How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Gravity Forms is the developer's standard: $59 a year, an add on for everything, hooks for anything else.
- Formidable Forms turns form entries into applications: calculations, views and directories no rival matches.
- Fluent Forms is the modern like for like: fast builder, generous free version, strong value Pro tiers.
- Contact Form 7 is the free original: ugly, honest and everywhere.
- Jotform leaves WordPress behind: hosted forms with a free tier and serious compliance options.
Quick comparison
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#1Gravity Forms
Best for: The developer grade standard4.7/5 on
G2 (248 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit gravityforms.com
Starting price$59/year
Free planNo
Gravity Forms is where WordPress forms grow up. It has been the professional's choice for well over a decade because it treats forms as infrastructure: entries are data, logic is deep, payments and integrations are first party add ons, and when a requirement gets strange, a hook exists and a developer somewhere has documented it. The $59 Basic licence starts that road honestly.
The compromises are friendliness and the tier ladder. First time site owners find WPForms kinder; Gravity's power shows after the learning week. And the licence maths (Basic for one site, Pro and Elite for more sites and the premium add ons) should be read at your real site count. For agencies and serious sites, Gravity is the default alternative and usually the final one.
What we like- The deepest add on ecosystem in WordPress forms: payments, CRMs, signatures, quizzes and hundreds more, conditional logic, calculations and multi page forms are core strengths, a developer API and hooks make custom behaviour a normal request, Basic licence at $59 a year covers one site with the core add ons
Watch out for- No free version: the trial is a demo and a refund policy, the builder is capable rather than delightful beside WPForms' polish, the features that make it famous concentrate in the $159 and $259 tiers
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Formidable asks a bigger question: what if the form is the database and the website displays it? Its Views feature renders entries as directories, job boards, listings, testimonials and member profiles, which turns a form plugin into a no code application builder. Sites outgrow WPForms exactly when they want the data back out in public, and Formidable is the only tool here built around that moment.
Its free version handles ordinary forms respectably, and the paid tiers (priced per year on its site by feature set) open the application machinery. If your forms are forms, it is more than you need. If your forms secretly want to be a directory, a calculator hub or a classifieds site, Formidable is not an alternative to WPForms so much as the next category up.
What we like- Views turn form entries into searchable directories, listings and profiles on the front end, calculations and conditional logic as deep as WordPress forms get, a free Lite version carries real forms
- Paid tiers add the application features, drag and drop builder plus HTML freedom for developers
Watch out for- Its greatest features answer needs most sites do not have, pricing tiers gate the application tools
- Compare carefully on its site, the learning curve to Views is a real investment
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Fluent Forms is the rising like for like: it does the WPForms job (friendly builder, templates, payments and logic in Pro) with a faster interface, a free version generous enough to run real sites, and a performance reputation that matters on shared hosting. Switchers most often cite the builder's speed and the free tier's honesty as their reasons.
Its youth is the only structural caution: the add on universe and the decade of forum answers that surround Gravity Forms are still being built here. For a typical business site (contact, quote, booking and payment forms done well), Fluent Forms is arguably the best value on this page, and its free version makes the argument testable in an hour.
What we like- A fast, modern builder that feels a generation newer than the old guard, the free version is unusually complete: many sites never need Pro, conversational forms, payments and integrations headline the Pro tiers, performance conscious: it is known for not slowing pages down
Watch out for- A younger ecosystem: fewer third party add ons than Gravity's world, advanced application features trail Formidable's Views, pricing tiers and lifetime deals shift
- Confirm the current structure on its site
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Ninja Forms sells forms the modular way: a free core, then the pieces (Stripe here, Mailchimp there, conditional logic in the membership) priced individually or in bundles on its site. For a site that needs exactly two paid features, that arithmetic can beat every flat licence here; for a site that needs nine, it inverts, which is why the entry says See website and means it as homework.
Its longevity is a real asset: Ninja Forms has served WordPress sites for years, its add on catalogue covers the standard integrations, and agencies know its behaviour. Price your exact feature list against Gravity's tiers and Fluent's Pro before deciding, because in this category the same basket prices out three different ways.
What we like- The core plugin is free
- You buy only the add ons each form needs, a long established name with payments, email marketing and file upload extensions, memberships bundle add ons for agencies running many sites, the builder is approachable for non technical owners
Watch out for- Add on by add on pricing can quietly outgrow a rival's flat licence, the interface has modernised in steps rather than all at once, core development pace draws occasional community grumbles
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Contact Form 7 is the cockroach and the compliment is sincere: it has survived every era of WordPress by being free, light and sufficient for the basic contact form most sites actually have. Millions of sites run it because a name, an email and a message box do not require a platform.
Its limits are the category's progress since: no builder, no entry database of its own, no payments or logic without bolting on free extensions of uneven care. Choose it when the brief is genuinely a contact form and the budget is genuinely zero; choose anything else on this page the moment the form starts doing a job.
