WordPress Event Ticketing

Forms are on most websites. Even the simplest of websites have straightforward contact forms. But did you know forms can also provide robust functionality? Including allowing post submissions, front-end signups, purchasing of products and much more. In this post, we're going to explore the top five form plugins for your WordPress site and the add-ons that come with them.

So, here are the top five in no particular order...

Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms is by far one of the most popular WordPress forms plugins. Starting at just $39 for a single site license, rising to $199 for an unlimited site license with both basic and developer add-ons.

Out the box Gravity Forms has all the functionality you'd need. But purchasing the developer license gets you access to the more advanced add-ons one of which is user registration. The user registration add-on is extremely useful and one of the easiest ways to modify your WordPress signup form. Simply create your form with Gravity Forms with the fields required, and you're done. It couldn't be easier, not only is it straightforward and simple to use it also includes support for multisite signup forms. Multisite signup is the bain of developers everywhere, but with Gravity forms that pain goes away, allowing you to create completely custom signup forms.

One other fantastic feature of getting the developer license has got the be the payment gateway support. Create a form as a product and accept Stripe, PayPal and more! Check out the add-ons page which goes into more details about what's included.

Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms is a freemium plugin, which means you can use the core plugin for free and then buy any add-ons etc. as needed. With over 5 million downloads you can be certain it's a well supported, maintained plugin and you aren't going to be abandoned by the developers after you start to use it.

Just want a great easy to use form plugin? Stick with the free version and buy the add-ons you need individually.

If you go for the paid version of Ninja Forms it is much more expensive than Gravity Forms. For Ninja Forms an unlimited site license with all add-ons is $499 when compared to the $199 cost of Gravity Forms. A huge $300 difference, but is it worth it? Honestly most probably not. Don't get me wrong; Ninja Forms is a fantastic well thought out the plugin, but overall the add-ons aren't as useful as Gravity Forms. For example, there's no Signature add-on, no Authorize.net gateway, no user registration add-on, etc. This leaves you with gaps in functionality that you may need to go out and buy yet more plugins for so the high price of the unlimited site license makes it hard to recommend.

Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is one of the most popular and well-known completely free WordPress form plugins. A no thrills contact form solution. You won't find the advanced functionality of something like Gravity Forms, but what you will find is a solid contact form solution that just works.

One of the main obstacles to getting started with Contact Form 7 would have to be it's interface.

Whereas both Gravity Forms and Ninja Forms offer drag and drop interfaces with custom validation. Contact Form 7 uses what could only be described as an odd interface. A mixture of shortcodes and HTML makes it unfriendly beginner and confusing for those who just want to get a contact form up and running. While the overall plugin is good at what it does, the interface does present roadblocks to some users. As its a free plugin support is understandably slower than that from a premium plugin, though not a big deal for most. If you have a mission critical site that will be relying on a contact form, you'd most probably be better off with one of the premium solutions.

WPForms

Just like Ninja Forms WPForms is a freemium plugin, with a free core plugin and also a premium version with add-ons and more advanced functionality. WPForms is by the same guys behind Opt-in Monster and Soliloquy. One thing you can be sure of is a well-coded plugin and solid support.

The premium pricing follows a very similar pattern to Gravity Forms with a $199 version offering everything you could dream and an interesting addition to a $499 lifetime VIP version. Don't need all the fancy stuff? Get a single site license for just $39.

The Pro version of WPForms costing $199 and including unlimited site usage includes useful add-ons such as Post Submissions, Signatures, Form Abandonment, User Registration and more.

WPForms has a beautiful interface, real care and thought has been poured into the interface the user experience.

It shows in the simple and straightforward way you build a form. Certainly the best interface of any form builder currently available on the market. Believe it or not, most form solutions aren't responsive out the box or struggle greatly with it. WPForms though, is responsive out the box and works perfectly across a wide range of devices, making sure whichever device your visitors browsing with they can submit the form. WPForms is one of the best choices whether you're a seasoned pro and want the power of add-ons or a run your own blog and want a decent looking contact form with great support. You can't go far wrong with WPForms.

Formidable Forms

Formidable Forms is, you guessed it! Another freemium form plugin for WordPress with over 300,000+ activate installs of the free version.

Formidable Forms offers everything you'd expect in a forms plugin, and the premium offerings take it that step further with a range of add-ons, fields type, and top-notch premium support.

 

One of the most interesting aspects though of Formidable Forms is the Visual Styler.

 

The Visual Styler allows you to easily change the look and style of your form including field sizes, backgrounds, borders and more. With a simple and easy to use interface it's one of the easiest and most advanced systems for creating and styling your forms. Making it of particular interest to developers.

There seems to be a recurring theme with most form developers when it comes to pricing. Though with Formidable Forms for your $199 you only get a 15 site license while the unlimited site license clocks in at $399.

Overall Formidable Forms makes a compelling use case for anyone with its ease of use, strong range of addons and the visual styler.

Conclusion

There is a range of great forms plugins, but what is your favorite Forms plugin? Have you had experience with any of the plugins mentioned in this article? Let us know in the comments below.