One of the most important elements for any website is those that are used to collect contact data so you can consistently and effectively communicate with customers and prospects. It makes this one element and the WordPress Contact Form plugin you choose, one of the most important decisions you are going to be making as you build your way to an effective web presence.
Importance of necessities in your form design
Once you’ve selected the right plugin, you’ll need to take great care in designing the actual form or forms you will be employing and this is the next highly critical step in your planning process. A form that is slow, disorganized, or requires too much information can be worse than not having any form at all.
There are tried and true practices that should guide this effort. For example, forms should require only the information that will be necessary. If it is a registration form and you can manage with just a name and email address, don’t ask for any more than that, and the number of people completing that registration will increase measurably.
If the form is being used to request support or other customer-related services, you’ll probably need additional data but, you could pre-set some of the data with what you already know about that customer. Don’t ask them to tell you what you should already know.
Forms can also be in Sidebars
Also, remember that contact forms don’t have to be separate pages that someone needs to click on to complete. They can be placed in sidebars so they’re always available or they can appear strategically as popups that grab attention at just the right moment in a visitor’s journey around your website. Make it easy for them to do what you need them to do without making it an annoyance.
Form positive confirmation
Once a visitor or customer completes a form be sure to provide a positive confirmation that the form has been received. Don’t leave them to guess if it got through. This could be as simple as a popup confirmation message or you can take them to a unique confirmation page that may be used to encourage them to take the next step like move to making a purchase.
You can find many more tips and tricks and if you’re just starting out. They will help you avoid many of the pitfalls that have trapped so many before you. Most of all though, just think about what sites have done to get you to “sign up” or have annoyed you so much that you turned and ran. If it worked for you or drove you away, there is a good chance it will do the same to others. Use your experiences to influence your design choices.
Other good references for form design
For a good place to start, read this article by the editorial staff at WP Beginner titled: 12 Best Practices for Contact Form Page Design. HubSpot also has some great contact page examples you should consider copying from – 30 of the Best ‘Contact Us’ Pages You’ll Want to Copy. This article also includes a set of very good Best Practices you’ll want to review.
Now onto the reason you’re here – the best WordPress Contact Form plugins. This list will include both free and paid plugins but there is a bit of a twist. Some of the most popular )2 really), WordPress Contact Form plugins will cost you nothing in their free form and are very likely to be included in most any template you install.
However, these have become so popular that they have spawned an entire ecosystem of add-ons and many of these are so useful that you may find that you are purchasing as much or more in licenses on these add-ons as you might spend on any other paid plugin. That doesn’t mean they are bad choices. On the contrary, they are excellent choices. They just aren’t as cost-free as they might appear.
So onto our list. Here are our top 9 choices for WordPress Contact Form plugins, starting with the most popular free plugins and a few of the add-ons that are most popular if you go with that choice.
9 Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins Free and Premium:
1. Contact Form 7
4-Star – 5+ Million Sales – 1+ Million Comments
The granddaddy of contact form plugins, this WordPress Contact Form plugin has more than 5 million active installations, making it the most widely used of any plugin in any category, and other than WooCommerce (maybe), it has spawned the largest ecosystem of addons for any plugin out there. This is a monster by any measure and in its plain vanilla form, it is a powerful form design tool.
You will have the ability to design an unlimited number of forms and display those forms on any webpage and in any widget area of a webpage. This means that you can have separate forms for different purposes and position them so they are in the most useful positions throughout your website.
When a form is completed, this plugin allows your site to respond with any number of specifically designed emails. These are also designed within the plugin so both parts act as an integrated whole in this process.
Within this email process, you can also send notifications to others, like your administration team, so specific actions can be taken with each type of form that has been submitted.
While this WordPress Contact Form plugin does a great job on its own, several add-ons make it even better.
The first is a set of database management tools that improve the way you can interact with the contact information you collect. This includes attachments so everything remains linked and accessible.
The next are form and popup designers that take what can be cumbersome within the Contact Form 7, into a far more friendly drag-and-drop environment. This makes even email far easier to pull together since you can visualize exactly what your visitors and customers will see, and that includes ensuring it’s all responsive.
Finally, there are a series of tools that link the data you collect with this plugin to all of the leading CRM tools. Now you can make much better use of the information you’re collecting and you can provide your visitors and customers with a much higher level of service.
The Contact Form 7 plugin is fully up to date with the latest versions of WordPress, WooCommerce, and WPML and is continually updated to ensure compliance with data protection laws and regulations so it is a plugin that can be used with confidence.
There is no cost so you can install and try it without risk. Do that first and then consider addons that may make sense for your visitors and customers.
2. Ninja Forms
4.5-Star – 1 Million + Sales – Direct Forum Support
Like Gravity forms, this WordPress Contact Form plugin is principally a paid product, but unlike that plugin, this one has a free version too. You can download and install it directly from within WordPress and then upgrade from there if you wish.
