You post on X (formerly Twitter), but your website and your X account feel like two separate worlds. Visitors read your posts and never follow you, and your followers rarely see your new articles.

A good Twitter plugin connects the two. It can show your latest X posts on your site, share new and old blog posts to X for you, turn great quotes into one click shares, or let visitors log in with their X account.

The catch is that “Twitter plugin” covers very different tools, and X API changes broke many older ones. This guide sorts the plugins that still work by the job they do, so you can pick the right one fast.

Quick answer: Custom Twitter Feeds by Smash Balloon is the best plugin to show an X feed on WordPress. Revive Social is the best for sharing new and old posts to X automatically. For free click to tweet boxes, use Ultimate Blocks or Better Click To Share, and for “Log in with X” use Nextend Social Login.

Below, you will find all 8 plugins with what the free version does, what the paid version adds and who each one suits. All prices and WordPress.org stats were checked on 9 November 2026.

Affiliate disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Quick Comparison

Every plugin here has a free version. The table shows where they differ, so you can jump straight to the one that fits your goal.

We built this comparison table with WP Table Builder, a free drag and drop table plugin for WordPress.

What Can a Twitter (X) Plugin Do for Your Site?

Most X plugins do one of four jobs. Knowing which job you need saves you from installing the wrong tool:

• Show X content on your site. A feed plugin displays your latest posts, a hashtag or a timeline in a page, post or sidebar.
• Share your posts to X automatically. An auto poster sends new posts to X when you publish, and some also reshare older posts on a schedule.
• Get readers to share your content. Click to tweet boxes and share buttons let visitors post a quote or link to X in one click.
• Let users log in with X. A social login plugin adds a “Continue with X” button to your login and registration forms.

Good to know: X now limits what third party tools can do through its API. That is why some plugins ask you to create your own X developer app, and why Blog2Social sells X posting as a paid add-on.

Need just one post? You may not need a plugin at all. Paste the link of an X post or profile on its own line in the block editor, and WordPress turns it into an embed for you.

1. Custom Twitter Feeds

Custom Twitter Feeds by Smash Balloon is the most popular X feed plugin for WordPress. It has 100,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 401 reviews on WordPress.org, and it was updated in November 2026.

It shows a responsive feed of X posts that matches your theme and can be crawled by search engines. You can place it in any page, post or widget area, and posts are cached so the feed loads fast.

The free version lets you connect 1 public X account. With Smash Balloon’s free Site Key and a verified email, the feed refreshes once a week. The Pro version refreshes up to 12 times a day, combines several feeds into one, shows replies and link cards, adds tweet moderation and loads more posts as visitors scroll.

Verdict: The best choice if you want a good looking, up to date X feed on your website.

• Responsive, customizable X feed
• Works in pages, posts and widgets
• Post caching for fast loading
• SEO friendly, crawlable feed content
• Multiple feeds, replies and moderation (Pro)
• Up to 12 feed updates a day (Pro)

Pros: Very easy setup, polished design, large user base and frequent updates.

Cons: The free feed only updates once a week, which is slow for active accounts.

Pricing: Free version on WordPress.org. Twitter Feed Pro normally costs $98 a year for 1 site, $198 for 5 sites and $298 for 10 sites. At the time of writing, these were on sale for $49, $99 and $149. The All Access Bundle with every Smash Balloon plugin normally costs $598 a year.

Best for: Bloggers, brands and news sites that want to show live X activity.

2. Revive Social

Revive Social (formerly Revive Old Posts) shares your WordPress posts to X and other networks automatically. It has 20,000+ active installs and a 4.0 out of 5 rating from 556 reviews, and it was updated in November 2026.

Its best trick is resharing your older posts on a loop, so good content keeps bringing traffic long after you publish it. You set how many hours to wait between shares, and the plugin does the rest.

The free version can post to X. Pro adds scheduling by day of the week and time of day, more networks such as Mastodon, Bluesky and Telegram, and extra content options.

Verdict: The best plugin for keeping your X account active with your new and old blog posts.

• Auto share new posts to X
• Reshare old posts on a set interval
• Custom messages and hashtags
• Share from any RSS feed with the Revive Network add-on
• Day and time scheduling (Pro)
• Extra networks like Mastodon, Bluesky and Telegram (Pro)

Pros: Set it once and your X account keeps posting, free version supports X.

Cons: Detailed scheduling is Pro only, and the rating is lower than some others on this list.

Pricing: Free version on WordPress.org. Pro costs $129 a year for 1 site, $259 for 3 sites and $529 for unlimited sites. At the time of writing, these were on sale for $99, $199 and $399.

Best for: Bloggers with a big archive who want steady traffic from X without daily posting.

3. Blog2Social

Blog2Social is a social media scheduler that runs inside your WordPress dashboard. It has 40,000+ active installs and a 4.5 out of 5 rating from 2,107 reviews, and it was updated in November 2026.

It can post to many networks, including X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest and TikTok. A content calendar shows everything you have planned, and you can edit the link preview (Open Graph and X Card tags) for every post.

There is one important catch for X users. Because of X’s API rules, posting to X is a paid add-on that needs a Smart, Pro or Business license. The free version still covers other networks.

Verdict: The best pick if you manage several social networks and X is only one of them.

