Looking for a free Gravity Forms alternative that has all the same features? Join us for a Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms intensive comparison to get the best form builder plugin for your buck!
You're in a tough spot. You've been using Gravity Forms for years, but it's not quite meeting your needs anymore. Transitioning to a new product seems like a hassle and you don't want to lose your stuff. Or maybe you're looking to start a website with a form-builder plugin but Gravity Forms doesn't have all the features you need.
What do you do?
Never fear!
With the right tools and a little guidance, you can get the form-building plugin you need and not lose any of your stuff! No coding or headaches necessary.
After all, whether you're adding a contact form or creating eCommerce checkout systems, form builders are an important part of any WordPress website. The best option will depend on what features and functionality they offer, as well as how easy they are to use!
To start, let's take a look at two great options: Gravity Forms and Formidable Forms.
What's the best Gravity Forms alternative?
So what is better than Gravity Forms?
The WordPress form builder plugin you install is a big decision if you use a lot of forms. So, today we’ve put together a side-by-side comparison of Formidable's popular form builder plugin and the form builder, Gravity Forms.
If you've heard of Gravity Forms, you may be wondering, "Is there a free version of Gravity Form's form builder?" Good news! Formidable Forms Lite offers an excellent free plugin.
We’ll talk about the pros and cons of both WordPress plugins and what to look for in a form builder so you can decide whether or not you want to switch to Formidable Forms, an awesome free alternative to Gravity.
👉 Read more: Best Free WordPress Form Plugins
What is Formidable Forms?
Formidable Forms is a complex form builder made easy with a drag-and-drop design. Formidable Forms focuses not only on how to collect data through attractive forms but also on what happens with data after it has been collected.
🥰 Want to make the switch to Formidable Forms?
Use our Gravity Forms free importer and transfer all your data to Formidable in just a few clicks! Migrating to a new form builder has never been so easy.
What is Gravity Forms?
Gravity Forms is also a simple drag-and-drop form builder plugin for WordPress. It differs from Formidable Forms in that most of the extensions are provided by 3rd party developers.
That means not all their code is in-house which can cause delays when trying to troubleshoot bugs that may pop up. It also usually means a higher price tag as each of the plugins adds dollars to the yearly price you have to pay.
Key features to look for in a Gravity Forms alternative
- Ease of use
- Support
- Price
- Integrations and add-ons
Ease of use
Like Gravity Forms, Formidable is easy to use with drag-and-drop functionality and has documentation to help you get the most out of the plugin.
Formidable Forms is designed to make building a form straightforward so anyone can pick it up. With a beautiful UI and styling options, you can truly make each form your own with very little effort.
If you would rather use a template, Formidable has a range of great form templates for you to easily download and use on any WordPress theme. Formidable's library of pre-made forms can help save you time!
On the other hand, Gravity Forms has a simple design that allows you to choose exactly what to include in your forms. You can choose from a selection of pre-built form fields to build your form.
Please note that both plugins have some advanced features with a learning curve for new users.
Which leads us to the next important key feature: support!
Support
Formidable Forms has extensive support documentation and a highly-rated support team. The Slack Community is also great for getting help.
Similarly, Gravity Forms offers a documentation and support ticket system. They also have an online community where people can get help with add-ons from developers. You can take a look at Gravity Forms' ratings.
Pricing
If you're still asking "Do I need Gravity Forms?" take a look at how their pricing compares:
Formidable Forms pricing (freemium)
We know not everyone has the cash to invest in WordPress plugins, particularly new businesses. So Formidable Forms offers a free version as an alternative to Gravity Forms, too.
Because Formidable Forms is a freemium product, it also offers a premium version with tons more features to fit everyone's needs.
Gravity Forms pricing (premium)
You may be asking: "Is there a free version of Gravity Forms?"
Unfortunately, Gravity Forms is a premium plugin and doesn't currently offer a free version, so you'd need to spend money upfront or look for a free alternative.
Price comparison
Formidable Forms: Prices start with the free version and go up to the Elite package at $299.50 for the first year.
Gravity Forms: Prices range from $59 to $259 without any add-ons (or $600+ for views and editing functionality)
Here's an example of what you might pay to use Gravity Forms to create polls and surveys:
| Create survey forms | $259 (Gravity Forms Elite) |
|---|---|
| Radio button images | $49 (Gravity Image Choices) |
| Graphs and charts | $199 (GFChart) |
| Gravity Forms Total | $507 / year |
As an alternative to Gravity Forms' pricey plans, you can choose Formidable Plus which will get you all that (including our new Views feature) for only $99.50 for the first year!
