Ninja Forms vs WPForms
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Ninja Forms v3.15.6 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.4/5 Visit Details | WPForms v2.0.3 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.8/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 500,000+ | 5M+ |
| Last updated | October 15, 2026 | October 22, 2026 |
| Editions | Ninja Forms · Ninja Forms extensions ($) | WPForms Lite · WPForms Pro ($) |
| Pros | Drag-and-drop builder with calculations at no cost; Submissions stored in your own WordPress database; reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha and Akismet spam protection | Free drag-and-drop builder with ready-made templates; Stripe and PayPal payment forms in the free version; Entries stored and viewable in the admin |
| Cons | Payments, multi-part and file uploads need paid extensions; Conditional logic availability in the free core is not confirmed; Extension licences are managed through the vendor | Conditional logic, multi-page forms and file uploads need Pro; Calculations need the paid Calculations add-on; Some fields and export options show upgrade prompts |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 2 |
| Features (Form plugins checklist) | ||
| Drag-and-drop builder | Yes | Yes |
| Conditional logic | — | Paid |
| Multi-step forms | Paid | Paid |
| Payments | Paid | Yes |
| File upload | Paid | Paid |
| Calculations | Yes | Paid |
| Entries in admin | Yes | Yes |
| Spam protection | Yes | Yes |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Drag-and-drop form builder, Submissions stored in the WordPress database, reCAPTCHA and Akismet spam checks, Payment gateway framework for paid extensions ($), Extension licence activation ($), Multi-part forms extension ($) | Ready-made form templates, Stripe payment forms, PayPal payment forms, hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA and Turnstile spam challenges, Gutenberg block to insert a form, Entries page in the admin, AI form creation from a conversation |
| Integrations | ||
| Payment | PayPal and Stripe gateways ($) | Stripe, PayPal Commerce |
| Other | Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, Akismet | Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, Cloudflare Turnstile |
| Requires WordPress | 6.9 | 5.5 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 7.2 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | Only if you agree | Only if you agree |
| External services | api.ninjaforms.com, my.ninjaforms.com | wpformsapi.com, downloads.wordpress.org, wpformsliteconnect.com, staging.wpformsliteconnect.com, wpformsusage.com, api.wordpress.org, api.cc.email, connect.squareup.com, nominatim.openstreetmap.org, api.stripe.com, www.google.com, hcaptcha.com, challenges.cloudflare.com |
| Blocks | 2 | 1 |
| Shortcodes | 4 | 1 |