Which is better in clash WPForms vs Gravity Forms? In this post, I will compare the features each plugin offers and try to answer that question. While visiting sites, chances are you’ve seen all kinds of online forms: contact forms, order forms, signup forms, surveys, questionnaires, inquiry forms, etc.
There is vast number of WordPress form builder plugin advantages and things you can do. Almost every site has a form you can fill out to somehow interact with it. This method of capturing information is more specific and direct than just, “Send us a message.”
Having specific forms catered to different purposes is vital to the success of a WordPress site. So, how do you create or manage forms for your site? The easiest way if you’re not a coder or web developer would be to install the plugin.
The options for both free and premium form creation plugins are so varied it can make your head spin. So let’s narrow it down to two of the most popular choices: Gravity Forms and WPForms.
What do these two have to offer that sets them apart from the rest, and which of them is right for your site?
Table of Contents
WPForms vs Gravity Forms
Form builder plugins provide immediate access to useful features in WordPress like creating surveys & polls, ability to add e-signature, create payment forms, create file upload forms, create custom form calculators, automatically export form submissions, create conversational WordPress forms, integrate with Campaign Monitor and various other email service providers, stop spam form submissions using reCaptcha, etc.
WPForms is prized for its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that allows for quick contact form creation on any WordPress page. Its built-in templates can help you make convenient, clean-looking web forms.
Instead of agonizing for hours over coding a web form, you can have a working form on your page tailored to your needs within minutes. All in all, WPForms makes everything from contact forms to registration forms simple and easy to implement.
Gravity Forms also allows for all types of form creation within WordPress and comes with a form builder that lets you create the forms you need to for your purposes.
You can craft responsive forms with ease, and include features such as spam filters, launch surveys, payment gateways, bookings, etc. This premium plugin has a lot to offer in terms of form creation and implementation.
Gravity Forms comes with many add-ons which you get more or less depending on which pricing plan you purchase. One of the most popular third-party addons for Gravity Forms is Gravity Perks. You can check my Gravity Perks review for more information about it.
- Name
- Price
- Unlimited Forms
- Unlimited Entries
- Conditional Logic
- Multi-Page Forms
- File Uploads
- ActiveCampaign addon
- AWeber
- Campaign Monitor
- CleverReach
- Constant Contact
- Emma addon
- GetResponse
- iContact
- Mad Mimi
- MailChimp
- Mailgun
- Postmark
- SendGrid
- Agile CRMIntegration with with Agile's Sales and Marketing CRM
- Batchbook addonIntegration with Batchbook's small business CRM
- BreezeIntegration with Breeze, a simple tool for project management
- CampfireIntegration with Campfire, a team collaboration and real time chat service.
- Capsule CRM
- Dropbox
- FreshbooksAutomatically add clients to your FreshBooks account when a form is submitted.
- Help ScoutIntegration with Help Scout simple to use Help Desk platform
- HighriseIntegration with Highrise, a flexible contact management tool that helps you stay organized
- PayPal Payments Standard
- Pipe Video Recording
- Slack
- Trello
- Twilio integration
- Zapier
- Zoho CRM
- 2Checkout
- Advanced Post CreationAllows you to create a post on form submission. Create a standard post, page or use any available custom post type.
- Authorize.net
- Chained SelectsCascading drop-down select fields
- Coupons feature
- Partial Entries
- PayPal Payments Pro
- Polls
- Quiz
- Signature
- Stripe
- Survey
- User Registration
- Webhooks
- Spam Protection
- Advanced Fields
- Form Layouts
- Entry Management
- Form Confirmation
- Form Notification
- Custom CSS
- Custom Captchas
- Drip Forms
- Login Form
- Geolocation
- Post Submissions
- Signatures
- Form Abandonment
- Offline Forms
- Form Locker
- Form Landing Pages
- Conversational Forms
- Form Templates
- GRAVITY FORMS
- $59/year for one site, $159/year for 3 sites or $259/year for unlimited sitesUpdates and support are for 1 year. With each pricing plan you have access to more or less addons
- CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA v2 and Invisible reCAPTCHA are included. Really Simple CAPTCHA can be added via plugin
- You can create a page on your site and have just the form there on your landing page. A specific form landing page does not exist.
- WPFORMS
- $79/year for 1 site, $199/year for 3 sites, $399/year for 20 sites and $599/year for unlimited sitesUpdates and support for 1 year. Number of features you receive depend on pricing plan you choose.
NOTE: In comparison, not all features that compared plugin provide have been taken into account. Also, as time goes plugin gets updates, new features, and changes.