It has an extensive library of addons as well with everything from custom fields to database management but, many of these will only work with the pro version of this plugin so you may need to upgrade your license to get the most from this plugin.
This contact form builder has been designed specifically for WordPress beginners or those that simply want to avoid having to code to make things work. It has a drag-and-drop form designer built-in that takes the guesswork out of the building process and the results will be responsive.
You can display your forms in almost any position on your website, using shortcodes. This makes it easy to display your forms on pages, in popups, and your headers, footers, and sidebars. You can place a code in any widget space on your site.
The thing that this form builder does better than most is to interface with a long list of CRM and email management platforms. Just about anything you are or may consider using will have a bridge that brings the contact data you collect directly into these platforms so everything remains properly synced.
The initial annual license for this plugin is $49 but that will go up to $99 from year to and beyond. This includes most of the addons you are most likely to need so in this license you’ll most likely be covered. This plugin is fully compatible with the latest version of WordPress and all of the CRM and email management applications you might use.
They also provide an extensive learning library and direct support and based on reviews, the support is excellent.
3. Gravity Forms
4-Star – 1 Million + Sales – Direct Forum Support
Gravity Forms has been around for more than 10 years now and is the strongest competitor to Contact Form 7. It does everything that WordPress Contact Form plugin does but unlike that one, this requires a paid annual license. That probably explains why the installation count is so much lower.
Still, it is exceptionally popular, as demonstrated by the number of addons that help extend its functionality. Some of these are even included in the base license so while there is a cost, it may not come to much more than what you could spend with any other plugin in this category.
Users do report finding this plugin to be easier to set up and work with. Many also argue that this plugin runs more efficiently than the others in this category and with the included addons, they suggest it is more complete out of the box. Forms load faster and the posting and response process is faster too.
The forms you build with this plugin are only as responsive as the theme your site is built on but with the ability to build an unlimited number of forms, you can easily create unique versions for each type of device.
There is no free version or free trial for this plugin but you can try a live demo of the plugin. Take some time going through that and you should get a good feel for how it works and what you’ll be to accomplish with it.
It is fully compatible with the latest version of WordPress, WooCommerce, and WPML. The initial download will come directly from the Gravity Forms site and from there, updates will come through the standard WordPress update process.
4. Ninja Kick – WordPress Contact Form Plugin
5-Star – 4,046 Sales – 1,205 Comments
This is the first in our list of 10 top WordPress Contact Form plugins that are offered through CodeCanyon and the first where a license is perpetual rather than annual. That gives it a first advantage among the paid options.
It’s also designed to produce responsive forms that include various input effects that help grab and hold attention. The most important feature though maybe the way forms are hidden behind animated tabs, making them less intrusive when they aren’t needed. This also means they aren’t being immediately loaded so your page load times aren’t impacted. They only load when the tab is activated.
This plugin can be used as an extension of Contact Form 7 as well so you can use this plugin to extend the features of the other. Like Contact Form 7, it comes with many built-in forms that you can use as-is or customize as you wish. You can also start from scratch if you’d prefer to create something unique.
This plugin was last updated on CodeCanyon in December of 2020 and is being kept fully up to date through the normal WordPress process. It is also fully supported both on the CodeCanyon forum and on their direct support forum.
Take a walk through their live preview to get a good sense of how this WordPress Contact Form plugin will work for you.
5. Contact Form – WordPress Contact Form Plugin
5-Star – 309 Sales – 56 Comments
Described by most users as basic, this is a compliment to the designers. This WordPress Contact Form plugin stays focused on its primary purpose and keeps the whole process of designing forms, displaying them, and managing the resulting emails simple.
Users also have high praise for the level of support this developer provides for this and all of the other WordPress plugins they offer. We’ve featured some of these in our other plugin reviews and we agree. They do a great job of delivering simple solutions that work.
This plugin was last updated on CodeCanyon in September of 202 and is currently updated for compatibility with the latest versions of WordPress, BuddyPress, WooCommerce, and many of the leading themes and page builders. This all helps to make it easy to implement this plugin without worrying about conflicts with other tools.
They offer a demo sight that includes a wide array of form designs, all of which you can freely copy for your site. These variations may also offer you insights on how to apply different form types on your site.
This plugin has a one-time cost of $24 but that does not include any direct support. For support, you will go directly to Elfsight where they deliver support for all of their products.
6. W8 Contact Form – WordPress Contact Form Plugin
5-Star – 441 Sales – 108 Comments
With extensive functionality, both on the form and the email sides of the contact process, the author claims this WordPress Contact Form plugin is “one of the most flexible” available.
In support of that argument, they deliver a plugin that provides for unlimited forms, both embedded and floating styles, various capture modes that help eliminate spam, levels of auto-response that can be applied globally or based on an individual, and the ability to “deeply” customize both forms and email templates.
The plugin does include a range of predefined form and email styles so you’ll never have to start from scratch if you don’t want to. You can just select a template, make the style adjustments that are right for you, and you are ready to go.
