forms with very little effort.

Ninja Forms WordPress Form Creation Plugin

Pros

The base plugin for Ninja Forms is available for free from the official WordPress repository. This means you can download and install it on as many sites as you like.

There are premium extensions that allow you to extend Ninja Forms functionality such as connecting with Campaign Monitor, Freshbooks, Salesforce, SMS notifications, etc.

There is a helpful community support option, as well as documentation, guides, and email support.

Cons

Even though the main plugin is available for free, the extensions are not. Buying two or more extensions or even the developer bundle will cost you nearly the same amount as WPForms or Formidable Forms.

Avoid: Contact Form 7

Although we don’t recommend Contact Form 7, this list cannot be complete without the oldest and most downloaded contact form plugin in the official WordPress plugin directory.

Contact Form 7 Free WordPress Contact Form Plugin

Pros

There are really no pros to this plugin except the fact that it’s free, and often beginners make the mistake of installing it since it has a high active install (because a lot of old sites are using it).

If you’re looking for a free WordPress form plugin, then WPForms Lite, Formidable Forms Lite, and Ninja Forms are all significantly better solutions than Contact Form 7.

There are several third-party plugins that act as add-on plugins for Contact Form 7. Most of them are available for free.

Cons

Contact Form 7 is a below-average solution for creating a basic contact form for your blog. It is very difficult to set up for absolute beginners. The user interface is not intuitive at all.

Since it is a free plugin, support options are limited.

There are several third-party add-ons available for Contact Form 7, but the official plugin website doesn’t have an add-ons directory which makes it difficult to find add-ons to extend the functionality of the base plugin.

Which is the Best Contact Form Plugin for WordPress?

The plugins we mentioned in this article can all help you create a contact form plugin. However, deciding the best WordPress form builder plugin varies based on your needs.

If you’re a beginner and don’t want to spend any money, then go with WPForms Lite.

If you’re a business owner and want to create powerful forms without learning code or hiring a developer, then go with the WPForms Pro version.

If you’re a developer trying to build more complex forms, then there’s no better solution than Formidable Forms.

Our overall pick for the best WordPress contact form plugin is WPForms.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Contact Forms

Having helped tens of thousands of people select the best WordPress form builder for their needs, below are some of the most frequently asked questions.

Where is WordPress contact form data stored?

Most WordPress form plugins will store the contact form data in your WordPress database. This means that the data is self-hosted on your server, and you have full ownership of everything.

You can also configure the WordPress form plugin like WPForms to automatically route every contact form submission to your email address, store the data in Google sheets, send to your CRM, or add the subscriber to your email marketing service.

Are WordPress form plugins GDPR compliant?

Yes, most popular WordPress form plugins like WPForms are fully GDPR compliant because the customer data is stored on your server, not any third-party platform.

Furthermore, WPForms have also built-in GDPR enhancements that add the option for you to disable cookies on forms, prevent the storage of user IP, add a GDPR agreement field, etc.

Which WordPress contact form plugin is best for surveys & polls?

In our research, we found WPForms to have the best survey and poll features as part of their online form builder. The reason for that is their survey reporting which can be enabled retroactively. Furthermore, they let you customize the data visualization to match your needs.

Formidable Forms would be our second pick.

Can I automatically add WordPress form plugin data to Google Sheets?

Yes, you can easily configure most WordPress contact form plugins to automatically add data to your Google sheets.

For example, WPForms has a Google Sheets integration that lets you connect any form to Google Sheets, map form fields to specific columns, use conditional logic, etc.

But even if a form builder doesn’t have a native Google sheets integration, you can use a WordPress workflow automation plugin like Uncanny Automator that lets you connect WordPress form plugins like WPForms, Formidable, Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, etc to Google Sheets, Airtable, and basically over 100+ other services without the middle-man fees of Zapier.

Which is better WPForms or Contact Form 7?

WPForms is far better than Contact Form 7 because it has a beginner-friendly drag & drop form builder interface whereas you have to build a contact form using code in Contact Form 7.

Even when comparing just the WPForms free version, WPForms comes with better spam protection, customization options, and more.

How do I create a beautiful contact form in WordPress?

The appearance of your WordPress contact form is controlled by your WordPress theme. However, some WordPress form builders give you options to make your form stand out.