• Auto posting and scheduling to many networks
• Content planning calendar
• Custom Open Graph and X Card tags
• Best Time Manager for posting times
• Free 30-day Premium trial
• X posting add-on (paid)

Pros: One tool for almost every network, huge number of reviews.

Cons: X posting costs extra on top of a paid license, so it is pricey if X is your main network.

Pricing: Free basic version on WordPress.org. Smart, Pro and Business licenses are billed yearly; see the Blog2Social pricing page for current plan prices. The X add-on costs $14.99 a month for 70 posts, $24.99 for 100 posts or $59.99 for 250 posts.

Best for: Marketers and teams who schedule content across many social networks.

4. Ultimate Blocks

Ultimate Blocks is a free Gutenberg block plugin made by DotCamp, the same team behind WP Table Builder. It has 50,000+ active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 729 reviews, and it was updated in November 2026.

For X, it gives you a Click to Tweet block that turns any sentence into a shareable quote, and a Social Share block with share buttons for X and other networks. You also get blocks like Table of Contents, Content Toggle (FAQ) and Star Rating in the same plugin.

Verdict: The best free option if you use the block editor and want click to tweet plus share buttons without another heavy plugin.

• Click to Tweet block
• Social Share block with X, Facebook, LinkedIn and more
• Table of Contents, Content Toggle and Star Rating blocks
• Lightweight, built for the block editor
• Extra blocks and extensions (Pro)

Pros: Free, light and gives you many useful blocks besides X sharing.

Cons: Only for the block editor, and it does not show feeds or auto post.

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Pro costs $39 a year for 1 site or $79 a year for unlimited sites, with lifetime plans from $99.

Best for: Block editor users who want readers to share quotes and posts on X.

5. Better Click To Share

Better Click To Share (formerly Better Click To Tweet) does one job very well: it turns your best quotes into share boxes for X. It has 6,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 48 reviews, and it was updated in September 2026.

Readers see a styled quote box. One click opens X with your quote and a link back to your post ready to go. A smart character count keeps the post within X’s limit, including your “via @username” and the link.

Verdict: The best dedicated click to tweet plugin if you want nothing more than clean quote boxes.

• One click quote sharing to X
• Automatic link back to your post
• Smart character counting
• Works with the block editor and shortcodes
• Premium Styles add-on (paid)

Pros: Simple, focused and well rated.

Cons: Only covers quote sharing, and extra designs need a paid add-on.

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Premium add-ons are sold on the developer’s site; prices were not listed on the pages we checked.

Best for: Writers whose posts have quotable lines, stats or tips.

6. Social Snap

Social Snap is an all in one social media plugin with share buttons, click to tweet boxes and follower counts. It has 10,000+ active installs and a 4.2 out of 5 rating from 58 reviews on WordPress.org, and it was last updated in January 2026.

The free version adds share buttons and lets visitors share your content on X with one click. The paid plans add social meta tags, share stats and add-ons such as the Social Auto-Poster, Boost Old Posts, Social Login and a Content Locker.

Verdict: A good choice if you want share buttons, click to tweet and auto posting in one plugin.

• Social share buttons with X
• Click to Tweet boxes
• Social follower counts
• Social Auto-Poster and Boost Old Posts add-ons (Pro)
• Social Login and Content Locker add-ons (Pro)

Pros: Many social features in one place, add-ons cover auto posting and login.

Cons: Updated less often than the other plugins here, and the add-ons need the Pro plan or higher.

Pricing: Free version on WordPress.org. Plus costs $39 a year for 1 site (add-ons not included), Pro costs $99 a year for 3 sites with add-ons, and Agency costs $299 a year for 15 sites.

Best for: Site owners who want one plugin for most social tasks.

7. Nextend Social Login

Nextend Social Login lets visitors register and log in to your site with their X, Google or Facebook account. It is the most installed plugin on this list, with 200,000+ active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 447 reviews, and it was updated in July 2026.

Users skip the long sign up form, and one user can connect several social accounts to the same profile. All three main providers, including X, are in the free version.

Verdict: The best plugin for adding a “Log in with X” button.

• Log in and register with X, Google and Facebook
• Connect several social accounts to one user
• Works with the default WordPress login form
• More providers and advanced settings (Pro)

Pros: Free X login, very popular and highly rated.

Cons: You need to create an X developer app to get the login keys.

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Pro starts at €49 for 1 site, with Premium plans for more sites and providers.

Best for: Membership sites, communities and stores that want faster sign ups.

8. WP Twitter Auto Publish

WP Twitter Auto Publish by XYZScripts posts your new WordPress content to X automatically, and it is completely free. It has 3,000+ active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 206 reviews, and it was updated in June 2026.

You can post as plain text or text with an image, choose which categories and post types get shared, and build your own message format from the post title, excerpt, permalink and other details.

Verdict: The simplest free way to send every new post to X.

• Auto publish new posts to X
• Text or text with image
• Filter by category and custom post type
• Custom message formats

Pros: Free, light and focused on one job.

Cons: You must create your own X developer app, and it does not reshare old posts.

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org.

Best for: Bloggers who want new posts on X without paying for a scheduler.