Or, if you want to build a directory or similar application:
| Create custom posts and forms with chained select | $259 (Gravity Forms Elite) |
|---|---|
| Display tables and lists and front-end editing | $159 (Gravity Views) |
| Graphs and charts | $199 (GFChart) |
| Scheduled listing removal | $129 (ForGravity Entry Automation) |
| Limit number of listings per user & Preview listings | $149 (Gravity Wiz) |
| Gravity Forms Total | $895 / year |
In this case, you'd get all this in the Formidable Business plan starting at $199.50.
Features and integrations
Continuing on, Formidable Forms supports many features and integrations with your favorite apps. Also, Formidable works with Zapier to offer even more integrations.
On the other hand, Gravity Forms Elite supports a larger number of integrations than Formidable Forms currently offers.
Field types
Since there is no free Gravity Forms option, we'll start by comparing the free form fields in Formidable as an alternative to the standard fields in Gravity Forms.
There are differences in how each plugin shows the field type, but overall, all of these fields are included in both plugins. This means the free Formidable plugin includes all the form fields you need to create great contact forms without paying a dime.
Next, let's take a look at the advanced fields each form plugin has to offer:
The advanced fields are also much the same. Both plugins also include pricing fields and can create posts, although they aren't included in the screenshots above.
Both plugins include file uploads, date, time, chained selects/lookups, quiz, password, and more. However, unlike Gravity Forms, Formidable includes several additional fields.
For example, with Formidable Forms, you can add scale, slider, or toggle fields in your forms. Plus, there are dynamic fields, repeaters, and summaries to preview before submitting. You can also use Formidable's flexible features to replace radio buttons with images.
Dynamic fields for entry relationships
Formidable's dynamic fields are similar to chained select WordPress forms. They allow you to create dropdowns, checkboxes, and radio buttons that are filled by categories or submitted entries in other forms.
Dynamic fields link together data from multiple forms so users can make selections without duplicating any information. This also creates parent-child relationships which Formidable Views can then use to display data with charts and graphs on other pages of the site.
Super handy, right?
Why choose Formidable Forms as a Gravity Forms alternative?
If you are looking for an alternative to Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms could be your best option. Formidable matches or exceeds Gravity Forms on most features. And all that without the need for expensive third-party plugins. That means a lower bill every year!
What's more, Formidable has many more built-in features that you just can't find in Gravity Forms. To make things even easier, you can make the switch to Formidable with a handy Gravity Forms importer. So there's no need to worry about losing your data!
With the free Gravity importer plugin, you can migrate your forms and data in a few clicks. Then you'll be able to take advantage of all these great Formidable features:
Built-in views + Graphs and Charts
With Views, any website can have beautiful graphs and charts that show real-time data from submitted entries. Consider using this for real estate listings, job boards, event calendars, and more! The possibilities are endless.
And now you can get Formidable Views for free with any Plus plan or higher. We meant it when we said we're an all-in-one plugin.
See how Formidable Views and Gravity View compare.
Front-end editing
Users can update form submissions and posts from the front end of your site when logged in. This means you can decide exactly what submissions are editable by a site's users. It could be a View, a list of clickable entries with a shortcode, or a user's only entry.
Styling options
Why have an elegant WordPress theme if ugly forms ruin it? With Formidable Forms' huge library of styling options and templates, you have complete control to make everything look just the way it should.
Import entries
Keep all the data and leads you collect in one secure location with the ability to import and export data as you see fit. (Gravity importing is available for more money in the Gravity View plugin.)
Customizable form HTML
With customizable HTML, you can take full control over how your form fields look. You can add a CSS class to your form and move fields around however you wish.
Do I need a Gravity forms alternative?
If Formidable Forms is so amazing, why do people choose Gravity Forms as their form builder plugin?
More integrations
In the end, Gravity Forms beats Formidable in one category. Integrations.
So, if 3rd-party apps and integrations are your jam, Gravity Forms basic plan has a large range of apps it can integrate with. And even more of these can be unlocked if you upgrade from the Basic version to Pro or Elite.
Is Formidable Forms the best Gravity Forms alternative?
What are the results of our Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms smackdown?
