Question

Contact form in WordPress: plugin comparison

Answer 1

What characteristics should a WordPress contact form have?
Summary of the best WordPress contact plugins
Comparison of the four plugins to create WordPress forms
Contact Form 7
WPForms
Ninja forms
Gravity Forms

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Contact form in WordPress: plugin comparison

Being able to easily contact a website company is one of the factors to consider when designing the user experience of a website. The most direct way to do this is usually by including a contact form. Currently, there are countless WordPress plugins that help you create them easily and quickly. But which WordPress form plugins are better, and what features should they offer?

Index

1. What characteristics should a WordPress contact form have?
2. Summary of the best WordPress contact plugins
   1. Contact Form 7
      1. Main features of the WordPress Contact Form 7 plugin:
      2. Advantages and disadvantages of Contact Form 7
   2. WPForms
      1. Most important features of WPForms
      2. Advantages and disadvantages of WPForms
   3. Ninja forms
      1. Ninja Forms: Summary of the Most Important Features
      2. Advantages and disadvantages of the Ninja Forms plugin for WordPress contact forms
   4. Gravity Forms
      1. Most important features of Gravity Forms
      2. Advantages and disadvantages of the Gravity Forms contact plugin
3. Comparison of the four plugins to create WordPress forms

What characteristics should a WordPress contact form have?

Depending on the needs, a WordPress contact form must have different characteristics. The most important and popular are the following:

• Different field types : In addition to the standard fields, such as message and email address, other special field types are often used, such as those used to upload files. Selecting different types of fields appropriately limits the user less and helps him to provide all the necessary information through the form.
• Field conditions : Sometimes it is necessary to link certain fields to a condition. For example, should the form only display one field when a certain value is selected in another field? In this case, the field must be subject to conditional logic.
• Sending email : When a user submits the WordPress form, the plugin sends a notification with the data to certain recipients.
• Drag and drop editor : If you have no programming skills, a drag and drop or WYSIWYG editor is a great advantage. By simply dragging and moving the modules with the mouse, you can add and place the fields you need to your liking. With most of these editors you can also change the colors.
• Protection against spam : Opening your email inbox and finding hundreds of spam messages can be annoying and waste a lot of time. Therefore, it is very important to be able to configure the WordPress contact form to repel spam bots .

Note

To set up a GDPR compliant WordPress contact form, the user must consent to the storage and use of their data by checking a checkbox before submitting. This also applies to submitting comments. If you don't want to enable this feature, you can disable the sending of comments..

Summary of the best WordPress contact plugins

If you want to create a contact form in WordPress, you may be overwhelmed by the immense variety of WordPress form plugins in the WordPress repository. What plugins are the most suitable? We highlight four of the most popular.

Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is one of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins. / Source: https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/

With over 5 million (as of June 2020) active installations, Contact Form 7 is the most popular plugin for creating forms in WordPress , and for a number of reasons. For one thing, this plugin is completely free . On the other hand, the Contact Form 7 developers help users in many ways, such as offering extensive documentation , an FAQ page, and their own support website and forum . Also, this WordPress contact form plugin comes standard on many paid themes..

Thanks to its minimalist interface, Contact Form 7 allows you to quickly create WordPress contact forms

The Contact Form 7 interface is very simple and offers many functions .

Main features of the WordPress Contact Form 7 plugin:

• Unlimited number of forms.
• It allows incorporating various types of field , such as test question, file upload, drop-down menu, field for approval and check boxes, among others.
• Contact Form 7 generates a short code that allows you to place the contact form anywhere on the website.
• Edit and send email to specific recipient - You can define a second email, which is especially useful for sending a confirmation email to the sender.
• Editing the text to confirm the shipment or display an error message .
• Protection against spam can be incorporated using a test question or the Honeypot extension for Contact Form 7.

Advantages and disadvantages of Contact Form 7

Advantage	Drawbacks
Totally free.	Creating multi-column forms requires knowledge of HTML and CSS.
It complies with the RGPD, because it does not store any data.
Very good compatibility with other themes and plugins.
Free extensions to add features like a drag and drop editor, conditional logic, or multi-page forms.

WPForms

WPForms is an easy-to-use WordPress contact form plugin. / Source: https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/wpforms-lite/

With its drag-and-drop editor , WPForms offers beginners an easy way to create contact forms in Wordpress. The free version already has several very useful functions and enough to create simple forms, but if you need more, there are four packages at different prices with additional functions ..

