WPForms
Beginner-friendly drag-and-drop form builder from Awesome Motive with a free Lite plugin, 2,100+ templates and tiered Pro plans for payments and CRMs.
100
Contact Form 7
Free, lightweight WordPress contact form plugin with a tag-based editor, Stripe, reCAPTCHA and Turnstile built in and a large third-party add-on ecosystem.
Free installs10M+WordPress.org, active
Rating4.0/52,186 reviews
Price fromFreeFree
Last updated29 Oct 2026Version 6.2.4.1
Overview
Contact Form 7 is the most widely installed form plugin on WordPress.org, maintained by Takayuki Miyoshi since 2007. It is completely free, with no premium version, and focuses on doing a small job well: building contact forms and emailing their contents.
Forms are written in a text editor using shortcode-style form tags rather than a drag-and-drop interface. Each form has a Mail tab where you define the notification email, an optional second autoresponder email, and customisable messages. Submissions are sent via AJAX, and file upload fields can attach files to the email.
Built-in integrations
- Spam protection: reCAPTCHA v3, Cloudflare Turnstile, Akismet, a disallowed-words list and a simple quiz tag.
- Payments: a Stripe module for one-off card payments.
- Email marketing: a Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) integration.
- Editor: a block for inserting forms in Gutenberg.
What it does not do on its own
Contact Form 7 does not store submissions by default. The same author’s free Flamingo plugin adds message storage in the admin. There is no conditional logic, multi-step flow, calculations, repeater, styling interface or template library in core. These gaps are filled by a large ecosystem of third-party add-ons, such as Conditional Fields for CF7, multi-step modules, CF7 to Webhook (Zapier), Google Sheets connectors and PDF fillers. These vary in quality and upkeep, and some are unmaintained.
On privacy, the plugin is conservative: by default it does not set cookies, track users or write personal data to the database. That suits sites with strict compliance needs, though consent checkboxes must be added manually with the acceptance tag.
Who should pick it
Contact Form 7 suits developers and site owners who want simple, free contact forms, are comfortable editing form markup and styling with CSS, and are happy to add single-purpose add-ons when needed. Anyone wanting a visual builder, stored entries out of the box or advanced logic will be better served by a modern freemium builder.
Best for: Simple contact forms on sites where a free, lightweight plugin and hand-written markup are preferred.
Contact Form 7 is still a dependable free choice for basic contact forms, with good spam options and privacy-friendly defaults. Its tag-based editor and lack of built-in entries, logic or styling make it a poor fit for anything complex unless you are comfortable stitching together third-party add-ons.
Pros
- Completely free with no upsells
- Lightweight and stable with a long track record
- Built-in reCAPTCHA v3, Turnstile and Akismet
- Native Stripe module for simple payments
- Privacy-conservative defaults (no cookies or stored data)
- Huge ecosystem of third-party add-ons
Cons
- No drag-and-drop builder; forms are written with tags
- Submissions are not stored without Flamingo or another add-on
- No conditional logic, multi-step or calculations in core
- Styling requires CSS
- Add-on quality and maintenance vary
Key features
What Contact Form 7 highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Unlimited forms, completely free
- Tag-based form editor
- Customisable mail and autoresponder
- File upload and attachments
- AJAX form submission
- reCAPTCHA v3 integration
- Cloudflare Turnstile integration
- Akismet and disallowed-word filtering
- Stripe payment module
- Brevo email list integration
- Gutenberg block
- Privacy-conservative defaults
Feature checklist
9 of 36 features we track in Form Builders, feature score 40/100
Building 1/14
Drag & drop builder Key
Visual editor for adding and arranging fields without code.
Forms are built by typing form tags in a text editor.
Not included
Multi-step forms
Split long forms into pages with a progress indicator.
Via third-party plugins such as Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7.
Third-party
Conditional logic Key
Show or hide fields and change actions based on answers.
Via the third-party Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 plugin.
Third-party
Calculations
Compute totals, quotes or scores from field values.
Not in core; Conditional Fields Pro (third-party) adds calculated fields.
Third-party
File uploads
Let visitors attach files to a submission.
File upload tag with email attachment support.
Included
Repeater fields
Let visitors add repeating sets of fields.
Repeaters come from the paid Conditional Fields Pro add-on.
Third-party
Form templates
Ready-made forms to start from.
Only a default contact form; no template library.
Not included
Save and resume
Visitors can save a partial entry and finish later.
No save-and-continue feature in core.
Not included
Conversational forms
One-question-at-a-time, typeform-style layout.
No one-question-at-a-time mode.
Not included
Signature field
Capture a drawn or typed signature on a form.
Third-party signature add-on exists but is no longer maintained.
Third-party
Quizzes
Scored quizzes with right and wrong answers.
The quiz tag is an anti-spam question, not a scored quiz.
Not included
Surveys and polls
Survey fields such as Likert scales and poll results reporting.
No survey or poll functionality.
Not included
Visual styling controls
Change colours, spacing and layout without writing CSS.
No styling interface; appearance follows the theme or custom CSS.
Not included
AI form builder
Generate a form from a written prompt.
Third-party CF7 Apps plugin includes an AI form generator.
Third-party
Payments 1/4
Stripe payments Key
Take card payments through Stripe.
Built-in Stripe integration for card payments.