What we like- Completely free, on an enormous share of the world's WordPress sites, light and simple: a form is shortcodes and fields you write by hand, an ecosystem of free add ons covers spam, storage and basic extras, no licence, no upsell, no account: the form works and the emails arrive
Watch out for- No visual builder: you compose forms in markup like it is 2009, entries are emailed, not stored, without add ons, payments, logic and modern features come from third party plugins of varying quality
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Forminator is the surprise of the free tier: a builder that looks and feels like a paid product, with forms, polls and quizzes in the free version and Stripe and PayPal basics without a licence. For a new site whose forms are simple and whose budget is spoken for, it is the easiest recommendation after Fluent Forms' free version, and the two deserve a side by side staging test.
Its context is the ecosystem behind it. WPMU DEV sells memberships and hosting, and Forminator's road leads there; standalone, the free plugin still stands on its own merits. Judge the forms you need today, and let the upsell exist the way every vendor's does, in the corner of your eye rather than the middle of the decision.
What we like- A modern drag and drop builder whose free version includes polls, quizzes and payments basics, made by WPMU DEV, whose ecosystem (hosting, optimisation, security) it slots into, clean interface that non technical owners take to quickly, Pro tier and the wider membership add the heavier features
Watch out for- The free generosity is a funnel into the WPMU DEV membership world, smaller independent community than the form specialists, advanced logic and application features trail Formidable and Gravity Forms
#7Jotform
Best for: Hosted forms beyond WordPress4.7/5 on
G2 (5,415 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit jotform.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Jotform is the exit from the plugin model entirely: build the form on its platform, embed it in WordPress (or a static site, or an email), and let Jotform carry hosting, storage, payments and compliance options including HIPAA eligible tiers that WordPress plugins cannot easily match. For organisations whose forms outnumber their websites, that independence is the feature.
The costs are the subscription shape (per month by submissions and forms, priced on its site) and custody of the data. Read both against your policies. For a marketing team spinning campaign forms weekly, or a clinic needing compliant intake, Jotform's hosted model solves problems the plugins were never shaped for.
What we like- Hosted: forms live on Jotform and embed anywhere, WordPress or not, a giant template library and a builder non technical teams master fast, payments, approvals, e signatures and HIPAA tier options for regulated forms, free tier covers small volumes with Jotform branding
Watch out for- A SaaS subscription in a category of yearly licences: the maths differs, form data lives on Jotform's servers, which some organisations' policies dislike, submission limits by tier punish a viral moment on the wrong plan
How we chose
Eligibility required a form builder a WPForms user can adopt: a WordPress native plugin with a real builder, or, in Jotform's case, the hosted platform WordPress sites standardly embed. Prices: Gravity Forms Basic at $59 a year is printed from its licence page; tiered and add on priced rivals say See website because the same basket prices differently by site count and feature list. Every WordPress tool here has a free version or a free core except Gravity Forms, which is stated in its entry. Feature status checked October 2026.
How to choose without a feature spreadsheet
Name the most advanced form you truly run. Not the contact form (everyone passes) but the hardest one: the quote calculator, the application with uploads and logic, the registration with payment. That single form eliminates most of this list. Calculators and public directories point to Formidable; integration depth to Gravity; hosted compliance to Jotform; everything simpler is a three way value fight between Fluent, Ninja and the incumbent.
Count sites, then features. Yearly licences multiply by sites, add ons multiply by features, and hosted plans multiply by submissions. Your estate's shape (one site, nine features, four hundred submissions) picks the pricing model that flatters it. Agencies should price the unlimited and membership tiers early, because the per site maths that suits a single blog reverses at twenty client sites.
Test on staging with the worst form. Every free version here installs in minutes; Gravity offers demos and a refund window. Build your hardest form in the top two finalists, including the notification emails and the payment sandbox, and time yourself. Builder feel is the feature your future self experiences weekly, and it is invisible in screenshots.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free WPForms alternative?
Fluent Forms and Forminator both offer modern builders with free versions strong enough for real sites; Fluent's free tier is the more complete form tool, Forminator adds polls and quizzes. Contact Form 7 remains the free original for a bare contact form. Gravity Forms, notably, has no free version at all.
Which alternative do developers prefer?
Gravity Forms, for its hooks, add on depth and decade of documentation; Formidable when the project renders entries as front end content. Developers choose ecosystems, not builders, because the strange requirement always arrives in month four and the answer has to exist somewhere in the catalogue or the code.
Can I migrate my WPForms entries to another plugin?
Forms themselves usually rebuild by hand (an hour per complex form is a fair planning figure), and entries export to CSV from WPForms and import into rivals' storage where they keep entries. Design the migration around your hardest form and your entry history, and keep the old plugin's data until the new forms have survived a full business cycle.
Do these forms take payments?
Most do: Gravity via its payment add ons, Fluent and Forminator in their Pro and free basics respectively, Ninja via add ons, Jotform natively. Payment features are the classic tier gate in this category, so confirm your gateway (Stripe, PayPal, Square) sits in the licence tier you are pricing, not the tier above it.
Is a hosted form tool safer than a plugin?
Different, not simply safer. Jotform carries patching, uptime and compliance certifications (including HIPAA eligible plans) that a self hosted plugin leaves to you, while a plugin keeps form data on your own server under your control. Organisations with compliance officers usually prefer the certified host; organisations with data custody rules prefer the plugin. Your policy already knows which you are.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.
Formidable Forms
Fluent Forms
Ninja Forms
Contact Form 7
Forminator