With WPForms' intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can create WordPress contact forms quickly.

Most important features of WPForms

• Unlimited number of forms.
• Wide selection of field types such as drop down menus, checkboxes, multiple choice and checkbox to subscribe to the Mailchimp newsletter .
• The Pro version of WPForms offers more field types , such as input interface for phone numbers, file upload, password and date and time, among others.
• Linking the fields to certain conditions.
• The form can be easily embedded using a short code .
• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor to customize layout, colors and field sizes.
• Editing and sending email to a specific recipient. To send more emails, you must install the Pro version.
• Customizable confirmation email for the sender.
• Multi-page forms available from the Pro version.
• Predesigned templates built into the free version. The Pro version includes many more.
• The WordPress contact form is responsive , which means it adapts to any screen size and shape.
• Possibility of linking to PayPal and Stripe payment functions.
• Protection against spam with reCAPTCHA and Custom Captcha Addon.

Advantages and disadvantages of WPForms

Advantage	Drawbacks
Intuitive drag and drop editor	The paid professional version is required for more features.
Responsive form	In general, the free version offers enough field types, although few compared to other tools
Field conditions

Ninja forms

The Ninja Forms extension offers an easy to use WordPress contact form. / Source: https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-forms/

The Ninja Forms plugin also offers an intuitive drag and drop editor that lets you add or reorder fields with the mouse. The free version already incorporates numerous fields and some functions. If you need more leeway, they offer three packages with extended features, as well as the option to purchase add-ons separately.

The Ninja Forms plugin for creating WordPress forms features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor.

Ninja Forms: Summary of the Most Important Features

• Unlimited number of forms.
• The free version includes many types of fields such as drop-down menu, date, checkboxes, star rating, and Mailchimp subscription.
• Customizable emails for recipients and senders.
• Custom error messages.
• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor : With the Layout & Styles plugin , you can split fields into multiple columns.
• Shortcode to easily integrate the form anywhere on the website.
• More than 40 plug- ins that extend the range of functions, such as multi-page forms, field conditions, file uploads, connecting to Zapier, multi-column forms and payment processing, for example with PayPal Express, Elavon and Stripe.
• Honeypot is already built in to protect against spam . You can also avoid bots with a quiz question.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Ninja Forms plugin for WordPress contact forms

Advantage	Drawbacks
Intuitive drag and drop editor	Little functionality of the free version
Responsive form
Almost all field types are already available in the free version
Possibility to buy extensions separately

Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms offers numerous options for creating contact forms in WordPress. / Source: https://www.gravityforms.com/

Gravity Forms is a paid plugin for designing WordPress forms. Although it is paid, its price is very reasonable in relation to the range of functions it offers.

Most important features of Gravity Forms

• Unlimited number of forms.
• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor with which you can create forms quickly and easily.
• Multi-page forms .
• Conditional logic for fields.
• Special field types , such as file upload and questionnaire, available in addition to the standard fields.
• Many plugins available , such as Zapier, Stripe, PayPal or Mailchimp, among others.
• You can embed the WordPress contact form flexibly using a short code on the website.
• Spam protection through recaptcha or test questions, which protects you from spam.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Gravity Forms contact plugin

Advantage	Drawbacks
Intuitive drag and drop editor	No free version
Responsive form	Extensions cannot be purchased separately
Reasonable price

Comparison of the four plugins to create WordPress forms

We have already introduced you to the various plugins to create WordPress contact forms; In the following table we compare them to help you decide:

Features	Contact Form 7	WPForms	Ninja forms	Gravity Forms
Unlimited forms	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Different types of field	Yes	Yes, less in the free version	Yes	Yes
Drag and drop editor	Yes, with a free extension (although not very intuitive)	Yes, very intuitive	Yes, very intuitive	Yes, very intuitive
E-mail communication system	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Short code	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Link to Mailchimp	Yes, with a free extension	Yes, as a supplement to the paid package	Yes, as a supplement to the paid package	Yes, available as an add-on
Multi-page forms	Yes, with a free extension	Yes, from the Pro version	Yes, with an extension	Yes
Anti spam protection	Yes, with test question, reCAPTCHA and extension with Honeypot	Yes, with reCAPTCHA and Custom Captcha Addon	Yes, with test question and Honeypot	Yes, with test question and reCAPTCHA
Extensions available separately	Yes	No	Yes	No
Price	Gratuitous	Free version available. Packages starting at $ 39.50	Free version available. Packages starting at $ 49.50	Starting at $ 59.00

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