How to Easily Add a Sliding Side Cart in WooCommerce

Do you want to add a sliding side cart in WooCommerce?

This allows shoppers to see their shopping cart from any page on your online store. Customers can then add items to their basket, remove products, and add coupons without ever having to visit a separate cart page.

In this article, we will show you how you can easily add a sliding cart in WooCommerce.

Why Add a Sliding Side Cart in WooCommerce?

A sliding side cart is a panel that appears when a customer adds an item to their basket.

Customers can also open the cart at any time by clicking on the cart icon. This allows them to check their shopping basket without having to visit a separate WooCommerce cart page.

Depending on how the cart is set up, shoppers may also be able to add and remove items as well as apply coupons directly from the sliding panel. You can even add call to action buttons such as a link to your WooCommerce checkout page.

Sliding carts can improve the customer experience by removing friction from the shopping process, and help shoppers keep track of how much they’ll pay at checkout. This can reduce cart abandonment rates, while also possibly increasing the average order value.

With that being said, let’s see how you can add a sliding side cart in WooCommerce. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

• Method 1. How to Add a Sliding Side Cart in WooCommerce Using a Free Plugin
• Method 2. Add an Advanced Sliding Side Cart (With Upsells, Cross-Sells, and Rewards)

Method 1. How to Add a Sliding Side Cart in WooCommerce Using a Free Plugin

The quickest and easiest way to create a sliding side cart is by using Cart For WooCommerce By FunnelKit. This free plugin allows you to add a cart icon to your online store.

Shoppers can click the button to open the sliding side cart.

You can change the cart’s colors, borders, buttons, messaging, and more.

There are a ton of options to make it perfectly fit your WordPress theme.

You can show the cart button across your entire site, limit it to WooCommerce pages only, or add the button to specific pages and posts using a shortcode.

How to Setup the Cart For WooCommerce Plugin

First, you’ll need to install and activate the FunnelKit Cart for WooCommerce plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to FunnelKit » Cart. You’ll see a preview of the sliding slide cart towards the right of the screen.

You can now customize the cart to better suit your needs.

To start, you can decide whether to show the cart icon across your entire website or on WooCommerce pages only.

If you select ‘Entire Site’, then shoppers can open the sliding cart from any page, so this is a good choice for online marketplaces and stores.

However, some WooCommerce sites have lots of non-ecommerce content. For example, you might run a popular WordPress blog, but use WooCommerce to sell merchandise to your fans.

Showing a cart button on every single blog post may become annoying. In that case, you can check the ‘WooCommerce Pages’ radio button.

Another option is ‘None,’ which hides the cart icon completely.

If you select the ‘None’ option, then you can add the icon to any page, post, or widget-ready area using a shortcode. You can also add the icon to your navigation menu.

We’ll show you how to do this later in the post, but for now, select ‘None’ if you plan to add the cart icon manually.

After making this decision, select ‘Bottom Left’ or ‘Bottom Right’ depending on where you want to show the cart button. Here, it may help to check how the button will look on your online store by selecting ‘Preview on Page.’

By default, the plugin shows ‘Review Your Cart’ at the top of the sliding side cart.

You can replace this with your own messaging by typing into the ‘Cart Heading’ field.

If you don’t want to show a heading, then simply leave the field empty.

By default, FunnelKit shows the cart icon before the shopper adds any items to their basket.

If you prefer, then you can hide the icon until the visitor starts adding items. Simply click on the ‘Hide Cart Icon’ toggle so that it turns blue.

This is all you need to create a basic sliding side cart, but there are settings that can get you even more sales. With that in mind, let’s take a look at FunnelKit’s more advanced features.

Accept Coupons in the WooCommerce Sliding Side Cart

Coupons are a great way to get more sales and build customer loyalty.

If you’ve created any smart WooCommerce coupons using the Advanced Coupons plugin, then shoppers can type them directly into the sliding cart page.

When the customer clicks on ‘Apply,’ the sliding cart will show how much they’ve saved.

Since customers can see the discount straight away, this will encourage them to add more items to their basket and may reduce your cart abandonment rates.

You can create these codes using the built-in WooCommerce coupon feature or by using a coupon code plugin.

To add the coupon field, click on the ‘Enable Coupon Box’ toggle, which turns it from grey (disabled) to blue (enabled).

After that, you can switch between ‘Minimized’ and ‘Expanded’ layouts. Minimized takes up less space so it’s less distracting, but shoppers will need to expand the coupon section before they can type in any codes.