For most accurate information visit official site or contact plugin developers.
Gravity Forms vs WPForms Features Comparison
I will now compare Gravity Forms and WPForms by features they bring to the table and if there are options that one has and other doesn’t.
Easy To Use
WPForms plugin provides users with a user-friendly drag-and-drop form builder that can craft beautiful, functional WordPress forms in mere minutes. You don’t need to hire a developer or write any code to create your forms. Input fields can be added, rearranged, or removed instantly.
You can also view a live preview of the form you’re crafting on your site while you work, so you never have to move over a tab to look at the preview and make sure it works. WPForms also comes with a multitude of built-in templates for forms that can fulfill a variety of needs.
Templates include a blank canvas for custom template creation, a simple contact form, quote requests, donation forms, newsletter signups, and so much more that can be chosen and implemented in just a couple of clicks.
The plugin also offers a wide selection of add-ons to extend the reach of your form building, including more templates, payment gateways you can add to forms, integration with email marketing services, etc.
Forms can easily be embedded in your pages, posts, and widget-ready areas. The WPForms widget also allows you to display forms in the sidebar, footer, or other parts of your site for easy form access.
Gravity Forms’ intuitive drag and drop builder gives users access to convenient form field adding, rearrangement, and removal.
It also lets you easily create more complex forms, as well as custom forms to suit your specific needs. However, compared to WPForms, Gravity Forms does have a bit of a learning curve to take into account.
Form creation is easy, but unlike WPForms, Gravity Forms doesn’t offer live previews of forms while you build.
To look at a preview, you’ll have to click a preview button and examine your form in another tab to compare your work while you’re building. Form fields will need to be manually added every time due to the lack of form templates available.
You can instert Gravity Forms using shortcode manually, using “Add Form” button that appears in the toolbar if you are using Classic editor or using Gutenberg block.
WINNER: WPFORMS
Number Of Features
Both Gravity Forms and WPForms can add a myriad of features to any WordPress site. For example, you can create order forms, surveys, polls, feedback forms, RSVPs, newsletter signups, donation forms, request a quote form, etc.
You can also use these forms to allow visitors to your WordPress website to register and create a user account, and even submit content that can be published on your blog.
Both come with a wealth of custom templates and keep form creation very user-friendly and quick to implement. All of this and more makes these two plugins among the best for form building on WordPress pages.
WINNER: BOTH
Form Field Types
Gravity Forms and WPForms both have a wide variety of form fields for users to choose from and expect from a premium plugin. These fields include single-line and paragraph text boxes, as well as radio buttons, multi-select, drop-down fields, and checkboxes.
If you want to implement basic forms on your site, both tools have everything you need to do just that. However, what separates WPForms and Gravity Forms from many of the other options in this category is the additional fields users get access to.
WPForms and Gravity Forms both feature tons of additional form fields to increase interactivity and functionality.
Some of the more advanced form fields that site owners can implement on their WordPress pages include the following:
- Both plugins allow for email and website fields.
- Both plugins have time and date fields.
- Both plugins allow file uploads.
- Both plugins have the option to add pricing fields with the ability to calculate totals.
- Both plugins allow for content submission fields that include options like post title, categories, and featured images.
- Both plugins offer Captcha spam protection for added security.
Features unique to WPForms include:
- Custom Captcha creation
- Rating systems, including star ratings, number scales, and more.
Both plugins feature a wealth of form fields to suit all types of needs, though WPForms edges out Gravity Forms in selection by just a little.
The rating form is a useful one for WordPress shops, for example. If your site is focused on receiving feedback from users, go with WPForms to optimize your form field options.
WINNER: WPFORMS
Form Templates
WPForms edges out Gravity Forms in one significant aspect, and that is the addition of pre-made form templates for license holders to make use of on their site.
All license purchasers have access to six templates that are editable, including a basic contact form, a quote request form, and a billing form.
If you have a Pro or Elite WPForms license, you get access to an add-on pack with more than 100 pre-made forms to implement in a single click on your site.
All templates are editable and can be customized to fit your needs with WPForms’ easy-to-use builder.
While Gravity Forms only allows for manual form creation, you can easily create custom forms and can even find tools to aid you among the third-party add-ons available for the plugin.
If you plan to create a range of different forms for your WordPress websites, then having access to the extensive library of templates provided by WPForms is likely to save you time and effort.
WINNER: WPFORMS
Form Entry Management
Both Gravity Forms and WPForms allow for storage of form entries in your database. In the event of a failure to deliver the information, you can still quickly check what’s been submitted and email any recipients who may have had a form delivery failure on their end.