How to Choose the Right Twitter (X) Plugin

Start with the job you need done, then pick the plugin built for it:

• Show your X posts on your site: Custom Twitter Feeds.
• Keep your X account busy with your content: Revive Social, or WP Twitter Auto Publish if you only need new posts and want it free.
• Post to many networks from one calendar: Blog2Social.
• Get readers to share on X: Ultimate Blocks or Better Click To Share, or Social Snap if you also want follower counts.
• Let users log in with X: Nextend Social Login.

Before you install anything, check the plugin’s last update date and read its notes on X API keys. A plugin that has not been updated in a long time may stop working the next time X changes its API.

Comparing Social Tools on Your Own Site? Use a Table

If you write reviews or “best of” posts like this one, a clear comparison table helps readers decide faster than paragraphs alone. Readers can scan prices, free versions and best uses in a few seconds.

You can build one with WP Table Builder, our own drag and drop table plugin for WordPress. The comparison table at the top of this post was made with it, including the Download buttons. See a live example on the product comparison table demo.

WP Table Builder is a free drag and drop table plugin for WordPress with 50,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 681 reviews on WordPress.org, as of November 2026. The free version includes the drag and drop builder, text, images, buttons and mobile friendly layouts.

If your comparison tables grow long, WP Table Builder Pro adds a sticky header and first column so readers never lose track of the columns, plus search, pagination, 25+ templates and an AI Assistant. Pro starts at $39 a year for 1 site.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

For most sites, Custom Twitter Feeds plus a sharing tool like Revive Social covers everything: your X posts appear on your site, and your blog posts appear on X. If you only want readers to share quotes, the free Ultimate Blocks or Better Click To Share is enough.

Pick the one plugin that matches your main goal, set it up today, and add more only when you need them.

Related Posts:

• Best Twitter Feed WordPress Plugins
• Best Click to Tweet WordPress Plugins
• Best WordPress Social Media Auto Posting Plugins
• Best Social Sharing WordPress Plugins
• Best Social Login WordPress Plugins
• Best WordPress Comparison Table Plugins

Contact Form 7 is free, light and on millions of WordPress sites. But out of the box it is very basic. It does not save your messages, it cannot show or hide fields, and it has no payments, file upload limits or multi-step layouts.

That is where Contact Form 7 extensions come in. Each one adds a missing feature, so you can keep the form plugin you already know instead of moving every form to a new builder.

The hard part is choosing. There are hundreds of add-ons, some have been closed or renamed, and many do the same job. This guide covers the 11 that are worth your time, with stats and prices checked on 8 November 2026.

Quick answer: Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 is the best all-in-one Contact Form 7 extension, with conditional fields, multi-step forms, a database and redirects in one free plugin. For single jobs, use Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 for show and hide logic, CFDB7 to save entries, and Redirection for Contact Form 7 for thank you pages. All four have free versions on WordPress.org.

Contact Form 7 itself has more than 10 million active installs on WordPress.org and a 4 out of 5 rating from over 2,100 reviews, as of November 2026. Every extension below needs it installed and active.

Quick Comparison

All 11 extensions have a free version on WordPress.org. Here is how they compare at a glance.

We built this comparison table with WP Table Builder, a free drag and drop table plugin for WordPress. Installs and ratings come from WordPress.org. Prices are the regular starting price for the paid version, and many of these developers run frequent sales.

What Contact Form 7 Does Not Do on Its Own

Before you install anything, it helps to know which gaps you need to fill. A plain Contact Form 7 install:

• Does not save submissions. Messages go to your email only, so a failed email means a lost lead.
• Has no conditional logic. Every field shows to every visitor.
• Has no redirects. Visitors see a short message under the form instead of a thank you page.
• Has a basic file field. One file per field, with no drag and drop.
• Has no payments or email marketing sync.
• Has no multi-step layout. Long forms show as one long page.

The good news: Contact Form 7 now protects forms from spam on its own. Under Contact > Integration you can connect Cloudflare Turnstile (free, and the option the Contact Form 7 team recommends) or Google reCAPTCHA v3. So you may not need a spam add-on at all.

Now, let us look at each extension in detail.

1. Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 by Themefic (formerly called Ultimate Addons for Contact Form 7) is the biggest add-on pack on this list. It has 60,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 108 reviews on WordPress.org, and it was updated in November 2026.

Instead of installing five separate plugins, you switch on the addons you need from one settings screen. The free version already includes conditional fields, multi-step forms, columns, a form styler, a submission database, redirects, Mailchimp, webhooks, star ratings, a digital signature field, PDF generation and an AI form generator.

The Pro version adds bigger features such as booking forms, WooCommerce checkout, repeater fields, conversational forms and front-end post submission.

Here is what to weigh. An all-in-one pack is heavier than one small add-on, and if you only need one feature, a dedicated plugin is simpler. Turn off the addons you do not use.

Verdict: The best choice if you need three or more extra features and want them to work together.

Key features:

• Conditional fields and multi-step forms
• Columns, grid layouts and a visual form styler
• Save submissions to the database
• Redirect to a thank you page or external URL
• Mailchimp, Telegram and webhook integrations
• Signature, star rating, range slider and country fields
• PDF generation and an AI form generator
• Booking forms, WooCommerce checkout and repeater fields (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Pro costs $69 a year for 1 site, $149 for 5 sites and $249 for unlimited sites, with lifetime plans from $199. It was on sale for $39 a year when checked. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Site owners who want one plugin to cover most Contact Form 7 gaps.

2. Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7

Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 by Jules Colle is the go-to plugin for show and hide logic. It has 100,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 166 reviews, and it was updated in October 2026.

It adds a Conditional fields Group tag to the form editor. Everything inside a group stays hidden until a visitor picks an answer that matches your rule. For example, show a “Company name” field only when someone chooses “Business” in a dropdown.

It handles the tricky parts well. Required fields inside hidden groups never cause validation errors, groups can be nested, and you can show or hide parts of the email based on which groups were visible.

Here is what to weigh. Repeaters, multi-step forms, calculated fields and regular expression rules need Conditional Fields Pro, and the Pro price is not shown publicly on the developer site.

Verdict: The most trusted way to add conditional logic to Contact Form 7, and the free version is enough for most forms.

Key features:

• Show or hide groups of fields based on answers
• Required fields in hidden groups skip validation
• Nested groups in the form and the email
• Show or hide email content with group tags
• Text view for writing conditions by hand
• Repeaters, multi-step forms and calculated fields (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Conditional Fields Pro is a paid upgrade, but the price is not listed publicly on the product page.

Best for: Anyone who needs smart forms that change based on visitor answers.

3. CFDB7 (Database Addon for Contact Form 7)

CFDB7 by Arshid is the most popular way to save Contact Form 7 submissions. It has 600,000+ active installs and a 5 out of 5 rating from more than 1,800 reviews, and it was updated in October 2026.

There is nothing to set up. Once active, it saves every new submission to your WordPress database and lists your forms in the dashboard. You can read entries and export them to a CSV file.

Paid add-ons from the developer add scheduled CSV exports, Excel exports, PDF exports, CSV imports and a separate database column for each field.

Here is what to weigh. CFDB7 starts saving only after you install it, so older messages are not recovered. The free entry screen is simple, with no charts or advanced filters.

Verdict: The simplest, most popular way to keep a copy of every Contact Form 7 message.

Key features:

• Saves every submission automatically
• No configuration needed
• One table for all your forms
• Export entries to CSV
• Lightweight and developer friendly
• Scheduled exports, Excel, PDF and CSV import (paid add-ons)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Extra features are sold as separate add-ons on the developer site.

Best for: Every Contact Form 7 site that cannot afford to lose a lead when an email fails.

4. Redirection for Contact Form 7

Redirection for Contact Form 7 by Themeisle has 200,000+ active installs and a 4.7 out of 5 rating from 275 reviews. It was updated in November 2026.

It adds an Actions tab to each form. From there you can send visitors to any page or URL after they submit, open it in a new tab, and pass form fields to the next page as URL query parameters. That makes personal thank you pages and conversion tracking much easier.

The free version also saves entries to your database, adds a honeypot field against spam and helps with GDPR data export and erase requests. Pro adds JavaScript after submission, webhooks, conditional logic, PDF creation and integrations such as Mailchimp, PayPal, Stripe, HubSpot and Salesforce.

Here is what to weigh. Many of its best features are Pro only, and the Actions tab takes a little time to learn.

Verdict: The best dedicated plugin for thank you pages and post-submission actions.

Key features:

• Redirect to any page or URL after submission
• Open the redirect page in a new tab
• Pass form fields as URL query parameters
• Save entries to the database
• Honeypot spam protection
• GDPR export and erase requests
• JavaScript actions, webhooks and CRM integrations (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Pro starts at $59 a year for 1 site, and it was on sale for $39 when checked.

Best for: Marketers who want thank you pages for tracking conversions.

5. CF7 Apps (formerly Honeypot for Contact Form 7)

CF7 Apps started life as Honeypot for Contact Form 7, one of the oldest spam plugins for the form. It is now a bundle of small “apps” with 300,000+ active installs and a 3.8 out of 5 rating from 135 reviews. It was updated in October 2026.

The honeypot app adds a hidden field that real visitors never see but bots fill in, so spam is blocked without a puzzle. The free plugin also includes hCaptcha, a database of entries with CSV export, redirects, webhooks, weekly summary reports and an AI form generator, all from one dashboard.

Here is what to weigh. Its rating dropped after the move from a simple honeypot to a bigger bundle, and some long-time users only wanted the honeypot. If spam is your only problem, Contact Form 7’s built-in Turnstile may be enough.

Verdict: A good free bundle if you want honeypot spam protection plus entries and redirects in one place.

Key features:

• Honeypot spam protection
• hCaptcha app
• Save entries and export them to CSV
• Redirects and webhooks
• Weekly summary reports
• AI form generator
• Stripe, PayPal and Square payments (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $29.99 a year.

Best for: Site owners who want light spam protection without a captcha.

6. ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7

ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 by IQComputing has 200,000+ active installs and a 5 out of 5 rating from 89 reviews. It was updated in June 2026.

Contact Form 7 dropped reCAPTCHA v2 (the “I’m not a robot” checkbox) back in version 5.1 and moved to the invisible reCAPTCHA v3. This plugin brings the checkbox back. After you add your keys, you place the [recaptcha] tag in your form where the checkbox should appear.

Here is what to weigh. It does one job only. If you do not need the visible checkbox, Contact Form 7’s own Turnstile or reCAPTCHA v3 integration is the simpler choice.

Verdict: Worth it only if you specifically want the visible reCAPTCHA v2 checkbox.