In the following image, you can see the minimized layout.

After choosing a layout, you can change the text that FunnelKit uses for the coupon box heading, discount placeholder text, and button text.

Customize the Cart Summary

The cart summary shows customers how much their purchase will cost. This helps reduce cart abandonment rates since there are no nasty surprises at checkout.

For that reason, we recommend leaving the ‘Show Subtotal’ toggle enabled.

However, if you want to simplify the side cart, then you can click to disable the ‘Show Subtotal’ toggle.

You can also show any savings the customer has qualified for, including discounts from any coupons they’ve applied.

In this way, you can use FOMO to increase conversions, especially if the savings are time-sensitive. For example, you might schedule coupons in WooCommerce so the customer can only use them for a limited time.

If you prefer to hide this information from the sliding side cart, then you can disable the ‘Display Savings’ toggle.

You can also replace the ‘Saving Text’ and ‘Shipping Text’ with your own custom messaging.

Customize the WooCommerce Cart’s Call To Action

The sliding side cart has a default checkout button, but you can customize this call to action button to get more conversions. To start, you can add a checkout icon using the ‘Enable Button Icon’ toggle.

This can be particularly useful if you’re creating a multilingual WordPress site.

You can also add the cart price to the checkout button using the ‘Enable Cart Price’ toggle.

This may help shoppers keep track of how much the cart will cost, especially if you’ve removed the subtotal from the cart summary section.

By default, FunnelKit adds a ‘Continue Shopping’ link at the bottom of the sliding side cart. You can replace this text with your own messaging by typing into the ‘Continue Shopping Text’ field.

After that, choose whether this link will simply close the side cart panel or redirect the shopper to your WooCommerce store page.

Most shoppers will expect to exit the sliding cart, so we recommend selecting the ‘Close Side Cart’ button.

If you select ‘Redirect to Shop,’ then you may want to change the ‘Continue Shopping Text’ text so it’s clear what will happen when customers click the link.

Create a Custom Empty Cart Screen

It is possible to hide the cart button until the shopper adds at least one item to their basket, following the process described above.

However, if you don’t hide the button then customers may sometimes see an empty cart screen.

You can change the title, description, and button text using the settings in the ‘Empty Cart’ section. Typically, you’ll want to encourage customers to start shopping. For example, you might talk about things you offer such as free shipping or a money-back guarantee.

You might even give the shopper a coupon code such as a buy one get one free (BOGO) discount.

You can also choose whether clicking on the ‘Shop Now’ button will take the customer to the WooCommerce store page, or simply close the side panel.

We recommend selecting ‘Redirect To Shop’ as this will make it easier for shoppers to start adding items to their carts.

Add The Cart Icon Anywhere on your Site

If you want more control over where the cart icon appears, then you can add it to any page, post, or widget-ready area using a shortcode. You can also add it to your site’s menu.

This is a great choice if you selected ‘None’ in the ‘Icon Visibility’ settings following the process described above.

However, if you selected ‘WooCommerce Pages’ then this method allows you to add the cart icon to other important areas of your site. For example, you might add the icon to your custom home page or contact form.

To start, select ‘Cart Menu’ and then click on the ‘Enable Cart Menu’ toggle.

You can now change how the icon looks by selecting one of the icon templates, and choosing whether to show the product count and cart total as part of the icon. This information can help visitors keep track of their carts.

You can also change the icon size and text size. As you make changes, the small preview will update automatically so you can try different settings to see what looks the best.

When you’re happy with how the sliding side cart icon looks, click on the ‘Save’ button.

You can now add the icon to any page, post, or widget-ready area using the code next to ‘Embed Shortcode.’

For more information on how to place the shortcode, please see our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.

Another option is to add the icon to your site’s navigation menu. In this way, the sliding side cart is always within easy reach, without distracting from the main page content.

To do this, open the ‘Add to Menu’ dropdown and choose the menu you want to use.

After that, click on the ‘Save’ button.

Now if you visit your WordPress website, you’ll see the cart icon in the navigation menu.

Add Your Own Colors and Branding

You may want to change the sliding side cart’s colors to better match your WooCommerce theme or branding. To change the text color, button color, link color, and more, go ahead and click on ‘Styling.’

To change any of the default colors, simply give it a click. This opens a popup where you can try out different colors.

For example, in the following image, we’re customizing the border.

Another option is to type a hex code into the ‘Hex’ field. This is perfect if you already have a specific shade in mind.

