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Fluent Forms Review: Is This WordPress Form Builder the Pinnacle of Flexibility and Efficiency?

As WordPress form plugins go, Fluent Forms is one that ‘wows’ us. We’ve seen the same functionality in plugins that cost a lot more, yet don’t provide the same experience. It’s straightforward to use, comes with almost all of the features you’d need, and gives you the tools you need to create converting forms without the need for code. Fluent Forms is a winner for us!

This review was performed as part of our product analysis service using our in-depth analysis methodology.

4.5/5
4.5/5
Features
4.5/5
Pricing
5/5
Market fit
4.5/5
Customer support
4/5
User feedback
4.5/5
Table of Contents

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Forms are arguably the primary way to interact with the users of your site. As such, there are myriad WordPress form plugins available that meet a wide range of needs. However, for some, forms have to fit every need – hence the popularity of Fluent Forms. It gives you pre-built templates for different form types, a drag-and-drop builder, the ability to take payments, many integrations with other third-party services, and much more.

This Fluent Forms review will look at everything the plugin has to offer, in several areas. We’ll look over the main features of Fluent Forms, but also at how it works. By the end, you’ll know exactly how the form builder will fit your needs.

Why Using Fluent Forms Is a Smart Choice for WordPress

Selecting the right form builder for your WordPress site can significantly impact the User Experience (UX). While there are many form builder plugins on the market, not all can offer the same blend of features and functionality as Fluent Forms.

The Fluent Forms logo.

It’s a drag-and-drop form builder that comes with plenty of value for all types of sites. We’ll look at use cases later, but for now, here are the key benefits that make Fluent Forms stand out:

  • It offers an intuitive interface, which should make creating forms a breeze even for beginners. This approachability ensures that you don’t need to be a tech wizard to create complex forms.
  • With a wide array of customizable templates, Fluent Forms lets you tailor forms according to your specific needs. Whether it’s a simple contact form or a detailed survey, customization is just a few clicks away.
  • The plugin integrates smoothly with various platforms and services such as Mailchimp, Slack, PayPal, and many others. This can enhance the functionality of your forms, and let you collect and manage data with ease.
  • Despite having so much functionality, Fluent Forms still doesn’t compromise your site’s performance thanks to a stellar codebase and regular updates.

While these benefits may apply in part to other WordPress form plugins, when you combine them with the Fluent Forms feature set, it’s a killer combination. Let’s look at what the plugin offers next.

Fluent Forms: It’s Key Features and Use Cases

One of the key juxtapositions of Fluent Forms is how it offers so much functionality, yet it’s still intuitive and straightforward to use. It caters to a wide range of needs, and its feature set is a testament to that versatility.

The whole experience builds around a drag-and-drop interface and collection of over 45 input fields, ready to go live. This is in addition to the huge collection of templates to help you whip up the forms you need fast:

The Fluent Forms visual form builder.

You also have various ways to increase the ‘conversational’ flow of your forms. This is a vital method of increasing engagement, especially as reports state over 80 percent of people will abandon a form at some point. What’s more, nearly 80 percent of companies in one study state that they have seen loyalty, sales, and revenue increase thanks to conversational marketing.

As such, Fluent Forms includes one of the biggest steps to implement conversational marketing into your forms: conditional logic.

Setting up conditional logic for a form.

In short, this can make your forms more interactive and user-friendly. This will be invaluable in scenarios such as customer surveys, where follow-up questions depend on previous answers. It’s the same for multi-step forms – another Fluent Forms implementation.

An example of a multi-step form template.

This can let you carry out complex data collection and also lets you ask more questions without overwhelming or boring the user. If you need to offer detailed service quotations, conduct enrollment, or even enable front-end job applications, this will be something you use a lot.

However, it may take some time to get to grips with how conditional logic works. It’s powerful, and if you can take the time to research how to use it in an optimal way, you’ll reap the benefits.

Rounding Up Other Fluent Forms Features

Of course, Fluent Forms offers much more than these three features. Lets’ quickly sum up the best of the rest:

  • Payment integrations. You can collect payment through gateway integrations such as PayPal and Stripe. This will be ideal for donation forms, small e-commerce checkouts, or event ticket sales.
  • Spam protection. The plugin includes built-in spam protection features such as Google reCAPTCHA, which ensures that form submissions are legitimate and reduces the risk of spam.
  • Email notifications. Automatic email notifications keep both you and your users informed once a form submission happens. This is an essential UX component that can help to personalize the experience.
  • Analytics and reporting. Fluent Forms provides insights into how your forms perform. It’s vital for marketing campaigns and customer feedback forms, and helps you to create better form strategies in the future.

Finally, and while it’s not technically a feature, we should also mention the Fluent Forms documentation. This is comprehensive, rich with content, and is easy to read too. The quality of the support documentation gives us a level of trust that Fluent Forms is a trustworthy plugin regardless of how you use it.

Pricing

One of the great aspects we love about WordPress pricing models is when a developer doesn’t restrict features to different plans. This can price out many users based on budget alone, which should be the case.

