Formidable Forms is the first form plugin we’re reviewing. It’s our preferred form plugin at the agency, and we’ve used it for several years—including here on The Block Library for both the submit and contact forms. It doesn’t have a Gutenberg form builder, but the built-in editor is straightforward. Between the integrations and the features on the higher-tier plans, we’ve always found everything we needed.
Overall score: 7.7/10
Overview
- Setup & Onboarding – 9/10
- Editor – 7/10
- Performance – 7/10
- Features – 9/10
- Docs & Support – 9/10
- Pricing & Licensing 5/10
Setup & Onboarding – 9/10
Setup is straightforward. Install the plugin, paste in the license key from your purchase, and you’re in. When you create your first form, there’s a large template library—around 407 with Elite and about 100 with Basic (as of this review). We rarely use templates, though; we usually choose Create a blank form.
Editor – 7/10
Whether you start from a template or Create a blank form, you land in Formidable’s own form editor (they don’t use Gutenberg for building forms). The editor is straightforward: a field list on the left that you drag into the canvas on the right. Columns and custom layouts are easy to set up. Would it be even nicer if they switched to Gutenberg? Probably—but for now they’re sticking with their own editor (as are most major form plugins).
Visually, it’s decent. Formidable’s design language is fairly standard and a bit bland, but it’s consistent and it works.
There’s a Gutenberg block for embedding forms in the editor. It basically has four controls:
- Select form
- Toggle to Show Form Title
- Toggle to Show Form Description
- Toggle Minimize HTML
I usually prefer writing both the title and the description directly in the post editor using blocks, so those toggles aren’t that useful. The block’s real job is to select the form and render it in the editor—which is a must-have.
When you’re done building, the Style tab offers six themes. You can also disable Formidable’s styling and handle everything in code. We usually keep the default and override what we need—it’s a solid baseline compared to styling from scratch. If you don’t want to write code, there’s also a simple style editor for colors and basic tweaks.
Real life example of a form – with basic ‘Default Style’. Feel free to submit.
Performance – 7/10
Formidable adds its CSS on every page—even when there’s no form. In our view, that’s not ideal and should be fixed. If there’s a good reason for loading the CSS globally, we’d love to hear it. The JavaScript, however, only loads when a form is present.
Features – 9/10
Formidable is feature-rich—right up there with the top WordPress form plugins. Features are split across plans, and on Business and Elite you can do everything from simple contact forms to lightweight applications with payments. We haven’t hit a form-related use case it can’t cover. Integrations are broad, too: connect to Zapier, create files on Google Drive, send messages to Slack, share to social, and more. On the Basic plan, you mostly get the standard fields. The plan matrix is a bit confusing—with different features on different tiers—but that’s similar to other form plugins (which sucks).
Design-wise, we’d love more (and better) style templates—the current ones aren’t top-tier, so we usually end up custom-styling. The style editor could also be a bit richer (think gradients or subtle visual effects). Since we’re used to Gutenberg’s design tools, it would be nice if the color picker, spacing controls, etc., felt the same.
Docs & Support – 9/10
Formidable’s documentation is broad and easy to search, with clear step-by-step guides and a few video tutorials to cover common workflows. When we’ve needed help, their support has been quick to respond and practical in their replies—enough to unblock us without a lot of back-and-forth.
Pricing & Licensing 5/10
Formidable Forms Pro is on the pricier side of the major form plugins. They often run a 50% first-year discount, which can make the initial cost look attractive. But if you plan to use the plugin for several years, you’ll typically end up paying more than competitors for a comparable feature set.
Because features are split across tiers, doing a true apples-to-apples price comparison is hard across WordPress form plugins. We’re working on a dynamic price comparison calculator that we hope to publish soon. Your total cost will depend heavily on the exact features you need.
Final verdict
Formidable Forms remains our go-to for serious, data-heavy form work. On Business/Elite, the features and integrations cover basically everything we’ve ever needed, and docs/support have been reliable. The trade-offs: no Gutenberg builder, site-wide CSS by default, middling style presets, and higher long-term pricing. If you value capability and stability over “native Gutenberg” niceties and bargain pricing, it’s an easy pick.
Overall score: 7.7/10
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