At a glance
Contact Form 7
Just another contact form plugin. Simple but flexible.
Formidable Forms – Contact Form Plugin, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder
The most advanced WordPress forms plugin. Go beyond contact forms with our drag and drop form builder for surveys, quizzes, and more.
Full Comparison
Technical Specs
| Metric | Contact Form 7 | Formidable Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Requires WP | 6.7+ | 6.3+ |
| Requires PHP | 7.4+ | 7.0+ |
| Tested up to WP | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Plugin age | 19 yrs | 17 yrs |
Quick Verdict
Formidable Forms is the stronger plugin for anyone building more than a basic contact page. It earns a 4.8/5 rating from 1375 reviews, with 92% of users giving it 5 stars. Contact Form 7 is fine for simple forms, but its 44% support resolution rate and 19% one-star reviews show real gaps. If you need surveys, quizzes, payments, or custom form builders, choose Formidable Forms.
Feature Comparison: Contact Form 7 vs Formidable Forms
| Feature | Contact Form 7 | Formidable Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Form builder interface | Code-based (shortcode and markup) | Drag and drop form builder |
| Conditional logic | Not built-in (requires add-on or custom code) | Built-in field and page conditional logic |
| Spam protection | Basic (reCAPTCHA integration) | Advanced (honeypot, reCAPTCHA, Akismet, custom rules) |
| Payment form support | Not included | Built-in (Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net) |
| Survey and quiz creation | Not included | Built-in (grading, scoring, result pages) |
| Email notification setup | Manual (HTML or plain text templates) | Visual template editor with dynamic fields |
| WooCommerce integration | Not included | Built-in (product selection, cart, checkout forms) |
| Custom post type creation | Not included | Built-in (front-end submissions become posts or pages) |
Who Should Use Contact Form 7
- Developers who prefer writing markup over clicking a visual builder. Contact Form 7 gives you raw HTML control with no interface getting in the way.
- Teams running a single contact page who want the lowest overhead. The plugin has 10.0M+ active installs, so it's the most battle-tested option for basic forms.
- Anyone who values a large community for troubleshooting. With 2174 reviews, you'll find answers for almost any code-level question on forums or Stack Overflow.
Who Should Use Formidable Forms
- Site owners who need a drag and drop form builder without writing code. Formidable Forms lets you build multi-page forms, calculators, and quizzes in minutes.
- Anyone creating a survey or quiz in WordPress. The plugin includes built-in grading, result routing, and response tracking, no extra plugins needed.
- Businesses running a WooCommerce store that needs custom order forms. Formidable Forms supports product selection, price calculation, and direct checkout integration.
Community & Support
Contact Form 7 shows a clear support gap. Over the last two months, 71 support threads were opened with only 31 resolved, a 44% resolution rate. That low rate aligns with its 19% one-star reviews, where users often cite unanswered questions. Formidable Forms has only 5 open threads in the same period, which is too small a sample to draw conclusions about its support speed. Its 92% five-star rating against 4% one-star suggests most users don't need to seek help at all.
Verdict: Contact Form 7 or Formidable Forms for WordPress sites?
Pick Contact Form 7 if you need a single, simple contact form and you're comfortable editing code. It's free, lightweight, and trusted by 10.0M+ sites. Just know that 19% of reviewers gave it 1 star, and support resolves less than half its threads.
Pick Formidable Forms for any project that goes beyond a basic message box. It's the best custom form plugin for WordPress when you need conditional fields, payments, surveys, or WooCommerce integration. With a 4.8/5 rating and 92% five-star reviews, it delivers what Contact Form 7 cannot: a drag and drop builder that handles complex workflows out of the box.
Formidable Forms is the winner here because it solves more problems with fewer compromises. Contact Form 7 remains a valid tool for the simplest cases, but Formidable Forms is the smarter investment for real-world sites.
This comparison is AI-generated from live WordPress.org data. Install counts, ratings, versions and support statistics sync weekly, so the numbers on this page stay current. Content passes automated quality checks before publishing, and pages below our quality threshold are held for human review.
Read our full methodologyFrequently Asked Questions
Q How many people use Contact Form 7 compared to Formidable Forms?
Contact Form 7 has 10.0M+ active installs while Formidable Forms has 300K+, meaning Contact Form 7 is used on more sites.
Q Which has better user ratings — Contact Form 7 or Formidable Forms?
Formidable Forms averages 4.8/5 from 1,375 reviews, while Contact Form 7 averages 4/5 from 2,174 reviews — Formidable Forms has the higher average rating.
Q Which is more actively maintained — Contact Form 7 or Formidable Forms?
Formidable Forms was last updated on May 27, 2026 and Contact Form 7 on May 15, 2026, so Formidable Forms received the more recent update.
Q Are Contact Form 7 and Formidable Forms both free?
Yes — both Contact Form 7 and Formidable Forms are free to install from the official WordPress.org plugin directory. Some features may require a paid upgrade offered by the plugin author.
Q Is Contact Form 7 or Formidable Forms better for WordPress sites?
Formidable Forms is the better choice for most WordPress sites because it includes a built-in form builder and supports payment forms, which Contact Form 7 lacks. Contact Form 7 is a solid option if you only need a simple contact form and are comfortable writing your own code for extra features.
Q Which is easier to set up for a WordPress beginner — Contact Form 7 or Formidable Forms?
Formidable Forms is easier for a beginner because it comes with a visual form builder that lets you drag and drop fields without touching any code. Contact Form 7 requires you to manually edit shortcodes and HTML to add fields, which can be confusing if you are new to WordPress.
Q What is the biggest feature difference between Contact Form 7 and Formidable Forms?
The biggest difference is that Formidable Forms includes a custom form builder and payment form support, while Contact Form 7 only provides a basic contact form with schema-woven validation. If you need to build complex forms or collect payments, Formidable Forms gives you those tools out of the box.
Q Can you switch from Contact Form 7 to Formidable Forms (or the other way) without losing data?
Switching from Contact Form 7 to Formidable Forms is possible using Formidable's built-in migration tool, which imports your existing forms and entries. Going the other way, from Formidable to Contact Form 7, is harder because Contact Form 7 does not store form submissions in the database, so you would lose that data.
Q Which type of site should choose Contact Form 7, and which should choose Formidable Forms?
Choose Contact Form 7 for a simple blog or business site that only needs a basic contact page with spam protection. Choose Formidable Forms for an ecommerce store, membership site, or any site that needs conditional fields, payment collection, or custom forms beyond a simple contact message.
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