Key features:

• Restores the reCAPTCHA v2 checkbox
• Adds a recaptcha form tag
• Keeps your old API keys when upgrading
• Option to load reCAPTCHA from recaptcha.net
• No paid version

Pricing: Completely free. There is no Pro version.

Best for: Sites whose visitors trust the familiar “I’m not a robot” checkbox.

7. Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7

Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload by Glen Don Mongaya (CodeDropz) has 60,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from 94 reviews. It was updated in October 2026.

It replaces the basic file field with a drag and drop area. Visitors can upload several files at once, see a progress bar and remove a file before sending. You control file types, file size and the number of files, and you can send files as attachments or as links.

Pro adds large file uploads, image previews, zip files, admin entries, auto delete schedules and, on the Extended plan, storage in Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon S3 or FTP.

Here is what to weigh. In the free version, uploaded files are deleted from the temporary folder one hour after the submission, so you rely on the email copy.

Verdict: The easiest way to accept several files in one Contact Form 7 form.

Key features:

• Drag and drop or browse to upload
• Multiple files per field
• File type, size and count limits
• Progress bar and file removal
• Send files as attachments or links
• Large files, image previews and cloud storage (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Pro costs $34.99 a year for 1 site or $87.99 for a lifetime license. The Extended plan with cloud storage starts at $44.99 a year.

Best for: Job applications, quote requests and support forms that need attachments.

8. Contact Form 7 Extension for Mailchimp and More (ChimpMatic Lite)

This extension by Renzo Johnson, often called ChimpMatic Lite, sends form signups to your email list. It has 40,000+ active installs and a 4.3 out of 5 rating from 190 reviews, and it was updated in November 2026.

It started as a Mailchimp add-on, but it now connects to eight platforms: Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite, Klaviyo, GetResponse, EmailOctopus, Campaign Monitor and Moosend. Each form can send to its own list, with double opt-in and an optional consent checkbox.

Here is what to weigh. The free version sends the email address plus three fields of your choice. Sending to several lists, routing by answers, automatic tags and every field need ChimpMatic Pro.

Verdict: The most flexible way to grow an email list from Contact Form 7.

Key features:

• Connects to 8 email marketing platforms
• A different list for each form
• Email plus any 3 extra fields
• Double opt-in and consent checkbox
• Multiple lists, tags and answer-based routing (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. ChimpMatic Pro costs $39 a year for 1 site, $149 for 5 sites and $249 for 25 sites, and it was 25% off when checked. 14-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Bloggers and businesses that want every contact form to build their newsletter.

9. Contact Form 7 PayPal and Stripe Add-on

The PayPal and Stripe Add-on by WP Plugin (Scott Paterson) lets visitors pay right after they submit a form. It has 7,000+ active installs and a 4.2 out of 5 rating from 125 reviews, and it was updated in October 2026.

Each form gets its own payment settings. You set the item name, price and SKU, choose success and cancel pages, and test with the PayPal sandbox. The plugin also keeps a payment history in your dashboard.

Pro sends the form email only after a successful payment, links quantities and prices to form fields, and removes the 2% per transaction fee that the free version adds on top of normal PayPal and Stripe fees.

Here is what to weigh. Visitors are sent to PayPal or Stripe to pay, so it is not a full checkout. For a real store, use a proper eCommerce plugin.

Verdict: A simple way to collect payments, deposits or donations from a Contact Form 7 form.

Key features:

• PayPal and Stripe payments per form
• Item name, price and SKU settings
• Payment history in the dashboard
• Success and cancel redirect pages
• 25 currencies and PayPal sandbox testing
• Email only after payment and no extra fee (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org, with a 2% fee per transaction. Pro costs $29.95 a year for 1 site or $69.95 for a lifetime license.

Best for: Event registrations, service deposits and small order forms.

10. Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7

Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms has been around since 2013. It has 50,000+ active installs and a 4.2 out of 5 rating from 49 reviews, and it was updated in October 2026.

It splits a long form across several pages. Each step is its own Contact Form 7 form on its own page, the plugin remembers answers between steps, and the final step sends one email with everything.

Here is what to weigh. You need one page per step, which takes longer to set up than a single-page multi-step form. If you want steps on one page, Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 includes a multi-step addon.

Verdict: A proven option for long application or quote forms split over several pages.

Key features:

• One step per page
• Answers saved between steps
• One final email with all fields
• Works with standard Contact Form 7 tags
• Pro version with Conditional Fields support

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. A Pro version is available, but the price is not listed publicly on the product page.

Best for: Long forms like applications, surveys and detailed quote requests.

11. Extensions For CF7

Extensions For CF7 by HT Plugins (HasThemes) is a smaller bundle with 5,000+ active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 9 reviews. It was updated in October 2026.

The free version covers the common basics: a submission database, conditional fields, redirects, Mailchimp, columns, a range slider, a signature field and an unread message counter. Pro adds repeater fields, popup messages, a phone field with country flags, a GDPR field and an “already submitted” check.

Here is what to weigh. It has far fewer users and reviews than the plugins above, so there is less community feedback to go on.

Verdict: A budget-friendly alternative to Ultra Addons with the most common features.

Key features:

• Save submissions to the database
• Conditional fields and redirects
• Mailchimp integration
• Columns, range slider and signature fields
• Unread message badge in the admin menu
• Repeater fields, popups and phone field (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Pro costs $29 a year for 1 site or $59 for a lifetime license.