Both Formidable Forms and Gravity Forms include vital features for advanced forms like file uploads, conditional logic, conversational forms, ReCAPTCHA, ajax submit, subscription forms, and user registration.
Although some of the following are third-party Gravity Forms add-ons, both form makers offer WooCommerce, Salesforce, Constant Contact, and Authorize.net. They also offer online payment applications like PayPal, Stripe, Hubspot, as well as MailChimp integration, plus others.
In other words, both form builder plugins offer a ton of features that are bound to fit your needs. But let's take a closer look:
Overall, if you're looking for free contact forms or advanced applications and need lots of features without paying a high yearly premium, Formidable Forms will be a better alternative than Gravity Forms for you.
Or if you're looking for an affordable all-in-one plugin option that provides beautiful charts and graphs with real-time updates, a large library of templates, and awesome support, Formidable is an excellent choice for you.
However, if you're looking for more direct integrations and Zapier isn't an option for you, Gravity Forms has a greater range of integrations.
And remember, if you're using Gravity Forms and are ready to make the switch to Formidable, our Gravity Forms importer plugin and eager support staff can help make it a quick transition!
Whichever plugin you choose is up to you! We've also compared a few other WordPress form builder plugins if you're still looking for more information.
Get your Gravity Forms alternative now!
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Ready to get started with Formidable Forms? Take a look at our fantastic range of form builder features for more information.
I have been using Formidable Forms for many years on my clients' sites and recommend it often for member profiles and directories. The advantage that Formidable Forms has over Gravity Forms is the ability to limit a user to one submission which is useful for profiles and member directories.
You can limit submissions in Gravity too.
I used to use Gravity Forms and got frustrated with their support staff. They were downright hostile toward me even though the problem they said was with me ended up being with them. They NEVER apologized or tried to make it right so I left and tried Formidable and have been recommended Formidable Pro for many years now!
To the "Why choose Formidable Forms or Gravity Forms?" 9 Reasons for FF and only 2 for GF it sounds a bit biased, doesn't it?
I have used both.
It is true that thanks to the immense amount of 3rd party add-ons, with GF you can do almost anything, but the problem with that approach could be that you depend on plugins made by different developers / companies on the same site and when you get an issue getting support can be a bit frustrating sometimes, besides that every extra plugin is also an extra cost.
As a rule of thumb, if you can achieve with FF all what your project needs, go for FF, it is an integrated solution with excellent customer support.
If your project needs very special requirements which FF and their add-ons do not fullfil and you do not want to invest in custom development but it can be achieved with GF (or any other tool like Toolset, Jet Engine, Metabox.io, Caldera, WPForms or similar) plus any of their 3rd party add-ons, then go with one of those tools.
If your project is something you cannot not even achieve with WordPress itself (nevertheless it is still a CMS) then you can go with tools like Bubble.is, knack, Zoho Creator or similar which are also oriented to non developers and if you know a bit of code there are tools like anvil.works or similar.
Havent tried GF yet. FF has everything I need. The only other form builder I used is the VFB (and VFB pro) by Matthew Muro.
It has all the basic features that I need. But when I found FF, Im damn impressed. It's the last form builder I bought and never looked back.
I've been comparing it with GF a long time ago, but whenever I google something I need to be done in a form, FF documentation and support forums always come first in the search results. 😄👍
And Steph Wells is very active in the help forum as welk. I didn't actually know that she's the FF founder until recently. I thought she's just one of the very diligent support staff. Founders usually just chill at home and let their employees do the work. But Steph is different. She's very helpful and supportive and never gets tired of innovating an already impressive product. That's what I love about Formidable Forms. Like 1+, they never settle. 😍
Hi,
Nice comparison... I tried GF early on, it was nice but the addons that I need got to be super expensive. A views addon for GF is $89 which is in included in FF... Having many addons from multiple places can be a hassle... I have used FF for years and it just gets better and better!
🙂
I've been a Gravity Forms user for years and love it, but am impressed with Formidable Forms and appreciate this comparison. Considering it was written by FF, it's pretty even handed. Thanks for the info!
I am a customer of formidable pro since 2013. I was remembering at that time I was looking for a plugin form that enabled me to show entries in the front end with ease, Jamie was helping me very enthusiastically. And I found formidable pro with its built-in view features, it was perfectly fit my project requirements. Until now I am still using formidable pro and my favourite views features. Thanks