All of this can be easily monitored from the WordPress dashboard. This feature is especially useful for when multiple users need access to form entry data.
Both WPForms and Gravity Forms allow you to choose which columns are displayed on the form entry screen. Gravity Forms has a greater variety of columns to make form entry data easier to sort.
Both plugins also allow for secure file exporting, so if you need to export form data as a .CSV file, you can quickly do so and open up your spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets.
Gravity Forms allows you to export form entry data from between two specific dates, as well as choose which fields are included in the spreadsheet.
Conditional logic is also used to filter entries according to your needs. WPForms’ form entry file exporting options are a little less complicated in comparison.
Clicking the download button exports all existing entries for a particular form in a .CSV format. There are no options for filtering entries like in Gravity Forms.
However, spreadsheet apps and software like Excel and Google Sheets have filtering options you can make use of to customize this data.
Also, worth mentioning is the fact that Gravity Forms provides more data for each entry, including user IP addresses and the browser they used to access your forms.
Both plugins have a great set of features for form entry management overall, but if you want in-depth customization for your records, Gravity Forms is the way to go.
If your needs are less complicated and you’re familiar enough with spreadsheet software to do the customizing of data on your own, WPForms is perfectly suitable.
WINNER: GRAVITY FORMS
Form Abandonment & Partial Entries
If you want to avoid losing leads, missing out on orders, or forgoing some other type of data you’re collecting, both WPForms and Gravity Forms have a lot to offer to prevent you from losing leads or other collected data from your forms.
However, each plugin has a different approach to dealing with users who interact with your forms but, for whatever reason, don’t hit the submit button.
WPForms can automatically save form entries if users move their mouse cursor inside of the browser viewport. It also works if they click on a link.
This autosave functionality works on the assumption that a user is about to leave your site based on these triggers, so form information is instantly saved, no matter how much is filled in.
Gravity Forms, on the other hand, has a little less to offer. Instead of triggering an autosave function when a user is likely to click off of your site, partial entries are saved when a user tries to submit a form without completing all required fields. This feature also saves incomplete multi-page forms once the user has gotten past the first page of the form.
You can use WordPress’s Heartbeat API for a regular save function, but this method is less straightforward than the autosave triggers on WPForms. That said, being able to save a partially completed form lets you get in touch with the user if there is an email address available.
Better still, you can create emails that can automatically reach out to customers who have abandoned partially filled forms. This message can be anything from a reminder to complete the form, to an invitation to return to your page.
However, to implement messaging features like this, you need an email address, so keep that field near the top of any form to make it easy to reach out to potential customers, visitors, or subscribers.
These save features are especially important for users who are serious about converting customers or generating leads. These are handy features for anyone serious about collecting leads or accepting sales through their website.
So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that the WPForms form abandonment feature and the corresponding Gravity Forms partial entries add-on are only available to users who have purchased the more expensive Pro or Elite licenses for WPForms, or the Elite license for Gravity Forms.
WINNER: BOTH
Other Gravity Forms & WPForms Features
Both Gravity Forms and WPForms are feature-rich and have a lot in common. While the above features should be of interest to most people looking for the right forms plugin, there are also lots of slightly more niche features that are useful, but not a requirement for everyone.
Here’s a quick overview of some of those features:
- Both plugins can use conditional logic to control field visibility.
- Both plugins offer support for multipage form creation.
- Both plugins allow users to implement form availability limiting and scheduling.
- Both plugins let users import form data from other plugins.
- Both plugins feature the ability to submit WordPress posts and pages via forms.
- Both plugins allow you to create surveys and polls on your sites.
- Both plugins allow for building WordPress user registration and login forms.
- Both plugins feature Gutenberg support.
- Both plugins have signature fields you can use.
- Both plugins offer GDPR support.
- Both plugins also have payment collection options.
Features unique to WPForms include:
- Geolocation detection services
- Offline form access
- A form locker
- Conversational forms
With both plugins having so many features in common, it’s hard to say which one has more to offer than the other. It will ultimately have to depend on the types of forms you want to be able to create.
There are also a wide variety of free and third-party add-ons offered for Gravity Forms, while WPForms has a massive template library for license holders to make use of on your site.
Think about the features you want and need and from there, you can choose the plugin that’s right for you.
WINNER: BOTH
User Experience
When examining the two plugins in terms of user experience alone, it’s easy to say that WPForms has more to offer.
The custom interface that fills up the browser window and the ability to create and configure forms with a drag-and-drop interface creates a very straightforward user experience that is hard to match.