Best for: Small sites that want several features without paying much.

How to Choose the Right Contact Form 7 Extension

Start with the problem you need to fix, not the longest feature list.

• Need several features? Pick one bundle, such as Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7, instead of five separate plugins.
• Afraid of losing messages? Install CFDB7 or Flamingo first.
• Want smarter forms? Use Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7.
• Tracking conversions? Use Redirection for Contact Form 7 for thank you pages.
• Getting spam? Turn on the built-in Turnstile integration before adding a plugin.

Avoid stacking plugins that do the same job. Two database add-ons or two redirect add-ons can conflict and save every entry twice.

Bonus: Put a Pricing or Comparison Table Next to Your Form

A form converts better when visitors already know what they are asking for. If your contact or quote form sits on a services page, a clear pricing table or plan comparison above it answers the “how much?” question first.

You can build that with WP Table Builder, our own drag and drop table plugin for WordPress. Add your plans as columns, list what each one includes, and use a button in each column that links down to your form. See the pricing table demo for an example.

WP Table Builder is free on WordPress.org, with 50,000+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from more than 680 reviews as of November 2026. The free version includes the drag and drop builder, text, images, buttons, lists, star ratings, shortcodes and mobile-friendly layouts.

If you want the recommended plan to stand out, WP Table Builder Pro adds badges, ribbons, circle ratings and progress bars, row and column highlights, 25+ ready-made templates and an AI Assistant. Pro starts at $39 a year for 1 site, with lifetime plans from $99.

FAQs

Conclusion

Contact Form 7 stays light because it leaves extra features to extensions. For most sites, the best setup is a database add-on like CFDB7 plus either Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 or one or two focused plugins such as Conditional Fields and Redirection for Contact Form 7.

Your next step: install CFDB7 today so no message is ever lost, then add the one feature your forms are missing. If you outgrow Contact Form 7, see our list of the best Contact Form 7 alternatives.

Related Posts:

• Best Contact Form 7 Alternatives
• Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins
• Best WordPress Captcha Plugins
• Best WordPress Order Form Plugins
• Best WordPress Pricing Table Plugins

Live chat plugins let visitors on your WordPress site get answers in real time instead of waiting hours for an email reply. Quick answers keep people on your site, clear up doubts before they buy, and turn one-time visitors into loyal customers.

Today, most live chat tools also include AI. They can answer common questions automatically, suggest replies to your agents, and hand tricky conversations to a human. For this updated guide, we checked every plugin’s current features, pricing, and update history. We removed JivoChat because its WordPress plugin hasn’t been updated in about three years, and we added Resolver and HubSpot.

Here are the 9 best free live chat plugins for WordPress, along with what each one costs if you decide to upgrade.

Top Reasons to Use a Live Chat Plugin

Using a WordPress chat plugin makes customer service faster, smarter, and more engaging. Here’s how they can make a meaningful impact on your site’s overall performance and growth.

Now, let’s move to the list of plugins we’ve prepared for you.

1. Tawk.To Live Chat

Tawk.to is one of the most popular free live chat tools for WordPress, used on over 100,000 sites. Its biggest advantage is simple: the core live chat is free forever, with unlimited agents, unlimited chats, and unlimited websites.

From one dashboard, you can monitor visitors in real time, chat with them, and send automated trigger messages based on location, page views, or past visits. Tawk.to also includes a ticketing system, a knowledge base, and a simple CRM, so you can follow up on conversations without extra tools.

For automation, Tawk.to offers AI Assist, which answers visitors using your FAQs, help center, website, and documents, then hands the chat to a human when needed. You can even hire Tawk.to agents to answer chats for you.

Key Features:

• Free live chat with unlimited agents and chats.
• Real-time visitor monitoring.
• Trigger messages based on location, page views, and past visits.
• Built-in ticketing, knowledge base, and CRM.
• AI Assist for automatic answers (paid add-on).
• Message tags and file sharing.
• Desktop and mobile apps.

Price:

Tawk.to’s live chat is completely free. Optional add-ons include branding removal for $29/month, AI Assist from $29/month, and hired chat agents at $1/hour.

2. Tidio

Tidio combines live chat, AI chatbots, and a shared inbox in one lightweight plugin. With over 70,000 active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating, it’s a favorite among small businesses and online stores.

Tidio’s live chat lets you see who is on your site, preview what visitors type before they hit send, and reply instantly with canned responses. Messages from your website, Messenger, Instagram, and email all land in one inbox, so you never have to switch tabs.

When your team is offline, Lyro, Tidio’s AI agent, can answer common questions using your FAQs and knowledge base. Every plan also includes Copilot, an AI assistant that helps your agents write replies faster.

Key Features:

• Live chat with typing preview and canned responses.
• Lyro AI agent for automatic answers.
• Copilot AI reply assistant on all plans.
• Shared inbox for chat, Messenger, Instagram, and email.
• Live visitor list and visitor tracking.
• Flows: no-code automation with templates.
• Ticketing system.
• Desktop and mobile apps.

Price:

Tidio has a free plan with up to 50 billable conversations per month. Paid plans start at $24.17/month (billed annually), and the Lyro AI agent add-on starts at $32.50/month.