There are no limits on the number of recipients either. Once licensed for a site, you can use it as much as you need without worrying about any additional fees.
This plugin was last uploaded on CodeCanyon back in June of 2020 so it might be a bit old but it is being fully updated through WordPress so it is compatible with the latest release. They also provide full support through the CodeCanyon portal as part of the licensing cost.
As to cost, the full license is priced at $20, and that included 6 months of support. That can be extended to 12 months for an additional $5.63.
Have a look at their live preview and see what you think.
7. ARForms: WordPress Form Builder Plugin
No 4.5-Star – 395 Sales – 2,248 Comments
With a wide range of form types, this WordPress Contact Form plugin is arguably the most complete form builder in this group, with responsive designs, and most importantly, it has support for advanced forms that can be especially important for customer support functions.
It includes more than 50 predefined templates and a built-in form builder that allows you to easily customize these or build your own.
The plugin has been designed for speed, with optimized code that has earned an A+ performance rating. This is especially important when forms are loaded since load delays are one of the biggest causes of high site abandon rates.
One of the most helpful elements in the plugin is the wide variety of predefined input fields you’ll have to work with and all but one is included in the base plugin. The only addon is the one that allows a signature to be captured as part of a customer form.
This plugin was very recently updated on CodeCanyon and continues to be updated through WordPress to ensure it remains current with the latest release of that platform and most of the leading page builders. It’s also fully compatible with WPML so you’ll have multi-language options without the need for anything additional.
This plugin has a single-site license fee of $39. It is inclusive of 6 months of support. That can be extended to a full year for an additional fee of $12.75. They provide support through the CodeCanyon forum and on their direct support platform.
Browse this live preview and see what you think. Will it meet your Contact Form plugin needs?
8. WordPress Form Builder – Green Forms
5-Star – 395 Sales – 134 Comments
This WordPress Contact Form plugin is focused on building forms and that means, this can be used to build forms not just for your WordPress site, but forms that will also work on most JS/HTML sites. That extensibility makes this a particularly interesting option for anyone working with multiple sites or working with affiliates that may want to imbed your form on their site.
It allows you to create an unlimited number of forms in a wide range of display styles. This means you can build standard forms that are displayed on the page or forms that can be embedded into any widget area on your site. This will commonly include headers, footers, and sidebars.
They also include important support for multi-step and conditional process forms as well as forms that can dynamically calculate values as the form data is being entered. This is especially helpful when the form is being used to capture quote requests.
This integrates with most of the leading CRM platforms and many of the leading email marketing platforms as well.
Oddly, there is very little focus on email support that would typically follow the submission of a completed form. However, based on the comments and reviews, this plugin supports email notifications, both to the customer and the site admin.
This WordPress Contact Form plugin was very recently updated on CodeCanyon and is fully compatible with the latest WordPress release. Future updates will be delivered through the standard WordPress process.
A single site license costs $23, which includes 6 months of support. That support can be doubled for an additional payment of $6.75 at the time of purchase. Support is provided through the CodeCanyon forum and their direct ticketing platform.
Check out their Live Preview. It is extensive and impressive.
9. WP Subscription Forms PRO
This WordPress Contact Form plugin is laser-focused on helping you create subscription forms, display them in various positions on your site, and manage the data you collect from them.
This single-purpose approach is great for those that need nothing more as it results in a functional solution that is lite and uncomplicated while still providing lots of functionality. For example, this plugin will allow you to display forms on a page, as a popup, or as a floating form. You can also set a delay timer so the subscription-only appears after a specific length of time or based on a specific event. For example, if a visitor is about to navigate away from your site, you can popup a subscription form that can grab them before they go.
It comes with several predefined templates that are easily adapted through an extensive list of customization options and you can have and use as many unique variations as you’d like. There are no limits.
It can interface directly with MailChimp and Constant Contact through a simple export/import process. This then allows you to use those dedicated tools for all of your email support requirements. You won’t be defining email templates here.
Finally, it supports double-opt-in functionality that keeps your email list fully compliant with all of the anti-spam regulations and the spam controls used by Mailchimp and other email marketing services.
The cost for a single site license is $15, making this the least expensive alternative on our list. That includes 6 months of service and for $3.75 that is expandable to 12 months.
It was last updated on CodeCanyon in July of 2020 but it has been kept up to date with the latest version of WordPress through direct updates.
There are 4 available demos for the WordPress Contact Form plugin that includes Templates, Pop Ups, Delayed Popups, and Template Customization.
Which is the Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins?
I have used both Contact Form 7 and Gravity Forms with great success so they obviously get my nod. However, I would happily try any of the others on this list. That’s especially true for the more focused plugins at the end of this list since they are lighter than the full-function plugins. If all you need is a subscription popup it may make sense to leave all of the other baggage behind.
As always though, take the time to run through the demos, take a careful look at all of the addons, and select the WordPress Contact Form plugin that meets your specific needs.
