Are you looking for a free contact form plugin for your WordPress site? Many contact form builders out there let you add a contact form to WordPress, but let’s face it, how many are seriously free?
For example, WP Forms offers their Lite plugin for a free download, but honestly, you can’t even access the submissions. What’s the point of a free plugin if you can’t even view the data submitted through your form? It seems a bit counterintuitive.
We are confident Ninja Forms is the best free contact form plugin for WordPress offering features that no other form builder provides for free. Don’t believe us? See for yourself below!
Table of contents
- What makes the best WordPress forms plugin?
- Why Ninja Forms is the best free contact form plugin?
- Download our contact form plugin and enjoy free form creation!
What makes the best WordPress forms plugin?
The world of WordPress form plugins is diverse and dynamic, and it’s important to recognize that there’s no universal one-fits-all solution for every website’s need. However, amidst this diversity, there are some key features that every form builder should ideally have.
No code required
When choosing a form builder, it’s important to consider that your project admins or account managers might not possess coding skills.
Our form plugin is simple enough for anyone to use, but it also scales up to meet advanced needs. Website Planet points this out, saying:
“Ninja Forms is easy to use if you’re a beginner while at the same time offering developer tools if you’re more confident with code.”
You should select a form creation tool that empowers every user to create, edit, and deploy forms, not only those with strong digital tools or coding experience.
For instance, drag-and-drop functionality allows you to easily move blocks or fields to their desired positions. This user-friendly approach ensures that the form-building process is accessible to all, regardless of technical expertise.
Ease of use
Did you know we’ve been among the first form builders who implemented the drag-and-drop functionality? Our intuitive user interface makes your form-building journey easy!
Setting aside Ninja Forms, a contact form plugin should offer straightforward installation and navigation, with the convenience of visually previewing your form, enabling you to have your initial form up and running in no time.
Do you have to learn to code — or hire a developer to help? The answer to these questions is a resounding “no” with Ninja Forms.
In a comparison of several WordPress form builders, digital marketing entrepreneur Neil Patel chose Ninja Forms as “The Best for Quick Solutions.” He explains:
Pre-made templates
While you can go wild with a blank form and unleash your creativity, sometimes you need to craft a form very quickly. Pre-built templates allow you to save plenty of time and usually, you need to make only a few tweaks before you publish the form. Form builders that offer pre-made templates are twice as fast to use!
Form Submission Export
When you are collecting data on your WordPress forms, there is a chance you want to utilize this data later. If you manage a lot of submissions, it is not convenient to review it your Submission dashboard. Your form builder should have the capability to export your form entries into multiple formats.
Customizable options
With our core plugin, you have the freedom to tailor your email notification messages effortlessly, and enhance your forms using the HTML field for advanced customizations, and the cherry on top is that we’re the sole form builder in the market that allows you to buy specific add-ons.
This implies that you can personalize your form’s style with a styling plugin, upload files to your form, incorporate conditional functionality, and much more without the need for a membership commitment. You can customize precisely what you require at the present moment!
Responsiveness
Ninja Forms are responsive but keep in mind that Ninja Forms is designed to inherit the style of your WordPress theme to match your page aesthetically.
Your forms will look just as your theme author intended. So, for example, if your WordPress theme does not look good on mobile devices, your form won’t look good either. You can learn more about styling your forms in How To Style Your WordPress Forms (Easy Examples).
Dedicated support for free and paid users
As a free plugin, we think that everyone deserves great support. That’s why we offer technical support not only to our paid users but also to our free users. You can count on us to have your back, no matter which plan you’re on! Contact us here.
Why Ninja Forms is the best free contact form plugin?
Nowadays nearly every form builder is designed with drag-and-drop functionality, is user-friendly with fully responsive design, is mobile-friendly, and offers pre-built templates.
What truly makes the free contact form plugin the best among other plugins that consider themselves free is the features provided without a need to upgrade. This is where Ninja Forms excels. Let’s take a look at all the features you’ll unlock when you download our free core plugin. You are in for a treat!
Unlimited number of forms
There are no limits when it comes to the number of forms you can craft for your website using Ninja Forms. However, keep in mind that Ninja Forms can be only used on websites built with WordPress, so it will not work with platforms such as Squarespace, Wix, Shopify and such.
Are you thinking to build your WordPress form with Ninja Forms plugin? Check our tutorial Building a Form or visit 7 Must-Read Ninja Forms Tutorials for WordPress Users to learn the essentials when using our form builder.
