So as a beginner you want to find a contact form for your WordPress site. So the first thing you do is hit Google with a search term ‘Best WordPress Contact Form’ and start reading.
The problem there is you are going to get the interpretation of ‘best’ in the eyes of the author. And these can be really different from you. In some extreme circumstances the author is actually writing the article specifically as a lead magnet to draw you into an affiliate link. Lets be clear, Fullworks is a plugin developer too, and I’m not writing this out of the goodness of my heart – we have two contact form plugins, but we think you should find out about them or you will be missing out ( see right down the page).
The alternative approach to Google is, you think, just use the WordPress.org plugin search. Like https://wordpress.org/plugins/search/contact+form/
And then you will see the ‘top’ Contact Form plugins, and the top two have 5 million plus – users. This is attractive as how can 5 million people be wrong – they must be the best.
Lets take those top two.
WP-Forms Lite
WP-Forms Lite is OK – it is more than OK. In fact if I were looking for a contact form and didn’t have two of my own I’d probably use it. The first thing you will note – is that the free version is called Lite – that is because WP-Forms make their money from up-selling to their premium version. Nothing wrong with that, a plugin that has a viable commercial aspect is likely to be long lived and supported.
In the past many free plugins were supported by voluntary donations, but to be honest, if you are asked to donate, do you bother? The reality is donation levels are so low that totally free plugins are often abandoned.
So WP Forms is a good bet as it is commercially viable.
It also is easy to use, WP Forms is designed that way. One thing the Lite doesn’t do is store messages.
Contact Form 7
This is an example of making a mistake, thinking 5 million users can’t be wrong. Contact Form 7 was one of the original contact forms, so developed a large initial user base. As better contact forms came on the market the sheer number of users ‘tricked’ user into thinking that it was the best and perpetuated the myth.
Now in its day – as a totally free offering – it did its job – but for the type of WordPress builder in 2022 – like you are – it really isn’t fit for purpose.
The trouble is – you will install it – and spend a while getting your head around it and then it will be on your site and then you would have perpetuated the myth. Just avoid it.
CF7 doesn’t do lots of things – but there is a plugin eco system built around those poor or missing features that fills the gap – so you can spend many enjoyable hours searching for plugin solutions.
The rest
So that is the top two – then there is the rest? How do you search through the approximately 1,000 contact form plugins on the repo. Which ones are best for you – that is important as your requirements are individual.
Simple requirements
Lets say your requirements are a clean simple contact form only, just a form of the basic field, name, email and message, that works with your theme without any fancy styling setups, you don’t need to store any messages, you don’t need to add to mailing lists – just simple – 3 minutes no messing. Oh and of course can plug into anti-spam measures.
Then we have a contact form plugin for you.
Contact Form Clean and Simple
Now this is a simple to install and very limited options plugin. Which is fantastic if that is what you need. What is key to this plugin is itis one of ours – so it gets the fantastic support from Fullworks.
Actually we didn’t write it. The original plugin author was going to close this totally free plugin as it took time maintaining and as mentioned before virtually no one bothers to donate. We took over development and support as we though that 20,000 existing users is too many to disappoint.
This contact form plugin does what it says on the tin. It is clean and simple.
If you don’t want the power of WP-Forms or the pain of selecting a simple contact form then grab this one from WordPress.org https://en-gb.wordpress.org/plugins/clean-and-simple-contact-form-by-meg-nicholas/
A bit deeper set of requirements
Lets say you need a bit more, you need more than the basic contact form fields, you need a few multiple choice questions. You need to be able to switch positions, You need You need to store messages, you need people to be able to opt out of storing messages for GDPR. You need multiple different forms. You want an autoresponse. You want easy methods to customise styles, labels and messages.
You would probably need the paid for WP-Forms, normal price for basic is $79 / site / year. However we have a free plugin ( with some premium feature optional ) that can cover those requirements.
Quick Contact Form
Quick Contact form is an easy to use contact form with multiple optional fields that can be positioned by drag and drop. Has a built in auto responder, maths quiz anti spam. Styling and message settings and more.
You can grab the free version here https://wordpress.org/plugins/quick-contact-form/
Like Clean and Simple above, we are not the original developers. We took this on to continue its life a couple of years ago and now gets the legendary Fullworks support. Just check our reviews.
So if you are looking for an alternative to WP-Forms Lite or WP-Forms – with the personal level of support we bring then go for this one.
The Quick Contact Form plugin has premium add-ons you also can be reassured it has a commercial future, add-ons include Mail Chimp integration, Active Campaign integration and its own simple internal mail list.
Once used, WordPress web builders become quite attached to this plugin.
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