For example, WPForms allows you to configure your form field layouts using a drag & drop interface. You can also use their conversational form addon to create a beautiful modern full-page contact form that’s mobile-friendly.

Conversational forms example

Formidable Forms and others also offer similar conversational form features now that lets you create beautiful WordPress contact form.

For more details, see our guide on how to create a contact form in WordPress.

Which is the best WordPress form plugin for non-profits?

Almost all major WordPress contact form plugins come with features that lets non-profits accept donations on their website, so it ultimately comes down to the price. WPForms offers non-profit organizations a 75% discount on their normal pricing, so in our opinion, that’s the best choice.

If you’re looking for a completely free WordPress payment form plugin to accept donations, then we recommend taking a look at WP Simple Pay.

Which is the best free-form plugin for WordPress?

The top three best free form plugins for WordPress are:

  1. WPForms – over 5 million active installs.
  2. Formidable Forms – over 300,000+ active installs.
  3. HubSpot Forms – over 300,000+ active installs.

Are there other WordPress form builder plugins that are not included in this list?

Yes, there are literally hundreds of online form software out there, but our goal is to help readers avoid choice paralysis. In our research, we also looked at Typeforms, Survey Monkey, Wufoo, Formstack, Google Forms, Elementor Forms, Fluent Forms, Forminator, Everest Form, Jetpack forms, Jotform, and WeForm, but we believe that the top 5 WordPress form builder that we have mentioned in our list are the absolute best.

Which is the best WordPress form builder in your opinion?

Our top choice for the best WordPress form builder plugin is WPForms. It truly is a WordPress form plugin that’s both easy and powerful. There’s a very good reason why over 5 million websites are using WPForms, and it’s the fastest-growing form software on the planet.

If you’re just getting started, you can try the WPForms free version and upgrade later as your business grows. The free version is plenty powerful.

We hope this guide helped you choose the best contact form plugin for your WordPress site. You may also want to take a look at our guide on the best WordPress page builder plugins and best WordPress backup plugins compared (Pros and Cons).

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Reader Interactions

171 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Just a quick thank you :)

    I have just created a 2 column form, made it 1 column for mobiles in less than 5 minutes with WPForms Lite.
    ..I feel pretty stupid struggling with Contact Form 7 for so long…

  2. Are there any FormBuilders available that let you filter the kind of email address a visitor enters? That is : refuse an entry when a visitor is using a general mail address like gmail, hotmail, yahoomail or similar?
    Thanks.

  3. I am looking for free Form Plugin which can allow user to submit CV / image files for my WP blog, plz help me…

  4. What plugin would you recommend if you wanted to store all the data in a database to export into a CSV or Excel file?

  5. Hi

    Please suggest , i added plugin of Ninja form in my website
    but i required more detail information in contact form like
    product description
    product quantity
    City
    state
    regards

  6. I love Contact Form 7. For me it is one of the best things that ever happened to WordPress. I came over from Joomla many years ago to WordPress because Joomla lacked a contact form module I could use and I use Contact Form 7 on all my sites (more than 10 sites). It deploys so fast – has an unfair advantage over drag-and-drop type contact forms – if you need lots of forms.

  7. Hi,

    am a beginner on wordpress.Am looking for something specific i just dont know the terminology for that functionality.i want a contact for that returns the desired value based on what the user type.I.e, If u type Apple it must return Green and if u type Orange it must return Orange,Sort of.or/and in more details,it must be a combination of two things then the form will return the value.What exaclty can i use? its an Array of about 1000 things or more to type.Thanks

  8. I am trying to use WP Forms with Elementor, but when I add the shortcode for the WP Form via the text editor widget, the save never finishes once I hit the save button.

    When I try to enter the shortcode in the shortcode widget and hit apply, nothing happens.

    Is there a way to use WP Froms with Elementor?

    Thanks!

    • Hey Trevor,

      WPForms works well with Elementor. However, Elementor’s live editor does not refresh to allow shortcode execution. This means that after adding your shortcode you’d need to save your page and then view the preview in a new window or publish the page and view your form on the live page.

      Admin

  9. Not sure why anyone uses Contact Form 7 today.

    Contact Form 7 may be the grand daddy of these plugins but it is now old and despite only using the form on a single page of a site it loads for every page on a site. So if you have 200 pages on your site and only one contact page with the Contact Form 7 installed on, it still loads for every single page……..slow, slow, slow sites.