Free access to form submissions & unlimited submissions
Many form builders restrict access to form submissions. The Ninja Forms plugin gives you free access to your form submission data, and you can also receive as many submissions from your WordPress forms. We don’t set any limit on the number of form entries you can gather.
We have an excellent guide on WordPress submissions if you would like to learn more about this key feature. Check the article All You Need to Know About WordPress Form Submissions and become a master of form entries in no time!
Free CSV submission export
Exporting form submissions as CSV files is a part of the core (free) Ninja Forms plugin. If you need other formats such as PDF, Excel, or Google Sheets, this is also available with one of our add-ons. You can read more about the available export options in our blog post 4 Ways to Export WordPress Form Submissions.
Attach a copy of the submission to the email
You can even attach a copy of the form entry in the CSV file to the email notification. This means you can send an email with a confirmation message including the submitted form data.
We encourage you to check the 22 Ways to Use WordPress Form Email Notifications if you want to learn other creative ways to use email notifications in WordPress.
Send follow-up email (Multiple Autoresponders)
Did you know you can send a follow-up email with Ninja Forms when a user submits your form? This is called an email notification and you can find it under the Emails & Actions of Ninja Forms builder.
This is a great feature and very essential to complete your form-building project. If you want to notify users and send them an email confirmation of the submission, check our step-by-step guide Customize an Email Notification Message in WordPress.
The email notification can serve a great purpose not only for your form submitters but also for admins or anyone who wants to be kept in the loop about each received submission entry.
You can also schedule form submission export so your boss or even yourself will receive regular form submission reports to the email address using the Scheduled Submission Export add-on.
Success message
Do you know what’s one of the worst things to happen after users submit your form? It’s leaving them in the dark with no response after they click the submit button.
The Success Message action not only provides confirmation that the submission was successful but also has the potential to enhance further engagement with your business. When using Ninja Forms, you get the basic success message for free, and if you want a customized success message with conditional logic, you can opt for an upgrade.
Redirect to a page after submission
The redirect action is a nifty feature that can significantly enhance the user experience and engagement on your website. Using the Redirect you can send users to a different URL after they submit the form. The most common and perhaps the most user-friendly example of this is the “Thank You Page.”
This functionality allows your users a seamless transition to a designated destination. Setting up redirect lets you measure the success of your form completion, it boosts engagement, and express gratitude towards your form visitors. Learn how to set up a redirect thank you page with Ninja Forms in our article.
Calculations
Do you need to build a quote form, calculate a quiz score, or collect payments combined with payment integrations? Our Calculations feature allows you all of that and more. Create discounts using conditional logic, offer different pricing based on the user’s selection on the form, and make a loan calculator, choice is yours!
Input Mask
Need to apply restriction rules to your form fields? The Input Mask feature lets you customize the way data is entered into the fields. Validate a zip code, create a birthday field, or validate a Phone Number field. Check our guide How to Use an Input Mask in Your Contact Form (Examples)! if you want to learn more about this awesome free feature!
Spam management
Our core plugin offers numerous solutions to reduce WordPress contact form spam that can really be a p.i.t.a. We support reCAPTCHA v2 and v3, and our builder has a Honeypot function built-in. Additionally, when you have your Akismet plugin installed, you can set up the Anti-Spam Action.
If you are tired of getting spam submissions, make sure to visit How to Stop WordPress Form Spam and learn some tips to fight against them. We are confident we got you covered with spam protection!
Full WordPress GDPR automation
Our form plugin makes GDPR compliance in WordPress a lot easier. You can learn about specific ways how Ninja Forms helps with GDPR Compliance in this article.
For the list of features, check our blog post on GDPR Compliance with Ninja Forms, or learn more about GDPR in our guide GDPR Compliance and WordPress Forms: Everything You Need to Know.
Besides the top free features we listed above, there is so much more you can do with our free core plugin. We encourage you to explore our field types and documentation to learn more about our form builder. Additionally. you can unlock additional advanced features for free enabling the developer mode!
Download our contact form plugin and enjoy free but powerful form creation!
With our plugin, you’re all set to create powerful forms for free! Compared to other form builders on the market, Ninja Forms offers top-notch free features, you can’t find anywhere else. What motivates us to do this?
Our small team is driven by values that make our business decisions internally and externally. We put people first over the profit and we strive to be a cheerleader for WordPress users like you.
Being on the market since 2011, we understand sometimes you just want to build a form with all the essentials, but don’t want to commit financially. And we encourage you to do that. With that in mind, enjoy all the fantastic features available without any need to upgrade!
