Compare
How SubtleForms stacks up.
Every WordPress form plugin can collect a name and an email. The differences show up in what you pay, what you pay for, and how the form feels on your site. Here is the honest version.
The money
What a year costs, at list price.
Regular annual prices from each vendor’s own pricing page. Most of them offer a steep first-year discount, then renew at the prices below.
| Plugin | Free version | One site | Five sites (or nearest) | Card payments from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SubtleForms | ✓ | $49 Starter | $99 Pro (5 sites) | $49 Starter |
| WPForms | Lite | $99 Basic | $399 Pro (5 sites) | $399 Pro |
| Gravity Forms | ✕ | $59 Basic | $259 Elite (unlimited) | $159 Pro |
| Fluent Forms | ✓ | $79 Single Site | $159 Agency (5 sites) | $79 Single Site |
| Formidable Forms | ✓ | $79 Basic | $399 Business (7 sites) | $79 Basic |
| Ninja Forms | ✓ | $99 Plus (3 sites) | $199 Pro (20 sites) | $99 Plus (PayPal), $199 Pro (Stripe) |
Prices are regular annual list prices in US dollars, checked October 2026 on wpforms.com, gravityforms.com, fluentforms.com, formidableforms.com and ninjaforms.com. Vendors change prices and plans often, so check their sites before you decide. WPForms also notes a 3% platform fee on payments taken with its free version or an inactive license.
Feature by feature
The full comparison.
Forty-five features across building, fields, payments, spam, entries, integrations and developer tools. Where a plan name appears, it is the cheapest plan that includes the feature.
Free Included in the free plugin
Plan Cheapest paid plan that includes it
Add-on Sold separately
✕ Not offered
Not listed Not in their public documentation
Building forms
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free version on WordPress.org | Free | Lite | ✕ | Free | Free | Free |
| Visual drag-and-drop builder | Free | Lite | Basic | Free | Free | Free |
| Ready-made templates | 50+ | 2,100+ (Pro) | Not listed | Hundreds | 300+ | 100+ library |
| Multi-step forms | Free | Basic | Basic | Pro | Pro | Add-on |
| Conversational, one question at a time | Free | Pro | Elite | Free | Not listed | Not listed |
| Save and resume later | Free | Pro | Basic | Pro | Not listed | Add-on |
| Partial entries and abandonment | ✕ | Pro | Elite | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Conditional logic | Free Advanced: Pro plan | Basic | Basic | Free | Pro | Add-on |
Fields
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File and image upload | Free | Basic | Basic | Pro | Pro | Add-on |
| Signature | Starter | Pro | Elite | Add-on | Pro | Free |
| Calculations | Starter | Pro | Basic | Pro | Pro | Free |
| Rating and NPS | Free | Pro | Elite | Pro | Pro | Not listed |
| Repeater fields | Free | Pro | Not listed | Pro | Pro | Free |
| Chained selects | Free | Not listed | Elite | Pro | Pro | Not listed |
| Picture choice | Starter | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Pro | Not listed |
Payments
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe card payments | Starter | Lite (3% fee) Pro | Pro | Free (1.9% fee) Pro | Free (fee) Pro | Add-on |
| Extra platform fee on payments | None | 3% on Lite | None | 1.9% on free | On free | None |
| PayPal | ✕ | Lite (3% fee) Pro | Pro | Pro | Pro | Add-on |
| Square | ✕ | Lite (3% fee) Pro | Pro | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Coupon codes | Starter | Pro | Elite | Pro | Not listed | Not listed |
| Recurring subscriptions | ✕ | Pro | Pro | Free | Pro | Add-on |
Spam protection and privacy
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honeypot | Free | Lite | Basic | Yes | Free | Free |
| Google reCAPTCHA | Free | Lite | Basic | Free | Free | Free |
| hCaptcha | Free | Lite | Not listed | Free | Free | Free |
| Cloudflare Turnstile | Free | Lite | Basic | Free | Free | Free |
| Akismet | ✕ | Lite | Basic | Not listed | Not listed | Free |
| GDPR consent and data tools | Free | Yes | Not listed | Free | Free | Free |
Entries and insights
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries stored in WordPress | Free | Basic (Lite: email only) | Basic | Free | Free | Free |
| CSV export | Starter | Not listed | Basic | Free | Free | Free |
| PDF of entries | Starter | Pro | Not listed | Free add-on | Not listed | Add-on |
| Form analytics | Starter | Pro | Not listed | Free | Pro | Not listed |
| Surveys and quizzes | ✕ | Pro | Elite | Pro | Pro | Not listed |
Integrations
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailchimp | Pro plan | Plus | Basic | Free | Pro | Add-on |
| HubSpot | Pro plan | Elite | Basic | Pro | Pro | Add-on |
| Zapier | Pro plan | Pro | Pro | Pro | Pro | Add-on |
| Webhooks | Pro plan | Elite | Elite | Pro | Not listed | Add-on |
| WooCommerce | Pro plan | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Pro | Not listed |
| Google Sheets | ✕ | Pro | Not listed | Pro | Not listed | Not listed |
| User registration | ✕ | Pro | Elite | Pro | Not listed | Add-on |
| Create posts from entries | ✕ | Pro | Elite | Pro | Not listed | Add-on |
For developers and agencies
| SubtleForms | WPForms | Gravity Forms | Fluent Forms | Formidable | Ninja Forms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block and shortcode | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free |
| REST API | Free | Not listed | Basic | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Developer hooks | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free |
| WPML and Polylang translation | Agency | Not listed | Not listed | Add-on | Not listed | Not listed |
| White label | Agency | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
Checked in October 2026 against each vendor’s pricing page, features page and WordPress.org listing. “Not listed” means we could not find the feature in their public documentation, not that it cannot be done with custom code or a third-party add-on. For SubtleForms, Starter means every Pro license; Pro plan and Agency mean those plans and up. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Where we are different
Three things we decided early and never traded away.
Payments on the cheapest plan
Stripe, coupons, calculations and a live order summary come with every Pro license, including the $49 Starter plan. You never upgrade three tiers just to take a deposit.
Built to look native
The builder matches the WordPress admin, and forms inherit your theme’s type, colors and radius. No branded widget sitting awkwardly in the middle of your page.
Light by default
No jQuery on the front end, and nothing loads on pages without a form. A form plugin should never be the reason a page feels slow.
Fair is fair
When another plugin might suit you better.
We would rather you pick the right tool than regret the wrong one. Here is when we would point a friend elsewhere.
WPForms
You want the biggest template library going (they list over 2,000) and a very long list of marketing and CRM integrations, and the price is not the deciding factor.
Gravity Forms
You rely on a specific add-on from its large third-party ecosystem, or your developer has years of Gravity Forms hooks in their toolkit already.
Fluent Forms
You want a one-off lifetime license rather than a yearly subscription. They sell lifetime plans, while ours are yearly.
Formidable Forms
You are building data-heavy apps, directories or listings on top of form entries, where its views and data tools shine.
Ninja Forms
You manage a lot of sites and want 20 activations on a mid-tier plan.
Contact Form 7
You need one plain contact form, you are comfortable writing a little markup, and you never plan to take payments.
Switching
Moving over is a quiet afternoon, not a migration project.
Install SubtleForms alongside your current plugin, rebuild one form from a template, swap the block on the page, and keep the old plugin until you are happy. Nothing has to change on the same day.
- Run both plugins side by side while you test
- Start from 50+ templates instead of a blank form
- Your old entries stay where they are
- 14 days to change your mind on Pro
Try it on one form and see.
The free plugin costs nothing, and Pro comes with a 14-day refund. The only thing you risk is an afternoon.