If you don’t know what hex code to use, then it may help to use a site like HTML Color Codes. Here, you can explore different colors and then get a code that you can simply paste into the FunnelKit plugin.

How to Create a Responsive Sliding Side Cart

Many people buy products and services using a mobile device. With that in mind, you’ll want to make sure the sliding side cart looks just as good on smartphones and tablets, as it does on desktop computers.

Here, it may help to change the cart’s width so it doesn’t completely fill the small screen of a mobile device. To do this, click on ‘Styling’ and then look at the ‘Cart Preview Mobile Width.’

You may want to try typing different values into this field. If you do change the default settings, then it’s a good idea to check the mobile version of your WordPress site from the desktop to make sure you’re happy with the results.

While you’re on this screen, you can also change the width of the sliding side cart on desktop. To do this, simply change the number in the ‘Cart Preview Desktop Width’ field.

How To Publish Your Sliding Side Cart

When you’re happy with how the sliding side cart is set up, it’s time to make it live. Simply click on the ‘Draft’ button next to ‘Cart’ and then choose ‘Publish.’

Now if you visit your online store, you’ll see the sliding cart live.

If you want to remove the sliding side cart at any point, then just head back to FunnelKit » Cart in the WordPress dashboard. Then, click on the ‘Publish’ button and select ‘Draft.’

Method 2. Add an Advanced Sliding Side Cart (With Upsells, Cross-Sells, and Rewards)

If you want to increase the average order value on your store, then you can upgrade to FunnelKit Cart Pro. This advanced sliding side cart plugin adds powerful upsell, cross-selling, and reward features to the FunnelKit sliding side cart.

With this plugin, you can recommend related products every time a customer adds an item to their cart.

You can also create unique rewards such as coupon codes and free gifts, and then promote them inside the sliding cart.

FunnelKit can even track how much more the customer needs to spend, in order to unlock the next reward.

To add these powerful features, you’ll need to upgrade to FunnelKit Funnel Builder Pro. Just be aware that you’ll need the Plus or higher plan.

After buying a plan, log into your FunnelKit account. Here, you’ll find the FunnelKit Funnel Builder Pro plugin, plus FunnelKit Funnel Builder and FunnelKit Cart. You’ll need to install all three plugins to unlock the advanced sliding cart features.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the three plugins. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to FunnelKit » Settings and add your license key to the ‘FunnelKit Funnel Builder Pro’ field.

You can find this information by logging into your account on the FunnelKit website. With that done, click on ‘Activate.’

After that, simply go to FunnelKit » Cart.

You can now configure and customize the side cart by following the same process described in method 1. When you’re happy with how the sliding side cart is set up, you’re ready to add upsells, cross-sells, and rewards.

Get More Sales By Upselling and Cross-Selling WooCommerce Products

When a customer opens the sliding side cart, you can show them unique upsell and cross-sell promotions based on the items in their shopping basket.

Upselling is where you encourage shoppers to buy a higher-priced product instead of the one they already have in their shopping cart.

For example, imagine a customer adding a waterproof jacket to their cart. You might suggest a higher-quality jacket that’s more durable, versatile, and comes in different colors.

Cross-selling is where you promote a product that’s related to something the customer is already buying. For example, if they add a greeting card to their cart, then you might encourage them to buy chocolates or flowers too.

WooCommerce has a linked product feature that allows you to create upsells and cross-sells. For more information, please see our guide on how to upsell products in WooCommerce.

However, you can also create upsells and cross-sells directly from the FunnelKit dashboard. This is the quickest option, so it’s the one we’ll be using in this guide.

To start, click on the ‘Upsells’ option and then select ‘Enable Cart Upsells.’

After that, scroll to the ‘Upsells and Cross-Sells’ section.

Here, you’ll see all the products on your online store.

Simply click on the item where you want to add one or more linked products.

Then, click on either ‘Add Upsell’ or ‘Add Cross Sell’ depending on the kind of promotion you want to create.

In the popup, start typing the product that you want to use as the upsell or cross-sell. When the right product appears, give it a click.

To offer multiple products, simply follow the same process described above.

With that done, simply click on the ‘Add’ button.

You can now create unique cross-sell and upsell campaigns for every product in your store, simply by following the same process described above.

Now, you’re ready to customize how the upsell and cross-sell promotions will look on your sliding side cart.

To start, try switching between different styles by clicking the radio buttons next to ‘Display.’

