When it comes to building a successful website, one of the most crucial elements is having a reliable contact form. A contact form allows visitors to reach out to you, making it easier to connect with your audience and potential customers. WordPress, being one of the most popular content management systems, offers a wide range of contact form plugins to choose from. In this article, we will explore the best free WordPress contact form plugins that can help you create user-friendly and customizable contact forms for your website.
Benefits of Using Contact Form Plugins for WordPress
Before diving into the best contact form plugins, it’s important to understand the benefits they bring to your WordPress website. First and foremost, contact form plugins simplify the process of creating and managing contact forms. They provide pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy for even non-technical users to customize their forms.
Additionally, contact form plugins offer various features such as spam protection, file uploads, and integration with popular email marketing services ( MailChimp, Constant Contact or Brevo ). These features ensure that your contact forms are secure, efficient, and capable of capturing all the necessary information from your visitors.
Best Free Contact Form Builder Plugins
Here’s the list of the free contact builder plugins for WordPress.
1. Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is one of the most widely used free contact form plugins for WordPress. It offers a simple and straightforward interface, making it easy to create and manage multiple contact forms on your website. The plugin supports CAPTCHA and Akismet spam filtering, ensuring that your forms are protected against unwanted submissions.
Contact Form 7 also provides extensive customization options, allowing you to modify the form fields, styling, and email notifications according to your preferences. This contact form plugin is used in our WordPress themes.
Key Features of Contact Form 7:
- Custom Form Markup: Tailor forms to your needs with customizable markup.
- Akismet Spam Filtering: Reduce spam entries efficiently.
- AJAX-powered Submitting: Seamless form submissions without page reloads.
- CAPTCHA Integration: Enhance security with CAPTCHA verification.
- Form Management: Easily create and manage multiple contact forms.
Pros:
- User-Friendly: Ideal for beginners with its easy installation and customization.
- Spam Protection: Effective spam filtering with Akismet and CAPTCHA.
- Wide Adoption: Trusted by a vast user base indicating reliability.
Cons:
- Limited Advanced Features: Lacks some advanced features provided by premium form builder plugins.
- No Built-in Analytics: Does not have built-in analytics or tracking features for form submissions.
2. WPForms Lite
WPForms Lite is another popular contact form plugin that provides a user-friendly interface and powerful features. The plugin offers a drag-and-drop form builder, allowing you to create custom contact forms effortlessly. WPForms Lite also includes pre-built form templates, making it even easier to get started.
One of the standout features of WPForms Lite is its seamless integration with popular email marketing services such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact. This integration enables you to automatically add subscribers to your email lists, helping you grow your audience and stay connected with your visitors.
Key Features of WPForms Lite:
- Form Types: create a variety of forms including newsletters, surveys, donation, registration, and payment forms.
- Templates: more than 100 pre-built templates to expedite the form creation process.
- Drag-and-Drop Interface: simplifies form creation, allowing users to easily design forms without any coding knowledge.
- Mobile Responsiveness: forms adjust to different screen sizes ensuring usability on smartphones and other devices.
- Integration with Email Marketing Services: connect subscription forms to email marketing services for streamlined lead management.
Pros:
- User-Friendly: especially beneficial for beginners, the drag-and-drop feature makes form creation a breeze.
- Pre-built Templates: a wide range of templates accelerates the form creation process, catering to various needs.
- Extensive Documentation: access to video tutorials and documentation aids in understanding the plugin’s functionality.
Cons:
- Limited Free Version: the free version, WPForms Lite, offers limited functionalities which might necessitate an upgrade to the pro version for more advanced features.
- No Bulk File Upload: The inability to upload multiple files at once could be a hindrance in certain use cases.
3. Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms is a robust solution for WordPress users in need of a powerful, yet user-friendly form builder. The plugin provides a drag-and-drop form builder, allowing you to create complex forms without any coding.