Included
PayPal payments
Take payments through PayPal.
Via the third-party PayPal & Stripe Add-on.
Third-party
Square payments
Take payments through Square.
No Square integration in core.
Not included
Recurring payments
Subscriptions or repeating charges.
Built-in Stripe module handles one-off payments only.
Not included
Entries & workflow 2/7
Entry management Key
Browse, search and export submissions in the dashboard.
Free official Flamingo plugin stores submissions in the admin.
Via add-on
Custom email notifications
Configurable admin and user emails per form.
Configurable Mail plus optional second autoresponder email.
Included
Webhooks
Send submissions to any URL.
Via third-party CF7 to Webhook or CF7 Apps plugins.
Third-party
User registration
Create WordPress users from a form.
Via third-party plugins such as User Registration Using Contact Form 7.
Third-party
Front-end post submissions
Create posts or custom post types from a form.
Via the third-party Post My CF7 Form plugin.
Third-party
Partial entries
Capture what visitors typed before abandoning a form.
No abandoned-form capture.
Not included
PDF generation
Create PDFs from submissions, for example receipts or applications.
Via third-party plugins such as PDF Forms Filler for CF7.
Third-party
Integrations 0/5
Mailchimp
Add subscribers to Mailchimp lists.
Core supports Brevo only; Mailchimp via third-party connectors.
Third-party
Zapier
Connect submissions to thousands of apps via Zapier.
Via the third-party CF7 to Webhook plugin.
Third-party
HubSpot
Send leads to HubSpot CRM.
Via third-party connectors such as CF7 HubSpot.
Third-party
Google Sheets
Append submissions to a Google Sheet.
Via the third-party CF7 Google Sheets Connector.
Third-party
Salesforce
Send leads and contacts to Salesforce.
Via third-party connectors such as CRM Perks' Salesforce plugin.
Third-party
Spam & compliance 3/4
reCAPTCHA
Google reCAPTCHA spam protection.
Built-in reCAPTCHA v3 integration.
Included
Cloudflare Turnstile
Privacy-friendly CAPTCHA alternative.
Built-in Cloudflare Turnstile integration.
Included
Honeypot / built-in anti-spam
Invisible spam filtering without a CAPTCHA.
No core honeypot; added by the third-party CF7 Apps plugin.
Third-party
GDPR tools
Consent fields, data export/erasure, IP storage controls.
Acceptance checkbox tag and no data stored by default; no export/erasure tools.
Partial
Developer 2/2
Developer hooks & API
Actions, filters and/or REST API for custom work.
Actions, filters, DOM events and REST endpoints for developers.
Included
Block editor block
Embed forms with a native block.
Contact Form 7 block for the block editor.
Included
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free
FreelifetimeUnlimited
No paid version; some third-party add-ons are commercial
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Contact Form 7?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
10M+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
—
The vendor does not publish a total.
Estimated Pro / paid installs
n/a
There is no paid version.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
2,091,736 downloads last week, 432.1M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 6.2.4.1 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 29 Oct 2026 (5 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 7.1+, PHP 8.3+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 29 of 84 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 2 Aug 2007 |
Contact Form 7 compared
Contact Form 7/MetForm
Contact Form 7/JetFormBuilder
Contact Form 7/SureForms
Contact Form 7/Quform
Contact Form 7/Forminator
Contact Form 7/Everest Forms
Contact Form 7/Gravity Forms
Contact Form 7/WS FormContact Form 7/WPForms
Contact Form 7/Fluent Forms
Contact Form 7/Formidable Forms
Contact Form 7/Ninja Forms Alternatives to Contact Form 7
Fluent Forms
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Gravity Forms
Premium-only WordPress form builder from Rocketgenius with deep conditional logic, calculations and an official add-on library for payments and CRMs.
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Formidable Forms
Drag-and-drop WordPress form builder with a visual styler, calculators, quizzes and Views for turning entries into directories and listings.
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SureForms
Block-editor form builder from Brainstorm Force with AI form creation and free Stripe forms; paid plans add logic, multi-step and integrations.
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Forminator
Generous free form, quiz and poll builder from WPMU DEV with payments, logic and integrations included; Pro adds PDFs, e-signatures and subscriptions.
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FAQ
Is Contact Form 7 free?
Yes. Contact Form 7 has a free version on WordPress.org.
How many sites use Contact Form 7?
WordPress.org reports 10M+ active installations of the free version.
Does Contact Form 7 have drag & drop builder?
No: not included. Forms are built by typing form tags in a text editor.
Does Contact Form 7 have conditional logic?
No: third-party. Via the third-party Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 plugin.
Does Contact Form 7 have stripe payments?
Yes: included. Built-in Stripe integration for card payments.
Does Contact Form 7 have entry management?
Yes: via add-on. Free official Flamingo plugin stores submissions in the admin.
Does Contact Form 7 save form submissions?
Not by default. Install the free Flamingo plugin from the same author to store messages in the WordPress admin.
Can Contact Form 7 do conditional logic or multi-step forms?
Not in core. Third-party plugins such as Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 and Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 add these features.
Is there a Pro version of Contact Form 7?
No. The plugin is entirely free; any premium extras come from independent third-party developers.
Can I take payments with Contact Form 7?
Yes, for one-off payments via the built-in Stripe integration. PayPal and subscriptions need third-party add-ons.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.