The live preview will update automatically so you can try different styles to see which one you like the best.

By default, FunnelKit will show both upsells and cross-sells in the sliding side cart. If you prefer then you can show only upsells, or only cross-sells using the radio buttons in ‘Product Recommendation Type.’

Next, you can change the heading that FunnelKit shows above the upsell or cross-sell promotion by typing it into the ‘Heading’ field.

Just be aware that FunnelKit will use the same heading for both types of promotion.

After that, you can set the maximum number of suggested products that FunnelKit will show, by typing into the ‘Show Maximum Upsells’ field.

Wherever possible, it’s a good idea to create unique upsell and cross-sell promotions for every product. However, if your online store has lots of items then this might not be possible.

With that in mind, you can set a default upsell product that FunnelKit will promote when no linked products are available. To do this, simply type the name of a product into the ‘Default Upsells’ field. When the right product appears, give it a click.

When you’re happy with the upsell and cross-sell promotions you’ve created, don’t forget to click on ‘Save’ to store your changes.

Offer Free Shipping, Discounts, and Free Gifts

You can often increase the average order value by giving customers a reason to spend more. With that in mind, FunnelKit allows you to create various rewards and then promote them as unlockable bonuses in the sliding side cart.

For example, you might offer free shipping if the customer exceeds a minimum spend. FunnelKit will even show customers how much more they need to spend to unlock their prize.

This is an easy way to get more sales and build customer loyalty with gamification.

FunnelKit allows you to offer three different rewards: free shipping, a discount, and a free gift.

To offer free shipping, you’ll need to have already set up shipping in your WooCommerce store. For step-by-step instructions, please see our complete WooCommerce made simple guide.

Meanwhile, the ‘discount’ reward auto-applies a coupon when the customer reaches the minimum spend. If you want to offer this reward, then you’ll need to create a percentage discount coupon using either the built-in WooCommerce coupon feature or a WordPress coupon plugin.

For step-by-step instructions, please see our guide on how to create smart coupons.

After that, you’re ready to create a reward by selecting ‘Rewards’ in the FunnelKit settings and then clicking on ‘Create Reward.’

You can now open the ‘Type’ dropdown and choose the kind of reward you want to create.

No matter whether you choose free gift, free shipping, or discount, you can change the text that FunnelKit shows to customers by typing into the ‘Message’ field.

If you do make any changes, then be careful not to edit as this allows FunnelKit to show how much more the customer needs to spend.

If you’re offering a discount, then make sure you change the message to show how much the customer will save.

With that done, type a number into the ‘Amount to Get Reward’ field. This is how much shoppers must spend, in order to unlock the reward.

If you’re offering a percentage discount, then you need to specify which coupon FunnelKit should auto-apply.

In the ‘Coupon’ field, start typing the coupon that you want to use. When the right code shows up, give it a click.

Now, FunnelKit will auto-apply the coupon when someone meets the minimum spend.

Offering a free gift instead? Then start typing the name of the gift into the ‘Product’ field.

When the right product shows up, give it a click.

Now, FunnelKit will add this item to the customer’s shopping cart as soon as they meet the minimum spend.

To add more rewards, simply click on ‘Create Another Reward.’

You can now configure the discount, free gift, or free shipping reward by following the same process described above.

By default, FunnelKit will show the following message once a customer qualifies for all the awards: ‘Congrats! You have unlocked all the rewards.’

To show a different message instead, simply type into the ‘When All Rewards Unlocked’ field. You might even offer the customer a special bonus for unlocking all your rewards, such as an exclusive coupon code to use on their next purchase.

When you’re happy with how your rewards are set up, click on the ‘Save’ button.

How To Publish Your Sliding Side Cart

When you’re ready to make the sliding side cart live, simply select the ‘Draft’ button next to ‘Cart.’ You can then click on ‘Publish.’

If you want to remove the sliding side cart at any point, then simply head back to FunnelKit » Cart in the WordPress dashboard. Then, click on the ‘Publish’ button and select ‘Draft.’

We hope this article helped you add a sliding side cart in WooCommerce. You may also want to check out our guide on how to create a WooCommerce popup to increase sales and the best WooCommerce plugins for your store.

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The post How to Easily Add a Sliding Side Cart in WooCommerce first appeared on WPBeginner.

April 06, 2023 at 03:20PM

WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms: Which is Best?

Are you looking for a comparison between WPForms, Gravity Forms, and Formidable Forms?