Fluent Forms offers the same feature set to all users despite the license you purchase. There are three to choose from:

  • Single Site. $79 per year gets you a single-site license, along with a year of updates and developer support.
  • Agency. For $159 per year, you get the same developer support, yet have five licenses to use.
  • Unlimited. You can have as many licenses as you need for $299, along with a year of support and updates.

Note that there are lifetime licenses available for $349, $599, and $899 respectively.

How Fluent Forms Works

Using Fluent Forms is super straightforward. The installation process is as simple and familiar as other WordPress plugins. Note that you’ll need to install both the core plugin from WordPress.org and the premium plugin:

The "Plugin activated" notification and the Fluent Forms PRO plugin notification within WordPress.

Once you activate both plugins, you can access the Fluent Forms settings through its dedicated sidebar menu:

The Forms screen showing the different settings options in the sidebar, and a license key notification at the top of the screen.

You’ll likely see a notification to register your license key. You can do this from the Global Settings > License screen within WordPress, adding your license key from your purchase:

Adding and saving the premium plugin license key within Fluent Forms' options.

We won’t look to cover every aspect of Fluent Forms here, but we can go through the core basics. Let’s quickly do this next.

Building a Form

If you head to the Forms > Add New Form screen, you’ll come to a dialog that lets you choose either a blank form, and conversational one, or from a selection of templates:

Choosing a new form type from the Create a New Form dialog within Fluent Forms.

Choosing to use a template will also present you with several options. The goal is to choose one that meets your vision and needs:

Choosing a form template during the form creation process.

Once you click the Create Form button, you’ll come to the drag-and-drop builder. You’ll see the relevant fields in place for your form, a right-hand sidebar of input field options, and a toolbar at the top:

The Fluent Forms visual form builder.

If you click on a form field, you’ll be able to change the options that display in the sidebar:

Selecting an input field in the visual builder and viewing its options.

You can (of course) drag any element from the Input Fields tab onto your form, and place it as you need:

Dragging an input field onto the form canvas.

The Design tab lets you control how your form looks. To do this, you can use all sorts of options, swatches, and more. The preview pane will show how the form will look on the front end:

The form builder's Design tab, showing a preview of a contact form.

To customize the functionality of your form further, you can use the Settings and Integrations tab:

The Fluent Forms Settings and Integrations page.

Here, you have a complete set of options based around confirmation settings, landing page setup, form validation, notifications, custom code snippets, and more.

Once you save your changes, you’ll spot a shortcode in the top right-hand corner of the screen:

The Fluent Forms shortcode for a specific form.

If you copy this, you can paste it into any page or post to display your form. It takes seconds to achieve, and means you can have a complex form up and running within minutes thanks to Fluent Forms’ templates and usability.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

It’s time to sum up some of the key points of our Fluent Forms review in short bursts. We have a few questions that may help you understand what this excellent WordPress plugin is all about. If we don’t answer your exact question here, you can always ask us in the comments section at the end of the post.

What Is Fluent Forms?

In a nutshell, Fluent Forms is a smart, lightweight form builder plugin for WordPress. It uses a drag-and-drop interface to help you build forms without the need for code. Using its functionality, you can build simple contact forms, complex multi-page conversational questionnaires, and everything in between.

Do I Need Coding Knowledge to Use Fluent Forms?

Not at all! All of the functionality Fluent Forms offers needs zero coding knowledge to implement and use. However, if you do have coding skills, you can include custom snippets to help expand what your own forms can do.

Can I Use My Favorite Page Builder Plugin – Or Even the Block Editor?

Of course! If you are a Block Editor user, Fluent Forms offers full support. What’s more, there are deep Fluent Forms integrations with both Elementor and Oxygen. However, you should be able to use the plugin with whichever page builder you like.

Does Fluent Forms Guarantee User Privacy When It Comes to Data Collection?

While you’d need to research the privacy guidelines and directives in your own locale, Fluent Forms does include tools to help protect user privacy. Our advice is to talk to a legal representative if you have a concern, before you create your forms and push them live.

Is There a Free Version of Fluent Forms to Download?

There is a free version of Fluent Forms available from the WordPress Plugin Directory. However, it offers less than the premium version. For instance, you won’t get the quiz builder, advanced form styler, a selection of additional form fields, and much more.

In Summary: Fluent Forms Is Flexible, Feature-Rich, and Fundamental

In our opinion, a good form builder needs to offer adaptability alongside usability. Fluent Forms provides this in spades. It’s quick to install as well as use. The plugin is deep, and you could spend a while running through everything you can achieve with it! Not only that, the plugin offers stellar documentation, support, and pricing. The whole package is excellent, and we recommend it for most sites that want to offer smart, conversational, and visually appealing forms for WordPress.

Will Fluent Forms meet your needs, and if so, how will it fit into your site? Share your workflows with us in the comments section below!

With a discerning eye for detail and a passion for innovation, Tom brings a wealth of knowledge to the table in WordPress products and content creation. His expertise, honed over years of hands-on experience, has solidified his reputation as a leading figure in the WordPress ecosystem.

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