The trend of online businesses has increased over the previous decade, and then it only seems to be growing and improving. Combining with the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, e-commerce’s growth has skyrocketed.
All business owners want their WordPress websites to increase the customer base. Not just this, but they are growing and improving their marketing strategies to stand out from their competitors.
If you are a business owner running an eCommerce store, consider adding forms there. They will provide your customers with multiple options so they can get in touch with you and get all their queries answered. These forms also greatly benefit you by directing customers’ concerns to the right department.
Talking about contact forms, there are two popular solutions that you must have heard about: Contact Form 7 and Ninja Forms
To help you make the right decision between these 2 plugins, we have compared them based on various factors. You will know their differences in features, pricing, customer support, and customization.
Let’s hop in!
What is a Contact Form 7?
Contact Form 7 comes as one of the most popular, yet oldest forms present in the WordPress plugin repository. This form plugin has more than 5 million active installations by different users of WordPress. It also receives a 4.6-star rating which shows how effective and appreciated this form plugin is.
CF7 helps you manage numerous forms at once, and you can place them anywhere on the WordPress website.
If you think that it will affect the speed of your website, don’t worry! The plugin has been built with a clean code. This means that it won’t affect the speed or even the performance of your website at all.
Furthermore, it also supports different plugins like Akismet, CAPTCHA plugins, and AJAX power submitting.
What Is Ninja Forms Plugin?
Another big name in the WordPress form plugin niche calls the name of Ninja Forms. It is also a prevalent contact form. With an over 1+ million users base and a 4.4-star rating, this plugin falls behind the popularity of Contact Form 7.
Just like Contact Form 7, it is undoubtedly an easy and robust contact form option that you can use.
The plugin allows you to control almost everything. You can individually design and manage the functionality of each element of the form. This includes the general settings to individual fields, submission actions, and even email Plus.
Moreover, you can integrate it onto WordPress through a short code, widget, or even a template function quite efficiently.
Contact Form 7 Vs Ninja Forms
Now, we move on to the next part of the article, comparing Ninja Forms vs Contact Form 7.
#1 Setup and Configuration
Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is commonly used by developers, and this plugin is not entirely intuitive. But when we talk about Contact Form 7’s user interface, there are doubts about whether it’s user-friendly or not. It’s simple and avoids any extensive functionality or loud features.
One thing to note is that upon activation, there is a menu item called Contact added to the WordPress dashboard. Open up this section and you can create and edit new forms.
After installing and running a contact form, you can add its shortcode on any posts or pages to display the form.
There is only one downside to using contact form 7: website owners must be aware of HTML markup to create forms. It is easy to learn how to do that but depending on the time and competition, not all website owners might want to do that.
Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms proves very simple and easy to use. After installing and activating the plugin onto the WordPress website, open the general settings and start the configuration. After that, you can begin by creating a new contact form.
First, you need to add a new form and use the drag and drop form builder to add all the fields you want to the form. Once done, you can add the generated shortcode of the form anywhere on the website, and it will start to appear on the front end.
Key features:
- Manage, edit, and export received submissions.
- Offer date picker.
- Easily message your team after receiving a submission.
- Save the essential fields for using data.
- Provide customized submission confirmations to users.
It seems like Ninja Forms has taken the lead when it comes to the setup and configuration of the plugin.
#2 Pricing
Contact Form 7
The best part is CF7 is presently free of cost. It’s available in the WordPress plugin directory. All plugin features are covered in the Free version and there is no Pro upgrade needed.
Besides, there are numerous different add-ons so that you can extend the functionality and design of the plugin based on your custom demands.
Ninja Forms
Similar to Contact Form 7, the Ninja Forms plugin is also available for free on WordPress.org. You can also download it from the ninjaforms.com website.
On top of that, if you want any more extensions and want to increase the form’s functionality, you will have to pay. The more functionality and add-ons you want, the more expensive the package.
Currently, there are 4 different premium plans for you to choose from:
#3 Customer Support
Contact Form 7
The customer support that contacts form 7 offers is limited but enough. They have a proper section with an entire list of articles that can help you with different problems.
In case you can’t find an answer for your issue there, submit your questions on the forum, and they will get back to you.
Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms offers an extended and excellent customer support service. They have extensive documentation present and regularly update their blog section.
Whether you are using the free or premium versions, you can quickly contact the support team in case of a problem and expect a response within 24 hours or even less.
So, it would be safe to say that in the comparison of ninja forms vs contact form 7 customer support, Ninja Forms takes the lead.
#4 Customizations
Contact Form 7
Since Contact Form 7 is a simple plugin, there are not many customization options present. The only modifications or customizations you can do are with the form mail and other message settings.
Moreover, you can add custom elements like text or images by using HTML markup in between predefined fields. There are many third-party add-ons available to help you with the design and functionality of the forms.
Some of the adds-on include MailChimp Extension, Success Page Redirects, PayPal Add-on, and Select Box Editor Button.
Ninja Forms
With the drag & drop form builder, you don’t have to touch a piece of code while using Ninja Forms. In addition, you’re able to customize and style your Ninja Forms in various ways:
- Third-Party integrations like Zapier, MailChimp, and even Zoho.
- Easy and efficient translation to other languages.
- Creation of different forms like subscription forms and surveys.
- Determining the submission actions.
Regarding the customization option, Ninja Forms vs Contact Form 7, both provide great customization options.
Ninja Forms vs Contact Forms 7: Which is Your Ideal Plugin?
Although both the Contact Form 7 and Ninja Forms are acceptable and preferred contact form solutions for those with a WordPress website, pointers still set them apart.
We’ve walked you through the main differences between Contact Form 7 and Ninja Forms. While Contact Forms 7 is completely free but offers fewer features and customization, Ninja Forms requires you to upgrade to Premium plans to access advanced features.
You can base on the comparison and decide the one you find more appropriate for your WordPress website.
What is your favorite contact form plugin? Share with us in the comment section below. Check out our tutorial on how to create a contact form in WordPress here.