These three are the best WordPress form plugins in the market. However, picking the right form builder can be challenging for many website owners.

In this article, we’ll compare WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms and show which is the best.

Introduction to WordPress Form Plugins

WPForms, Gravity Forms, and Formidable Forms are among the most popular WordPress form plugins that you can use. Each of them offers unique features and allows you to add different forms to your website.

WPForms was launched in 2016 by Syed Balkhi (founder of WPBeginner) and Jared Atchison. Since its launch, over 5 million WordPress sites have been using the plugin. The goal of creating WPForms was to offer an easy and powerful form plugin. It takes the pain out of creating online forms by making the process beginner friendly.

Gravity Forms is created by the team at Rocketgenius. It is a WordPress plugin that lets you add forms to your WordPress site. The plugin also specializes in helping developers build complex form-related solutions.

Formidable Forms is another powerful WordPress form builder created by Steph Wells and Steve Wells. You can use it to create a wide range of forms from simple contact forms to advanced solutions-focused forms like mortgage calculators, directories, listing forms, and more. Formidable Forms is part of WPBeginner Growth Fund companies.

That being said, let’s compare these WordPress form plugins and find out which is the best for your use case. In our research, we tried dozens of WordPress form plugins, and have decided to compare these top 3 form plugins in the following criteria:

• Ease of Use
• Form Templates
• Customization Options
• Additional Features and Integrations
• Pricing Plans
• Which is the Best WordPress Form Plugin?

Ease of Use

When it comes to picking a WordPress form plugin, it is essential to choose a tool that is easy to use. The form builder should allow users to easily customize their forms without the need to edit code or hire a developer.

Let’s see how the 3 plugins compare to each other for ease of use.

WPForms – Ease of Use

WPForms is a beginner-friendly form plugin for WordPress. It offers a drag-and-drop form builder that is very super simple to use.

You can easily customize any form by adding multiple form fields from the menu on your left. All you have to do is drag the field and drop it onto the form template.

WPForms also makes it very easy to add your forms anywhere on the WordPress website. The best part, you can do all this within the form builder. You can click the embed button, and WPForms will show you options for adding your form.

For instance, you can create a new page or select an existing one to embed your forms.

You can also manually add your form to any page or post using the WordPress block. Besides that, the plugin lets you use shortcodes to add a form to your WordPress website.

Gravity Forms – Ease of Use

Gravity Forms also offers a drag-and-drop form builder, and it lets you create all types of forms without editing code.

You can quickly rework your form from inside the WordPress dashboard. The form builder offers different form fields that you can add by simply placing them onto the template.

After creating a form, Gravity Forms also lets you easily embed it on your website. Just like WPForms and Formidable Forms, you get an option inside the drag-and-drop builder to add your form.

Gravity Forms also offers a WordPress block to easily embed your forms on any page or post. Plus, you can use shortcodes or add the forms manually anywhere on your site.

Formidable Forms – Ease of Use

Formidable Forms is a user-friendly plugin that to lets you customize your forms using a drag-and-drop form builder, just like WPForms and Gravity Forms.

You can simply drag any form field from the options on your left and place them on the template. The plugin also lets you rearrange the order of the fields by simply moving them up or down or side to side.

Formidable Forms makes it very easy to embed your forms anywhere on your website. You can use the Formidable Forms block to add the form to any post or page. Or click the embed button in the form builder to embed your forms.

Winner – Tie

When it comes to ease, all 3 plugins perform equally well. Each of them offers a drag-and-drop functionality, which lets you edit and customize forms with editing code easily. Plus, each plugin makes it very easy to embed the forms anywhere on the website.

WPForms has a slight edge because it leans on decisions over options by giving you over 600+ form templates and easy-to-use choices whereas Gravity Forms and Formidable Forms are built more for developers.

Form Templates

Form templates are another important factor to consider when choosing a form plugin for WordPress.

Templates help save time as you don’t have to create a form from scratch. You can quickly edit it according to your requirements or simply use the default template to add a form to your website.

Let’s see how WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms stack up in terms of form templates.

WPForms – Form Templates

With WPForms, you get over 600 prebuilt form templates. Whether you’re looking to create a simple contact form, feedback form, request a quote form, payment form, or registration form, WPForms has you covered.

The plugin categorizes form templates into different categories in the form builder. For instance, you can find different templates for business operations, customer service, education, entertainment, event planning, feedback, health and wellness, and more.

Even in the free version of WPForms, you get a lot of form templates to get started.