Gravity Forms sticks to a more traditional, WordPress-like method that makes it feel like a core aspect of your dashboard, and this makes it very comfortable and easy to use, especially for WordPress veterans.
Gravity Forms also has a drag-and-drop capability that enhances this appeal. The most significant difference that you will find between WPForms and Gravity Forms is that WPForms allows for live previews of your forms onscreen while you work, while Gravity Forms relegates previews to a button that shows them in a new tab.
This feature is a great time-saver, but clicking off to see previews is nothing new and not exactly a deal-breaker, either. Both plugins, all in all, have a wealth of features and add-ons to make use of for your WordPress pages. In the end, it’s up to you to decide what type of interface works best for you.
WINNER: WPFORMS
Pricing Plans
- Basic License: $59 for use on one site and access to the Basic add-ons.
- Pro License: $159 for use on three sites and access to the Basic and Pro add-ons.
- Elite License: $259 for use on unlimited sites and access to the Basic, Pro and Elite add-ons.
Gravity Forms Elite license also includes WordPress Multisite support and access to the Priority support channel, while the two lower tiers do not.
Each license lets you enjoy plugin updates and support for a year. There are no discounts for license renewals.
However, there is a 30-day refund window, so if you’re unhappy with your service or decide to use another form building plug-in, you have a month to test Gravity Forms risk-free. Gravity Forms doesn’t have a free or lite version available. Only paid.
- Basic License: $79 for use on one site and Basic set of features.
- Plus License: $199 for use on three sites, and Basic and Plus sets of features.
- Pro License: $399 for use on 20 sites, and Basic, Plus and Pro sets of features.
- Elite License: $599 for use on unlimited sites, and Basic, Plus and Pro sets of features.
You can use coupon SAVE50 at checkout to get 50% off any plan. Like Gravity Forms, WordPress Multisite support and access to the Premium support channel is reserved for the top-tier WPForms Elite license.
Again, like Gravity Forms, you will need to renew your license each year to retain access to plugin updates and support. Although it’s only possible to get a full refund after 14 days (compared with the Gravity Forms 30-day period), this does still mean you can try WPForms without risk. It’s worth pointing out that there’s a free version of WPForms available.
WINNER: On paper, Gravity Forms is the least expensive option. But WPForms has a free version.
WPForms Against Gravity Forms – Who Is Winner?
So, which form creation plugin has the most to offer? It’s hard to say who the clear winner is. Both offer incredibly useful tools for crafting forms on any WordPress site.
WPForms wins out in terms of its user interface, but Gravity Forms is also quite user-friendly. When it comes down to it, the most significant determinant aside from individual needs will likely be price.
If you have the budget to spare for your site, WPForms offers the broadest range of features and form templates. On the other hand, Gravity Forms has a wide variety of third-party add-ons that extend its usefulness considerably.
Extend Gravity Forms with premium add-ons from GravityView, Gravity Wiz, Gravity Flow, Gravity +, ForGravity, JetSloth, and GravityPDF.
You can also find a wealth of free add-ons on WordPress.org and paid add-ons on Code Canyon. Let your imagination go wild. It all depends on what features you need for your site.
Once you’ve identified which plugin has the exact features you need, you won’t be disappointed with either option.
However, if you don’t yet have any specific requirements, and just want the best WordPress form plugin, WPForms is a great all-rounder that should meet your needs going forward.
If you think that neither Gravity Forms nor WPForms are what you need then check JetFormBuilder review, WP Fluent Form review, Quill Forms review, Formidable Forms or best Typeform alternatives.
DISCLOSURE: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, I might get a small commission, without any extra cost to you. Read more about it here.
One issue with Gravity forms and most form builders for WordPress for that matter, is that they don’t have great support for subscription management if you are using the form to create subscriptions. A free plugin called GravityStripe give subscribers the ability to view their subscriptions and cancel the subscription on their own. It also gives the admin an overview of all subscriptions and what their status is. The pro version gives the ability to update credit card, do upgrades/downgrades and more. I think Gravity Forms wins hands down. They were really the first in the space to pioneer forms for WordPress. Check it out at https://GravityStripe.com. There is also a demo at https://gformsdemo.com
Nice article! You shortly mention third-party plugins; check out Gravity Extend (https://gravityextend.com/) if you’re looking for pluings and integrations that aren’t available from the default Add-on library.
Hi Louis,
There is post about Gravity Forms in work and Gravity Extend will be mentioned.
Awesome!
I am very interested in winning a prof copy of WP Forms, it looks like great software. ????????????????