    Syed, It would be interesting to know which, if any, of the other plugins that you mention also slows a WordPress site down.

  10. Ninja Forms is good, but they charge their plugins annually…I almost fell into that trap, thankfully I notice it just before I bought the plugin

  11. What form plugin can enable users to save dratfs of their appplication procedure and continue to complete it in later time maybe via an email link to where to edit their applications

  12. Hi, Contact Form 7 worked at first back some 2.5 years ago. The user interface for customizing is difficult to understand. Then all of a sudden, it stopped working, and yes I do the updates. I went in to their instructions on their website and followed exactly. Just looking at it again today after reading your post. Following their instructions to insert it onto my Contact Page. After Updating the page, all that shows is the copied and pasted coding, no form. Yes, I did copy and paste the form code into the Text version of the page.

    I am going to right now delete Contact Form 7, because I think it’s a pain in the you know what, and I don’t know why it is so popular. Going to try WPForms. Thank you for the article.

    • Update: Deleted Contact Form 7 from my two websites. Installed WP Forms free version. Easy easy easy. Done quickly, works! Thanks a bunch!

  13. It would be great if your review included how well these forms perform, such as formatting on a mobile device versus a desktop, how adaptable they are and how easy (or not) they are to properly size. Also, do any of them cause a drag on performance. These are the questions I have.

  14. I have a problem with all of the plugins listed. I am not able to receive any messages sent via contact forms even tough it works fine with the WP email SMTP test. no errors, nothing. The contact forms are still not working with gmail. could you guys please help me :)

    • Hey JO,

      If you are using the same Gmail Address in the sender field that is used in your WordPress admin account then you may not receive those emails. If you can change your WordPress admin or sender email address to some other email provider then it would start working.

      Admin

      • Sir,

        I have changed the email address by moving two pathways Wp > > Settings >> General >> Email Address.
        And Wp >> WPForms >> Notifications >>> Sent to Email Address.

        But still when I am testing the contact form its not working.

        Shall I recreate the form or m doing wrong at some place.

  15. I tried virtually all the contact forms and none of them accommodate my site. After setting them up, they are not for public access. What’s the point?

  16. WPForms has an issue with reCaptcha, where it allows forms to be submitted before checking reCaptcha. If there is a problem, the page does a full reload, resulting in all user inputted data being lost.

  17. I like Ninja Forms, but styling is not the best there. I hate Contact Form 7, is not user friendly and formating is hard. I love the contact form in Divi.

  18. THANK YOU! I installed WPForms and quit banging my head against screen trying to get another plugin to behave.

  19. I’d like to know which provide the best reporting tools. I’m currently using Contact Form 7 and the Contact Form DB and I’m struggling with reporting. (I can only get my data from a single form entry in a single row?)

  20. Which plug in is the most similar to Joomla Fabrik or has the same functions? Thanks in advance!

  21. i tried wpforms set it up correctly but when i tried to send an email using the form on my website that i’ve just created i cannot receive it on my email. don’t know what to do i really like to use this plugin.

  22. I have a personal website and I want to give some service link SEO and Web design. But I can’t create order form. Please share with me an stylish order form. pro or free.

  23. Which of these forms is mobile responsive though?
    I’ve noticed that some email forms aren’t responsive at all.

  24. I use Gravity Forms on two of my sites but have found their support to be lacking. The form works great but I’m having trouble with hotmail & gmail email users receiving the automated notifications I’ve generated. Is this particular to Gravity Forms? If so – which other plugin would you recommend, and if not is there a way around this challenge? Thanks

    • Doesn’t sound like a form issue – more likely your shared hosting includes accounts blacklisted by gmail.

  25. Hello,

    What is the best form to use if someone wants a very basic contact form on a site, with replies going to two different email addresses?

    The website doesn’t want to take surveys or anything like that – just wants to use the form instead of having email addresses published on it.