Gravity Forms – Form Templates

Gravity Forms offers limited prebuilt form templates compared to WPForms and Formidable Forms.

You only get 15 form templates in the form builder. Some of these include a simple contact form, advanced contact form, donation form, eCommerce form, event registration form, survey, newsletter signup form, and more.

Formidable Forms – Form Templates

Formidable Forms offers over 175 WordPress form templates and examples you can use for your website.

What makes it different is that you get templates for advanced forms. For instance, you can create an advanced mortgage calculator form, net promoter score (NPS) survey form, car payment calculator form, life insurance calculator form, doctor visit form, signature forms, and more.

Besides that, you can find forms for payment collection, health and wellness, customer service, education, donations, event planning, and more.

Winner – WPForms

WPForms is a standout winner compared to Gravity Forms and Formidable Forms. You get the largest form template library in WPForms, with over 600 choices available. There are prebuilt templates for just about any type of form you want to create for your website.

Customization Options

A WordPress form plugin should allow you to edit and customize your form with ease. When selecting the right tool, you should look at the customization options the plugin offers.

Here’s a look at the different features offered by WPForms, Gravity Forms, and Formidable Forms.

WPForms – Customization Options

WPForms offers lots of customization options for your form. For starters, it offers different form fields that you can simply drag and drop from the menu on your left onto the template.

For instance, it offers standard fields like paragraph text, multiple choice, checkboxes, and more. Plus, you can add fancier fields like phone number, address, file upload, date/time, website, and more.

If you click on an existing form field, then you’ll see more options for customization.

You can edit the label of the field, make it a mandatory field, add smart logic, and more. For example, you can choose which payment methods to show in an order form and rearrange their order.

Other than that, WPForms also lets you create conversational forms. This makes your forms more interactive.

Instead of asking multiple questions at once, you can take the one-question-at-a-time approach. It will look like having a conversation face to face with a human, and boost form conversions.

Similarly, you can also use the lead forms addon to increase form conversions. It basically allows you to embed conversational forms on any page on your WordPress site.

WPForms offers more customization features like custom form landing pages similar to Google forms. You can create a distraction-free landing page for your form and get more conversions.

The plugin lets you add a title and description for the page, a header logo, and edit the page URL. You also get to change the background color of the page and choose a style to make your forms more appealing.

Other customization options offered by WPForms include a save and continue feature. This lets your users save the progress while filling out a form and continue later to complete it. You can allow users to sign your online forms using their mouse or touchscreen.

If you have lengthy forms, then you can use the multi-page feature to split them into different pages. Or you can use conditional logic to show different form fields based on the user’s responses.

Besides that, you can also customize the notification and confirmation settings for your form. In the notification settings, you can edit details like email addresses, subject lines, names, messages, and more.

Similarly, you can also edit the confirmation message a user will see when they submit a form. You can show a thank you message, show a page, or redirect people to a specific URL.

Gravity Forms – Customization Options

Gravity Forms offers different form fields to customize your form template.

These include standard fields, advanced fields, post fields, and pricing fields.

Just like WPForms and Formidable Forms, you can click on existing form fields to edit them further.

However, you’ll see a slight difference in the customization options. There are general settings for a field where you can change its label and add a description.

Other than that, you can edit the appearance of the field, change advanced settings like enabling field autocomplete, and add conditional logic.

Other than that, you also get control over different form settings. For example, you can edit the notifications and confirmations settings in the form builder.

You can also configure ‘Personal Data’ settings similar to WPForms. These allow you to prevent the storage of IP addresses during form submission. Plus, you can enable integration with other tools for exporting and erasing personal data, which is helpful in complying with data regulations like GDPR.

Formidable Forms – Customization Options

With the Formidable Forms drag-and-drop builder, you can easily customize your form with options such as prebuilt form fields that you add to your template.

What makes the plugin different from others is that it offers multiple form fields that will help you create advanced forms. For instance, you can add a user ID field, captcha, hidden field, appointments, lookup field, and more.

Besides that, you can easily edit each existing field in the template.

There are general options to change the label, add a CSS class, and more. Or you can view the advanced options to add a placeholder text, and description, edit the field size and allow maximum characters.

What’s different about Formidable Forms compared to WPForms and Gravity Forms is that it also offers different styles for your forms.

You can use the default style or choose from various options. This way, you can change the appearance of your forms without having to enter CSS code.