Ninja Forms also offers numerous add-ons that enhance its functionality. These add-ons include features such as conditional logic, file uploads, and multi-part forms. With the ability to create multi-page forms and conditional logic, Ninja Forms empowers you to build interactive and dynamic contact forms that cater to your specific needs.
Key Features of Ninja Forms:
- Drag-and-Drop Interface: easily build complex forms with a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
- File Uploads: allow users to upload files with their form submissions.
- Export Options: export form submissions as PDF or Excel files, and integrate with Google Sheets.
- Payment Integrations: accept payments and donations securely through PayPal or credit card payments, with options for single payments, subscriptions, fixed or variable amounts, and user-entered amounts.
- Marketing Tool Integrations: seamlessly integrate with popular marketing tools like MailChimp, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Salesforce, Zoho, and Insightly for enhanced signup and lead generation forms.
- Professional Templates: utilize professional templates to build aesthetically pleasing forms quickly.
Although Ninja Forms offers customization options, it can be expensive when you need advanced features or additional add-ons. The cost increases as you opt for higher-tier plans or more add-ons. This may pose a challenge for those with a tight budget or specific customization needs. Additionally, customization options can sometimes lead to a roadblock, which may require higher-tier plans or additional add-ons.
4. Everest Forms
Everest Forms is a user-friendly and fast WordPress form builder plugin that allows you to create various types of forms, including contact forms, surveys, and polls. It comes with a simple admin panel and drag-and-drop fields, making it easy to create any form you need. The forms created using Everest Forms are 100% responsive and display perfectly on any device.
Key Features of Everest Forms:
- Drag-and-Drop Interface: Everest Forms provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, allowing for easy creation and editing of form fields.
- Form Templates: a variety of form templates are provided to accommodate different use cases, including Simple Contact Form, Advanced Contact Form, Leave Request Form, Simple Support Form, and many more, some of which are available in the free version while others are part of the premium plan.
- Form Customization: various customization options are available depending on the type of field being utilized, such as placeholder text, customizing the size and visibility of the field, and more.
- Customer Support: excellent customer support is provided through knowledge-based articles, forums, instructional videos, live chat, and email support tickets.
5. Formidable Forms
Formidable Forms is a powerful contact form plugin for WordPress that allows you to create custom contact forms. The plugin comes with a drag-and-drop form builder, making it easy to add form fields and customize the form layout. Formidable Forms also includes advanced features, such as multi-page forms, form calculations, and form scheduling.
Formidable Forms integrates with popular email marketing services and CRM tools, allowing you to automate your lead generation and customer management processes. The plugin also offers built-in form analytics, so you can track form submissions, conversion rates, and user engagement.
You can easily customize the appearance of your forms using the style customizer feature, which allows you to change colors, fonts, borders, and backgrounds. Everest Forms is compatible with any WordPress theme or plugin and supports Elementor page builder widgets.
Key Features of Formidable Forms:
- Drag-and-Drop Builder: effortlessly create and customize forms with the user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
- Integration Options: extensive integration with popular third-party tools and services such as Zapier, PayPal, Stripe, Mailchimp, and HubSpot, aiding in streamlined data management and connections with already utilized tools.
- Form Customization: advanced form fields, multi-page forms, file uploads, dynamic calculations, and the option to dive deeper into customization by tweaking CSS and JavaScript in your form.
- User Tracking: utilize the User Flow feature to view a visitor’s path to your form, which includes pages visited, actions taken, time spent on each page, and the route taken to arrive on your site.
- Pre-Built Templates: a variety of templates for different purposes, including contact forms, ecommerce, and AI, aiding in quick setup and professional presentation.
- AI Field: leverage artificial intelligence to automate form responses and actions intelligently, teaching forms to understand and respond to user inputs with better accuracy.
6. Happy Forms
Happy Forms is a WordPress plugin that simplifies the process of creating contact forms. The plugin like the other contact form plugins presented above, provides a drag-and-drop form builder and ready-made templates for effortless customization.
