How do WordPress contact form plugins compare?

Fa­cil­it­at­ing contact is often a primary goal when planning the user ex­per­i­ence for a website. One of the most direct ways to do so is through a contact form. For WordPress sites, there are now countless form plugins that let you create a WordPress contact form easily. But what features should the plugin offer, and which WordPress form plugins are currently the best?

What features should a WordPress form plugin have?

Depending on your needs, different features are required for a WordPress contact form. The most important and commonly used ones include:

• Different field types: In addition to standard fields like text input and email address, special field types such as file uploads are often needed. A wide selection of field types gives you more flex­ib­il­ity to collect all the necessary in­form­a­tion via your contact form.
• Con­di­tion­al fields: Sometimes it’s necessary to show a field only under specific con­di­tions. For example, should the form display an ad­di­tion­al field only when a certain value is selected in another field? In this case, the field needs con­di­tion­al logic.
• Email no­ti­fic­a­tions: When users submit the form, the plugin sends a no­ti­fic­a­tion with the submitted data to des­ig­nated re­cip­i­ents.
• Drag-and-drop editor: If you don’t have coding skills, a drag-and-drop or WYSIWYG editor is a big advantage. You can simply drag and position the fields where you want them. Most editors also allow you to adjust colours and layout.
• Spam pro­tec­tion: Opening your inbox to hundreds of spam messages can be frus­trat­ing and time-consuming. That’s why it’s essential to configure your WordPress contact form with reliable spam pro­tec­tion to block bots ef­fect­ively.

Data pro­tec­tion and WordPress form plugins

When using WordPress contact form plugins, data pro­tec­tion plays a crucial role. Since contact forms often collect personal data such as names, email addresses, and message content, it’s important that both website operators and users are aware of their re­spons­ib­il­it­ies under data pro­tec­tion law. Com­pli­ance with the General Data Pro­tec­tion Reg­u­la­tion (GDPR) is essential in this context.

This includes not only the secure storage and pro­cessing of collected data, but also providing users with trans­par­ent in­form­a­tion about what data is being collected and for what purpose. A well-im­ple­men­ted contact form plugin should therefore include an option for obtaining the user’s explicit consent—typically via a tick box in­dic­at­ing that their data will be processed. In addition, all trans­mit­ted data should be encrypted to protect it from un­au­thor­ised access.

Top WordPress contact form plugins at a glance

If you want to create a contact form in WordPress, you’ll quickly find yourself faced with a huge selection of WordPress form plugins in the official re­pos­it­ory. But which plugins are best suited for building a form in WordPress? In this section, we take a closer look at four of the most popular contact form plugins.

Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is the most popular contact form plugin and for many reasons. For one, the plugin is com­pletely free. In addition, the de­velopers of Contact Form 7 provide extensive doc­u­ment­a­tion, a FAQ page, a dedicated support forum, and an official website to assist users. On top of that, the plugin is included by default in many premium WordPress themes.

The interface of Contact Form 7 is very simple, yet it offers extensive func­tion­al­ity.

Key features of Contact Form 7

• Unlimited forms
• Supports various field types: quiz, file upload, dropdowns, tick boxes, etc.
• Shortcode gen­er­a­tion for easy embedding
• Cus­tom­is­able email no­ti­fic­a­tions, including con­firm­a­tion emails
• Cus­tom­is­able success/error messages
• Spam pro­tec­tion via quiz or Honeypot plugin

Pros and cons of Contact Form 7

WPForms

WPForms offers an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, making it es­pe­cially easy for beginners to create a contact form in WordPress. The free version already includes several useful features that are more than enough for basic forms. For those who need more advanced func­tion­al­ity, WPForms offers four pricing packages with ad­di­tion­al features.

Key features of WPForms

• Unlimited number of forms
• Wide selection of field types – including dropdowns, tick boxes, multiple choice, and a tick box for Mailchimp news­let­ter signup
• The Pro version of WPForms includes ad­di­tion­al field types and payment in­teg­ra­tions
• Forms can be easily embedded using a shortcode
• Intuitive drag-and-drop builder for cus­tom­ising layout, colours, and field sizes
• Cus­tom­is­able email no­ti­fic­a­tions to specific re­cip­i­ents (Pro version required for ad­di­tion­al emails)
• Custom con­firm­a­tion email for the sender
• Multi-page forms available starting with the Pro version
• Prebuilt templates included in the free version; more templates available in the Pro version
• The contact form is re­spons­ive, adapting to all screen sizes
• Spam pro­tec­tion with reCAPTCHA and the Custom Captcha Addon

Pros and cons of WPForms

Ninja Forms

Ninja Forms also uses a drag-and-drop editor. You can add or reorder fields by dragging and dropping. The free version already includes many fields and some features. For more flex­ib­il­ity, there are three packages available as well as the option to purchase add-ons in­di­vidu­ally.

Key features of Ninja Forms

• Unlimited number of forms
• Many field types available even in the free version, including dropdown menus, date fields, tick boxes, and star ratings
• Cus­tom­is­able emails to re­cip­i­ents and senders
• In­di­vidu­ally cus­tom­is­able error messages
• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor – with the ‘Layout & Styles’ add-on, you can split fields into multiple columns
• Shortcode for easy embedding anywhere on the website
• More than 40 add-ons extend func­tion­al­ity, including multi-page forms, con­di­tion­al logic, file uploads, Zapier in­teg­ra­tion, multi-column forms, and payment pro­cessing with PayPal Express, Elavon, and Stripe
• Honeypot is included as spam pro­tec­tion, and bots can ad­di­tion­ally be blocked using reCAPTCHA

Pros and cons of Ninja Forms

Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms is a paid WordPress form plugin. However, its pricing is quite reas­on­able con­sid­er­ing the features offered.

Key features of Gravity Forms

• Unlimited number of forms
• Intuitive drag-and-drop editor that allows you to create forms quickly and easily
• Multi-page forms
• Con­di­tion­al logic for fields
• Special field types such as file uploads and quizzes in addition to standard fields
• Many available add-ons including Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Mailchimp, and more
• You can flexibly embed the WordPress contact form anywhere on your site using a shortcode
• Spam pro­tec­tion through quiz questions or reCAPTCHA to protect you from unwanted spam emails

Pros and cons of Gravity Forms

The four WordPress form plugins compared

After in­tro­du­cing various WordPress contact form plugins, the following table provides a clear com­par­is­on of the plugins mentioned above:

All in­form­a­tion is current as of February 2025.