Other than that, you can also customize the form settings. For instance, the plugin lets you change the notification settings, and form permissions, and also allows form scheduling.

Winner – WPForms

After comparing all 3 plugins, we found WPForms to be the clear winner. It offers more customization features compared to Formidable Forms and Gravity Forms.

You can add different form fields, change their settings, rearrange them, and more using the drag-and-drop builder. Besides that, WPForms offers tons of features to make your form more appealing and boost conversions.

Additional Features and Integrations

Now that we’ve covered ease of use, templates, and customization options, let’s see how WPForms, Formidable Forms, and Gravity Forms compare in terms of additional features and integrations.

As a website owner, you’d want a WordPress plugin that easily works with third-party tools, payment services, and email marketing services. Here’s what each plugin has to offer.

WPForms – Additional Features and Integrations

WPForms offers lots of premium addons and integrations that extend its functionality and benefits.

For instance, you can accept file uploads with its post-submission addon. This way, users can easily submit content on the front end of your site without requiring access to the WordPress dashboard.

Similarly, you get addons for geolocation data and see where your form users are from. The user journey addon can show you the pages and posts people visited before submitting a form.

The plugin also offers a form abandonment addon that captures partial entries for a form. You can then recover those entries and encourage users to complete a form.

Aside from this, WPForms provides more addons for creating custom Captcha, allowing digital signatures, locking WordPress forms, creating interactive form layouts, and more.

Another advantage of using WPForms compared to other plugins is that it easily integrates with different tools and plugins. For example, you can use it with popular email marketing tools like Drip, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact.

The plugin also supports payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Authorize.Net. You can also integrate WPForms with CRMs such as Salesforce and HubSpot.

Gravity Forms – Additional Features and Integrations

Gravity Forms also offers different addons that can help you get the most out of the plugin. However, the list is not as expansive as WPForms, and you’d have to pay extra to use third-party extensions.

You get additional features for setting up user registrations, creating surveys and polls, tracking users’ geolocation, collecting partial form entries, allowing signatures, and more.

Besides that, Gravity Forms also offers integrations with different tools and plugins.

You can easily integrate email marketing tools like AWeber, Constant Contact, Mailgun, and more. Plus, you can add anti-spam solutions like Akismet and reCAPTCHA.

Other integrations include Google Analytics, Dropbox, Zapier, Trello, ActiveCampaign, HelpScout, PayPal Checkout, 2Checkout, and Stripe.

Formidable Forms – Additional Features and Integrations

Formidable Forms offers different addons and integration features. Most of the additional features are similar to WPForms and Gravity Forms.

However, what makes Formidable Forms different is that you get several powerful features to create advanced forms, set up web applications, show stats on the front end, and more.

For instance, the plugin offers a form action automation feature to schedule email notifications, SMS messages, and other actions. It also offers API webhooks that let you send submissions to REST APIs.

It also offers a visual views addon that lets you display data from form entries on the front end of your website. You can create web apps to display form submissions in tables, grids, calendars, and other views.

This is great for showing testimonials and product reviews, adding a user-submitted events calendar, and displaying useful statistics.

Besides that, Formidable Forms also lets you create applications for your website. It offers prebuilt templates that include different forms, views, and pages for your application. Simply select a template, and the plugin will take care of the rest.

You can create different applications, such as product reviews, real estate listings, testimonials, restaurant menus, certificates, and more.

For example, you can offer professional certificates in just a few clicks. Simply choose the certificate application template, and Formidable Forms will automatically add a form with a certificate generator on your website.

It will also add views for the certificate and certificate of completion, which users can see on the front end.

Other advanced features offered by Formidable Forms include converting WordPress forms to PDF, mapping form fields to PDF form fields, quizzes, repeater fields, SMS voting, front-end editing, and more.

Other than that, you can also integrate Formidable Forms with different payment services, email marketing tools, CRMs, and third-party plugins. It even works with Uncanny Automator and Zapier, so you can connect Formidable Forms to services like Asana, Slack, and Dropbox.

The best part about using Formidable Forms is that you get all the advanced features in one place, with everything included in a single pricing plan. If you were to use Gravity Forms, then you’d need to subscribe to multiple third-party addons.

For example, you’d need the basic Gravity Forms plan along with other extensions like Gravity PDF, File Upload Pro, Gravity View, Gravity Math, and so on. This can add to your overall cost and make it very expensive to use Gravity Forms.

