WPForms Is Too Expensive — Here's What I Switched To

I like WPForms. Their builder is probably the best drag-and-drop experience in WordPress. But after renewing at $199/year for the third year in a row, I started wondering: what am I actually paying for?

File uploads. Conditional logic. Entry storage. Basic stuff that other plugins include for free.

WPForms Lite — their free version — strips out almost everything useful. No saved entries (submissions go to email only). No conditional logic. No file uploads. 5 templates instead of 1,800+. It exists to show you how good the paid version is.

So I spent two weeks testing every free WPForms alternative I could find. Here's what I learned. (For a head-to-head breakdown, see our WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs SkunkForms comparison.)

What WPForms does well (credit where it's due)

Before the alternatives — WPForms earned its market share:

• Builder UX — genuinely the smoothest drag-and-drop form builder in WordPress
• Template library — 1,800+ pre-built forms for every use case
• Documentation — extensive, well-written, with video tutorials
• Ecosystem — integrates with everything (Mailchimp, Stripe, HubSpot, etc.)
• Stability — 6+ million installs. It works. It doesn't break.

If budget isn't a concern, WPForms Pro is a solid choice. The issue is when you're paying $199/yr for features that should be table stakes.

The free alternatives (tested, ranked)

1. Fluent Forms Free — Best overall WPForms replacement

If you want the closest experience to WPForms without paying, this is it. Fluent Forms has a visual builder that's nearly as good, includes conditional logic in the free tier, and supports file uploads.

What you get free: 60+ templates, conditional logic, file uploads, entry management, multi-step forms, custom CSS.

What's locked: Payment integrations, post creation, quiz module, advanced fields.

The catch: The free version shows upgrade nudges. Not aggressive, but they're there. CRM integration requires their paid tier or a separate integration plugin.

2. Forminator — Most generous free tier

WPMU DEV's form plugin gives away more than most paid plugins. Free conditional logic, payments (Stripe + PayPal), polls, quizzes, file uploads, and custom CSS.

What you get free: Pretty much everything except some integrations and the WPMU DEV dashboard.

What's locked: Some third-party integrations, priority support.

The catch: The UI is clunky. Feels enterprise-y in a bad way. Performance can lag on complex forms. WPMU DEV's business model is a site management platform — Forminator is the hook.

3. SkunkForms — Best if you need CRM integration

This is our plugin, so I'll keep it brief and honest.

SkunkForms uses the WordPress block editor instead of a proprietary drag-and-drop builder. If you're comfortable with Gutenberg, the learning curve is zero. If you hate Gutenberg, you'll hate our form builder too.

What you get free: Form builder, entry storage, email notifications, spam protection, analytics, and — the big one — native CRM integration via SkunkCRM. Every submission can automatically create a contact and deal in your CRM pipeline.

What's locked behind Pro: Conditional logic, file uploads, advanced field types, priority support.

The catch: Smaller template library (11 vs WPForms' 1,800). Newer plugin with a smaller community. Missing some field types that WPForms has had for years. No payment integration yet.

Why people pick it: They need forms + lead tracking in one stack. Instead of form plugin + CRM plugin + Zapier, it's two free plugins that talk to each other natively.

4. Contact Form 7 — If you literally just need a contact form

Still the most-installed form plugin in WordPress. Completely free. No premium tier. No upsells. Does one thing.

The catch: No visual builder. Configuration via shortcode markup. No entry storage — submissions go to email only. The UI hasn't meaningfully changed since 2008.

Best for: Developers. People who want a contact form and nothing else.

5. Formidable Forms Free — Best for developers

Developer-oriented form builder with calculations, views, and data-driven features. The free tier is decent but conditional logic is locked to paid.

Side-by-side comparison (free tiers only)

The real differentiator isn't features

Here's what I've realised after testing all of these: most form plugins have roughly the same feature set. Drag fields onto a canvas. Conditional logic. File uploads. Email notifications. The differences are marginal.

The bigger question is: what happens to the lead after they submit?

With most form plugins, the answer is "it sits in a submissions table until you remember to check." Maybe you get an email notification. Maybe you manually add them to a spreadsheet or CRM.

That's where SkunkForms does something different. Pair it with SkunkCRM (also free) and submissions automatically become contacts in a pipeline. Tagged, stage-assigned, ready for follow-up. No Zapier. No CSV exports.

If you just need a form, Fluent Forms Free is probably the best WPForms replacement. (See our detailed WPForms comparison for more specifics.)

If you need forms + lead management, SkunkForms + SkunkCRM is hard to beat on value.