3. Resolver

Resolver is a WordPress chatbot plugin that gives your visitors instant answers without requiring you to staff a live chat window. It trains on your site’s content and answers customer questions intelligently at all hours of the day, making it a great fit for small teams that can’t always be online.

With Resolver, you can choose which pages to train your chatbot on and have it ready to chat within minutes. The plugin retrains automatically whenever you edit a page, and it can learn from new pages as they’re published. You can match the chat widget to your brand with a custom name, color, and greeting, then decide exactly which pages and page types it appears on. If a visitor asks for a real person, Resolver follows your fallback instructions, such as sharing the right email address for each department.

Resolver also helps you understand what your customers need. The Chats menu lets you review every conversation, so you can find unanswered questions and improve your content. Since you connect your own API key from OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic, you only pay for what you use instead of paying a monthly subscription. Most conversations cost just a few cents, and token monitoring lets you set spending limits.

Key Features:

• 24/7 automated answers with no agents required.
• Choose from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude models.
• Automatic training on page edits and new pages.
• Bring your own API key with no monthly subscription.
• Custom bot name, color, and greeting.
• Fallback instructions for human support requests.
• Full chat history for every conversation.
• Token monitoring with usage limits and email alerts.
• Show or hide the chatbot by page or page type.
• No limits on chats, training, or domains in the free version.

Price:

Resolver is a freemium plugin. Download the free version from WordPress.org (you’ll pay your AI platform for API usage) or buy Resolver Pro starting at $49/year.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot’s free WordPress plugin gives you live chat, chatbots, forms, popups, and a free CRM in one package. It’s used on over 200,000 WordPress sites.

Every live chat conversation is saved to the visitor’s contact record, so your team always knows who they’re talking to and what was said before. You can route chats to the right person, get notified in Slack or on the HubSpot mobile app, and use chatbots to qualify leads or book meetings when you’re away.

The free tools support up to 2 users and show HubSpot branding on the chat widget. If you need more seats or advanced features like the Breeze AI Customer Agent, you can upgrade to a paid Service Hub plan.

Key Features:

• Free live chat connected to HubSpot’s free CRM.
• Chatbots for lead qualification, meetings, and support tickets.
• Full conversation history on each contact record.
• Chat routing to the right team member.
• Slack and mobile app notifications.
• Forms, popups, and email marketing tools.

Price:

HubSpot’s free tools include live chat and chatbots for up to 2 users. Service Hub Starter costs $7/seat/month (billed annually).

5. 3CX Free Live Chat

3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging goes beyond text chat. With over 100,000 active installs and more than 800 reviews, it lets visitors switch from a chat to a free voice or video call with a single click.

3CX brings website chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and SMS into one interface, along with mobile and desktop apps for your team. You can assign chats to groups, transfer conversations to colleagues, use canned replies, and review chat and call reports to measure agent performance.

The live chat is part of the free 3CX StartUP plan, which includes hosting for up to 10 users. There’s no AI in the free live chat, so 3CX is best for teams that want real human conversations over chat, voice, and video.

Key Features:

• Live chat with free voice and video calls.
• WhatsApp, Facebook, and SMS in one inbox.
• Assign chats to groups and transfer chats.
• Canned replies and personalized greetings.
• Chat and call reports for agents.
• Offline messages.
• Desktop and mobile apps.

Price:

3CX’s live chat is free forever on the StartUP plan for up to 10 users, with unlimited chats. Paid plans start at $300/year for the whole system (not per user).

6. Crisp

Crisp is a modern customer messaging platform with live chat, an AI chatbot, and a shared inbox. Its WordPress plugin is actively maintained and used on over 20,000 sites.

With Crisp, you can see what visitors type in real time, share files and images, and bring channels like Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and email into one inbox. Visitor profiles show helpful details like location and the pages someone has viewed.

On paid plans, Hugo, Crisp’s AI agent, learns from your website, help articles, and files to answer questions, then escalates to a human when needed. AI Copilot also summarizes conversations and drafts replies for your team.

Key Features:

• Real-time live chat with typing preview.
• Shared inbox for website chat, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and email.
• Hugo AI agent trained on your content (paid plans).
• AI Copilot for summaries and draft replies.
• Visitor profiles and page history.
• File, image, and GIF sharing.
• Workflow builder for automation.
• Apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.

Price:

Crisp has a free plan for 2 agents. Paid plans start at $45/month per workspace for 4 agents, with AI credits included.

7. Smartsupp

Smartsupp is a live chat tool built with online stores in mind. It’s used on over 20,000 WordPress sites and holds a 4.7 out of 5 rating.

You can see who is browsing your site and which products they’re viewing, then start a conversation at the right moment. Live chats, WhatsApp, Messenger, and email messages all arrive in one dashboard, and you can reply from the iOS and Android apps.

For automation, Smartsupp offers chatbots, automated messages, and Mira, an AI shopping assistant that learns from your site or product feed and recommends products to shoppers.

Key Features:

• Live chat with visitor insights.
• WhatsApp, Messenger, and email in one dashboard.
• Mira AI shopping assistant (paid add-on).
• Chatbots and automated messages.
• Customer satisfaction ratings.
• GDPR compliant.
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Price:

Smartsupp’s free plan covers 1 agent and 25 conversations per month. Paid plans start at $17/month (billed annually).

8. Live Chat by Formilla

Live Chat by Formilla is a lightweight live chat plugin that’s easy to set up and regularly updated. It holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org.