Happyforms addresses common pain points. It streamlines the setup of various forms, including contact, lead generation, feedback, quote, and survey forms. Happyforms optimizes conversation conversion rates with website visitors and can be set up within five minutes.
To install Happyforms, users can simply search for it in the WordPress dashboard and click “Install” and “Activate”. However, it is advisable to set up a free SMTP plugin to ensure reliable email delivery from WordPress. The Happyforms team also provides direct support to assist users with any queries, leveraging their expertise in product development.
7. Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder
MetForm is a versatile WordPress contact form builder that integrates with Elementor. It offers a drag-and-drop interface, allowing users to create fast and secure contact forms with ease. The plugin supports multiple contact forms and enables customization of multi-step forms using the Elementor builder.
MetForm offers full flexibility in building any type of form using Elementor. It can be used for referral forms to gather referral feedback, client feedback forms for collecting product scores, and even complex forms with images or videos. The lite version of MetForm provides all these features and more. With its mobile-friendly and responsive design, MetForm ensures that forms look great on all devices. Users can easily fill out smart order forms or any other online form without any issues.
Although Metform is lightweight, it doesn’t compromise on features. The plugin offers advanced options such as conditional logic, file uploads, and integration with popular email marketing services. With its developer-friendly approach and customization options, Metform is a great choice for those who prefer a lightweight yet powerful contact form plugin.
Comparison of Popular Free WordPress Contact Form Plugins
Now that we have explored the best free WordPress contact form plugins individually, let’s compare them based on their key features and functionalities.
| Plugin | Free / Premium | Drag-and-Drop Builder | Pre-built Templates | Conditional Logic | Spam Protection | Integration with Email Marketing Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Form 7 | Free / No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| WPForms Lite | Free / $49 year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ninja Forms | Free / $99 year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Everest Forms | Free / $48 year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Formidable Forms | Free / $39 year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Happy Forms | Free / $79 year | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Metform | Free / $39 year | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Before making a decision, take the time to evaluate your requirements and consider the features that are most important to you. Don’t hesitate to try out different plugins and explore their functionalities. Remember, the right contact form plugin can greatly enhance your website’s user experience and improve your communication with your audience.
Final Thoughts
Having a reliable contact form is essential for any WordPress website. The best free contact form plugins mentioned in this article provide a wide range of features, customization options, and user-friendly interfaces. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, there is a suitable contact form plugin available for your specific needs.
Please note that while these plugins are free, some offer premium versions with additional features and support. It’s always a good idea to explore the premium options if you require more advanced functionality or dedicated support.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most popular free contact form plugins?
Contact Form 7, WPForms, Ninja Forms, and Formidable Forms are some of the most popular free contact form plugins available for WordPress. These plugins offer a wide range of features and customization options, allowing you to create professional and user-friendly contact forms for your website.
Are there premium contact form plugin versions available?
Yes, all of the mentioned contact form plugins have premium versions available. The premium versions come with additional features and functionalities, such as advanced form fields, form templates, integrations with third-party services, and priority support. If you need more advanced features or need additional support, upgrading to the premium version of a contact form plugin can be a good investment.
Contact Form 7 vs WPForms, which one is better?
Both Contact Form 7 and WPForms are excellent contact form plugins, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. Contact Form 7 is a lightweight plugin that offers basic contact form functionality. It is a great choice if you need a simple and straightforward contact form without any advanced features. On the other hand, WPForms is a more feature-rich contact form plugin that offers a drag-and-drop form builder and advanced customization options. It is a better choice if you want to create professional and highly customizable contact forms with ease.
Are WordPress form plugins GDPR compliant?
Yes, most WordPress form plugins are GDPR compliant. The plugins provide options to add consent checkboxes, data retention policies, and other features required by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Does WordPress have a built-in contact form?
No, WordPress does not have a built-in contact form. However, you can easily add a contact form to your WordPress website using one of the many free contact form plugins presented in this article. These plugins offer a wide range of features and customization options, allowing you to create a contact form that meets your specific requirements.