  26. Anyone know offhand which of your 5 best contact forms offer a widget feature? Would like to place a contact form on the sidebar. Thanks

  27. I have been using contact form 7 and now I can see how much functionality there is in the pro plugins, many thanks for this post, I recommended it to someone I know who is struggling with contact form 7

    I also get some warning with contact form 7 about authenticating the form I am not sure what this means, does any body know about any issues with contact form 7

    Barry

  28. I don’t think WPForms has a free option. It has a pre-paid 14-day trial but that’s all I could find.

  29. I have a website on wordpress and i have used contact form 7 on that. Now i want to add a functionality so that when someone submits the contact form i receive all the data from phone on sms as well as email. Can you suggest some easy and reliable way for that.

    Thank you
    Adam

  30. I have a digitals marketing blog websites.I want to make my sidebars like yours.How can i do it?

  31. I was going to buy gravity based on the review here. I sent in pre sale question about editing color of form, fields, borders etc. They stated I needed to use css to style it. I was thinking for a paid form I could style it. I don’t see the value in it if i can’t style it. I was wondering if you were familiar with contact form generator. Seems a little difficult to figure out but they do have color editing. I bought web dorado a few years back and everytime i installed it my site ran very slow and front end visual composer would not work. I am just hesitant to pay for one and never use it. I used fast and secure and it is pretty good, but editing colors is difficult for me. I like to be able to edit a form and use transparent colors and not have huge fields like fast secure doues. For a legal website small attractive form is better, possible overlayed on a header background image.

    • Actually styling Gravity Forms is not that difficult. Most premium WordPress themes already come with CSS styles for Gravity Forms. There are also plugins that can allow you to edit and choose styles. Lastly, you can also use CSS Hero plugin. It allows you to edit any WordPress theme including Gravity Forms displayed on your website.

      Admin

    • A little late here, but have you tried the visual styler in Formidable forms? It’s even included in the free version.

    • I’m a little late, but I’ve never noticed Web-Dorado being slow. Try a theme with Gantry framework like Rocketthemes – now THAT’S slow! But using VIP hosting on SSD drives, multiple core processors and sufficient memory, and things speed up just fine.

      BTW, I would think a law firm would want a professional doing their websites.

  32. Can you do a post about Caldera Forms contact form? It’s a great plug-in, but I have a question about field length that I’m not sure how to ask, as I don’t know if it’s a CF question, a jquery question, java script question, or what type of question….I want a field in my contact form that holds only 35 or less characters, i.e., letters, numbers, white space, punctuation, etc. Is this done through an input mask? If so, I can’t figure out the format. *{0,35} gives me the 35 spaces but doesn’t allow for white space or special characters. Are input mask formats all the same, or do they differ depending on code the form is designed in? They use parsley.js I gather…thanks for any help you can shed on this issue.

  33. Hi,

    Can you please tell which one should I go for if I have to build contact form with option of file upload by the users?

    Only Single Site License.

  34. Hey, Editor!

    I think you should add Caldera Forms in this post. I’m using it for quite some time now, and it works great.

    Esp. the multi-page intuitive form-building interface and responsive forms for free.

    Worth a shot.

  35. Great article. But question – why not just use the Jetpack contact form that’s already available?

      • Like me. Can’t stand Jetpack at all. Too bloated for a wordpress site, and that is only few features activated too.

        • I agree about jetpack. All my sites kept getting slower and slower. Jetpack was using up so much resource and I removed jetpack from all my sites and speed went right back up immediately. Their form is ok, but not one that should be in a list of best.

  36. From a developer standpoint, I have used both Gravity and Formidable Pro and Formidable Pro has a LOT more hooks and is eminently more customizable than Gravity. I have also found Formidable Pro support to be friendlier and quicker to respond.

    However, I have also found that more of my clients use Gravity than anything else.

    • I use Formidable Pro on several sites too, and like it very much. Formidable Pro includes PayPal & MailChimp integration, while Gravity forms charges extra for those. Formidable Pro gives you free updates even if your support subscription lapses, so each site isn’t committed to annual payments forever.

  37. Sad to say this post was very predictable. Every comparison post for contact forms you come across compare the same old plugins and if you’ve read one contact form comparison then you’ve read them all! It would be nice if for once someone took the time to discover the not so obvious plugins out there and did comparisons on them. Not only will it highlight other developers but you never know you may come across some real gems…

  38. hmm, this is rather basic. Could you include perhaps some photos of form creation and also performance benchmark with

    1) A few fields
    2) A few hundred fields? :)

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