Imagine a customer lands on our website and tries to get in touch with our company. Or imagine you follow all the SEO and blog promotion advice so well that lots of new customers who want to contact you drop from the sky. How will they do it? In this article I tell you which, in my view, are the best contact form plugins for WordPress today.
Why use a contact form plugin on WordPress?
There are many ways to put a customer in touch with a company through the website: a live chat in the bottom right corner, a WhatsApp button, an email address, a phone number or a physical address visible in the header (you never know how close your customer may be). They are wonderful solutions, and it is important to offer several ways for customers to reach you as quickly and easily as possible.
But think about it: people are busy, we do not want to wait on the phone or type in a chat that may not be answered, or is answered by a robot. A contact form lets customers send a quick, complete message and get a reply when it suits you. Forms can also route each message to the right department, collect the data you need (service, budget, etc.) and keep your inbox from filling with spam.
Now, how do we build a form on our WordPress website? Which plugin is best?
The best contact form plugins for WordPress
These are the ones I consider the best, each with tools such as custom forms, drag-and-drop fields, conditional logic, entry management and much more. Prices and free-version limits change often, so always check each plugin’s website.
1. WPForms
WPForms is designed for users of all levels, even complete beginners. You can create forms in minutes with its prebuilt templates and drag-and-drop builder. It integrates easily with email marketing services and, in its paid versions, even lets you collect payments and bookings.
It includes spam protection (CAPTCHA and honeypot), multi-page forms, instant notifications and an entry management system. It has a free version (WPForms Lite) and paid plans with more features.
2. Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is one of the most powerful and popular premium plugins, ideal for complex forms. Its highlights are multi-page forms with a progress bar, advanced conditional logic, file uploads and the ability to limit the number of entries (for example, for a contest or an event with limited places). It has many integrations and is highly rated by developers and agencies. It is paid, with different licenses depending on the number of websites.
3. Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is still one of the most popular and widely used form plugins, thanks to its simplicity. It is free, very lightweight and lets you manage several forms and customize the content of the email. It works well with other add-ons and services, such as the Akismet anti-spam filter or verification with reCAPTCHA or Cloudflare Turnstile. Its weak point is that the form is edited with code (although very simple code) and it has no visual builder, and that by default it does not save messages (see the tip below).
4. Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms lets you design complete, custom forms with a drag-and-drop interface and without touching code. You can manage, edit and export submissions, save favorite fields to reuse them, and send custom messages to different people or departments, with confirmations for customers. Its free version covers the basics and it can be extended with paid add-ons.
Other options worth knowing
- Fluent Forms: a modern, fast builder with a very complete free version.
- Elementor Pro forms: if your website is built with Elementor, the form widget included in Pro is usually enough and saves you installing another plugin.
What to consider before choosing
- Spam protection: use reCAPTCHA, Cloudflare Turnstile or a honeypot.
- GDPR: add a checkbox to accept the privacy policy and explain what you will use the data for.
- Email delivery: set up an SMTP service (with WP Mail SMTP or FluentSMTP) so messages do not end up in the spam folder.
- Saving messages: if you use Contact Form 7, install Flamingo. To avoid losing a message from a potential customer, it is essential to have them saved.
- Lightness: load the plugin only on the pages that have a form, so it does not affect your loading speed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free contact form plugin?
Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, WPForms Lite and Ninja Forms have a free version. If you want simplicity, Contact Form 7; if you prefer a visual editor, WPForms or Fluent Forms.
Why am I not receiving the form emails?
The most common cause is that emails end up in spam or are blocked by the server. Solution: set up an SMTP service and check the spam folder.
Can I have several forms?
Yes, all of these plugins let you create several forms and place them wherever you want using blocks or shortcodes.
I am sure you agree with this selection, although you know I am always open to your opinion. You can leave me a comment or contact me through the Contact page or on social media.
That is all for today’s article. I hope it helped you find the best contact form plugin for your website. Remember you have more topics on improving rankings, design and promotion of your WordPress website on my blog. If you have a topic suggestion, let me know and I will publish it as soon as possible.
