Fluent Forms vs SkunkForms: Budget-Friendly Showdown

Looking for a Fluent Forms alternative? You're probably doing what I did — trying to escape the $200+ annual fees that WPForms and Gravity Forms charge for basic features.

Both Fluent Forms and SkunkForms position themselves as the budget-conscious choice. Fluent Forms starts at $63/year. SkunkForms is currently free (with paid plans coming). But which one actually delivers better value?

I've spent the last week testing both extensively. Here's the honest breakdown.

The quick verdict

• Fluent Forms — Mature, feature-complete, excellent free tier. Starts at $63/year for pro features.
• SkunkForms — Newer, includes CRM for free, uses native WordPress blocks. Currently free but less mature.

Both beat the pants off WPForms and Gravity Forms on price. The question is which fits your needs better.

Pricing: The budget breakdown

*Fluent Forms free tier excludes file uploads, multi-step forms, payment processing, and premium integrations.

Here's where it gets interesting: SkunkForms includes CRM functionality that would normally cost $50-200/year extra. If you need forms AND contact management, SkunkForms wins on value even when their paid plans launch.

What you get for free

Form building experience

Fluent Forms: Polished drag-and-drop

Fluent Forms uses a custom visual builder that feels familiar if you've used WPForms. Drag fields from a sidebar, drop them on the form, configure settings in a panel. It's intuitive and works well.

The field library is impressive: 25+ input types in the free version, 55+ in pro. Address autocomplete, phone validation, date pickers — everything you'd expect from a mature form builder.

Templates: 20+ in the free version, covering most common use cases. Contact forms, registration, feedback, etc. Pro adds payment and advanced form templates.

SkunkForms: Native WordPress blocks

SkunkForms takes a different approach — it's built entirely on WordPress blocks. If you know Gutenberg, you know SkunkForms. No proprietary builder to learn.

You build forms the same way you build pages: add blocks, arrange them, style them with your theme. It feels more "WordPress native" but might seem basic if you're used to specialized form builders.

Templates: 11 currently. They're well-designed but the library is smaller. This is our biggest gap compared to competitors.

Winner: Fluent Forms for polish and template variety. SkunkForms for the "no new UI to learn" approach.

The CRM factor

This is where SkunkForms pulls ahead significantly.

Fluent Forms can integrate with CRMs like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and others — but you need separate accounts and often monthly fees. Their pro version includes some basic entry management, but it's not a true CRM.

SkunkForms includes a full contact management system. Form submissions automatically:

• Create contact records
• Apply tags based on form responses
• Create sales pipeline deals
• Track engagement history

If you're running a small business and need both forms and contact management, this is huge. You're looking at $50-200/year savings compared to buying separate tools.

Performance and reliability

Speed test results

I tested loading speed on identical forms:

Both are significantly faster than heavyweight competitors. SkunkForms is slightly lighter because it leverages existing WordPress block styles.

Reliability

Fluent Forms has 600,000+ active installs and years of real-world testing. It's stable and well-maintained.

SkunkForms is newer (launched 2024) with fewer installations. We haven't hit the same scale of battle-testing yet.

Where Fluent Forms beats us (honestly)

Let's be real about our gaps:

1. Maturity — Fluent Forms has years of development and user feedback. We're still young.
2. Template library — They have 20+ templates in free tier. We have 11.
3. Field variety — 25+ field types vs our 15+. They cover more edge cases.
4. Third-party integrations — 60+ integrations vs our handful (though we focus on CRM).
5. Payment processing — They offer Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, etc. We're still building this.
6. Multi-step forms — Theirs works now. Ours is coming soon.
7. File uploads — Available in their pro tier. We're adding this to our free tier soon.
8. Community — Larger user base means more tutorials, help, and examples.

Where we beat Fluent Forms

1. Built-in CRM — No external integrations needed. Everything stays on your server.
2. WordPress native — Uses block editor instead of proprietary builder.
3. Value for money — CRM + forms in one package, currently free.
4. Data ownership — Your contact data stays in your WordPress database.
5. No vendor lock-in — If you don't like us, export your data and move on.
6. Simplicity — Less features = less complexity for basic use cases.

Advanced features comparison

Who should choose what?

Choose Fluent Forms if:

• You need a mature, battle-tested form builder
• Templates and pre-built layouts are important to you
• You want advanced features like quizzes and conversational forms
• You don't need CRM functionality (or have it elsewhere)
• You're comfortable with $63+/year for pro features
• You prefer specialized, polished form building tools

Choose SkunkForms if:

• You need forms AND CRM without paying for two products
• You prefer the WordPress block editor over proprietary builders
• You want everything to stay on your server (no external dependencies)
• You're budget-conscious and want maximum value for free
• You're building a sales pipeline and need lead tracking
• You like supporting newer products that listen to user feedback

The real budget comparison

Let's say you need forms, CRM, and basic automation:

Fluent Forms path:

• Fluent Forms Pro: $63/year
• CRM (HubSpot Starter): $540/year
• Total: $603/year

SkunkForms path:

• SkunkForms: $0/year (currently)
• Built-in CRM: Included
• Total: $0/year

Even when our paid plans launch, we expect to be significantly cheaper than the "forms + separate CRM" approach.

The bottom line

Fluent Forms is an excellent WordPress form builder with years of polish behind it. If you just need forms and don't care about CRM, it's hard to beat.

SkunkForms is betting on a different future: forms and CRM should be one product, not two. If that resonates with how you work, and you don't mind being part of a newer ecosystem, we might be the better choice.

Neither will break the bank like WPForms or Gravity Forms. That's the real win here.

Try both. Fluent Forms has a generous free tier. SkunkForms is currently completely free. See which fits your workflow better. You can always switch — that's the beauty of choosing budget-friendly tools over expensive ones.

Want to test SkunkForms? Download it free and see how it feels to have forms and CRM working together from day one.