Winner – Formidable Forms

While each plugin offers multiple additional features and integrations, Formidable Forms is the standout winner. It offers more advanced features that you can use to display form results on the front end, create complex forms, convert forms to PDF, create web applications, and use various addons to help users create form solutions for any scenario.

WPForms gets an honorary mention for marketing-related features, like form abandonment and digital signatures. It also integrates with popular email services, CRM software, tracking tools, payment gateways, and other plugins.

Pricing Plans

The next parameter we will compare WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms is that of pricing. Let’s see which plugin offers the most value for money.

WPForms – Pricing

WPForms offers 4 different pricing plans suitable for all types of businesses. These include a Basic plan, which costs $49.50 per year, and you can use it for 1 website. It also offers all the essential features like premium templates, entry management, and file uploads.

If you want to use the plugin on more websites and require marketing integrations, then WPForms offers a Plus plan for $99.50 per year.

On the other hand, there is a Pro plan that includes everything from the Basic and Plus plans. It includes payment addons, conversion tools, and other advanced form features. This will close you $199.50 per year.

Lastly, there is an Elite plan for $299.50 per year, which has everything. You get to use it on unlimited websites and get all the features and integrations WPForms has to offer. Each premium plan comes with 14-day money back guarantee.

The best part, there is also a WPForms Lite version you can use for free. You get multiple form templates, standard fields for customization, spam protection, and other features.

Gravity Forms – Pricing Plans

Gravity Forms offer 3 premium plans, which include the Basic License, Pro License, and Elite License.

With the Basic License plan, you can use the plugin on 1 website. You also get addons for email marketing tools and spam protection services. This plan will cost you $59 per year.

Next, there is a Pro License plan that offers more addons. For instance, you get to integrate more email marketing services, CRMs, payment gateways, and third-party services. This plan will cost $159 per year.

Lastly, Gravity Forms offers an Elite License plan that includes all the features from the Basic and Pro plans. In addition to that, Elite plan users also get access to features like polls, quizzes, digital signatures, surveys, geolocation, and more. The Elite plan is available for $259 per year.

That said, Gravity Forms doesn’t offer a free version, like WPForms or Formidable Forms. You’d also need to pay extra to use different third-party addons and extensions.

Formidable Forms – Pricing Plans

Formidable Forms lets you choose from 4 pricing plans. It starts with a Basic plan, costing $39.50 per year. You get 50+ form templates and basic features like conditional logic and file uploads.

Besides that, there is a Plus plan for $99.50 per year, and it offers more form templates and features. For instance, you get the Formidable Views feature, landing pages, and integration with Mailchimp, MailPoet Newsletters, and AWeber.

Next, it offers a Business plan that includes over 150 form templates, premium addons, more integrations, and additional features. This plan will cost you $199.50 per year.

Lastly, there is an Elite plan for $299.50 per year, and it includes all the features and integrations. You get all the templates and support for third-party tools like Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, and HubSpot.

Formidable Forms also offers a free version. You can get started for free and get features like drag and drop form builder, basic form templates, and standard form fields for customization.

Winner – WPForms and Formidable Forms

When it comes to offering the most value for money, both WPForms and Formidable Forms clearly stand out when compared to Gravity Forms.

Both of them offer 4 different pricing plans for businesses of all sizes. Plus, you get a free version, which helps small website owners, bloggers, and others to create WordPress forms without a considerable investment. You also don’t have to pay more to use multiple addons and advanced features.

Which is the Best WordPress Form Plugin?

WPForms, Gravity Forms, and Formidable Forms are some of the best WordPress form plugins you can get your hands on today.

However, we believe that WPForms is the best plugin for creating forms for your WordPress website. It is super easy to use and offers tons of features.

You get over 600 form templates, a drag-and-drop form builder, multiple form fields for customization, and additional settings to edit your form. Plus, there are different premium addons that allow you to expand the functionality of WPForms.

Not to mention, there is a WPForms Lite version available for free. It also includes lots of form templates and customization features. You can quickly create forms for your website using the free plugin.

On the other hand, if you’re a developer looking to save time on developing complex and advanced WordPress forms, then Formidable Forms is the perfect solution. You can create calculators and web applications, convert forms to PDF, and much more without editing code.

We hope the comparison between WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms helped you pick the right form plugin for WordPress. You may also want to see our list of best WordPress SEO plugins and tools, and how to get a free email domain.

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The post WPForms vs Gravity Forms vs Formidable Forms: Which is Best? first appeared on WPBeginner.

April 05, 2023 at 02:21PM