Formilla’s chat widget lets you talk with visitors in real time, save canned messages, and send targeted messages based on a visitor’s language or country. On higher plans, you can monitor visitors live and see which pages they’re viewing and for how long.

Formilla also offers marketing popups, Smart Messages, and ChatGPT-powered bots with Copilot as a paid add-on, so you can automate answers when your team is away.

Key Features:

• Real-time live chat widget.
• Canned messages and keyboard shortcuts.
• Targeted messages by language and country.
• Live visitor monitoring (Professional plan).
• ChatGPT-powered bots and Copilot (add-on).
• Marketing popups and Smart Messages.
• Zapier integration.

Price:

Formilla has a free plan for 1 agent. Paid plans start at $13.99/month (billed annually), and the ChatGPT bot add-on costs $29.99/month.

9. LiveChat

LiveChat is a premium live chat platform from Text, the company behind ChatBot and HelpDesk. The WordPress plugin is free to install and works with any theme and popular page builders like Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder.

LiveChat is packed with tools for busy support teams: canned responses, chat transfers, file sharing, proactive chat invitations, and detailed reports. It also connects with WooCommerce, Shopify, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Zendesk, and 200+ other apps.

Its AI features include an AI Agent that resolves common questions, AI Copilot reply suggestions from your knowledge base, and chat summaries. Keep in mind that LiveChat doesn’t have a free plan, so it’s the right fit when you’re ready to invest in a professional support setup.

Key Features:

• AI Agent and AI Copilot reply suggestions.
• Canned responses and chat transfers.
• Proactive chat invitations.
• File sharing.
• WooCommerce and Shopify order lookups.
• Chat, agent, and customer reports.
• 200+ integrations including HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Zendesk.

Price:

LiveChat has no free plan, but you can try it free for 14 days. Paid plans start at $19/user/month (billed annually).

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a completely free live chat plugin for WordPress?

Yes. Tawk.to offers free live chat with unlimited agents, chats, and websites. 3CX is also free for up to 10 users. Most other plugins on this list have free plans with limits on agents or conversations.

Can live chat work when my team is offline?

Yes. Most tools collect offline messages, and many now include AI agents that answer questions automatically. Resolver, Tidio’s Lyro, Crisp’s Hugo, and Tawk.to’s AI Assist can all reply to visitors when nobody is available.

Conclusion

Live chat helps you answer questions while visitors are still on your site, which means happier customers and more sales.

If you want a completely free tool with unlimited agents, start with Tawk.to. Tidio and Crisp are great all-rounders with built-in AI, and HubSpot is ideal if you also want a free CRM. If your team can’t always be online, Resolver gives you an AI agent trained on your own content with no monthly subscription. 3CX is best for voice and video calls, Smartsupp suits online stores, Formilla is a simple lightweight option, and LiveChat is a strong choice when you’re ready for a premium setup.

Pick the one that matches your goals, install the free version, and see how your visitors respond.

A chatbot plugin lets your WordPress site answer visitor questions instantly, even when nobody on your team is online. Today, most chatbot tools use AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, so they can read your site content and reply in plain language instead of following rigid scripts.

We reviewed the most popular chatbot plugins for WordPress and checked each one for active development, current pricing, and real AI features. Two plugins from our earlier list are gone: WP-Chatbot for Messenger was closed on WordPress.org because of a security issue, and MyAlice has stopped updating its plugin. We replaced them with actively maintained alternatives.

Whether you want to cut down on support emails, capture more leads, or help shoppers find the right products, this list will help you pick the best chatbot for your site.

Here’s a quick overview of the best AI chatbot plugins for WordPress.

Now, let’s look at each plugin in detail.

1. Tidio

Tidio is one of the most popular customer service tools for WordPress, combining live chat, AI chatbots, and a shared inbox in one plugin. It’s active on over 70,000 WordPress sites and holds a 4.8 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org.

Its standout feature is Lyro, an AI agent that learns from your FAQs, knowledge base, and past conversations to answer customer questions on its own. Tidio says Lyro can handle up to 70% of common inquiries, and when a question needs a human, the chat is handed over to your team. You can also build automated workflows with Flows, a visual, no-code builder with ready-made templates for tasks like lead capture and cart recovery.

Every plan, including the free one, comes with Copilot, an AI assistant that helps your agents write replies faster. Tidio also offers desktop and mobile apps, so you can answer chats on the go.

Key Features:

• Lyro AI agent that answers questions from your FAQs and knowledge base.
• Live chat and AI chatbot in one widget.
• Flows: visual, no-code automation builder with templates.
• Copilot AI reply assistant on all plans.
• Shared inbox for chat, email, Messenger, and Instagram.
• Live visitor list and typing preview.
• Desktop and mobile apps.

Price:

Tidio has a free plan with up to 50 billable conversations per month and a one-time trial of 50 Lyro AI conversations. Paid plans start at $24.17/month (billed annually), and the Lyro AI agent add-on starts at $32.50/month.

Best for: Small businesses and online stores that want live chat and an AI agent in one tool.

2. Resolver

Resolver is a new WordPress chatbot plugin that trains itself on your site’s content and answers customer questions intelligently around the clock. Built by the creators of Independent Analytics, it acts as a 24/7 AI support agent that can offload hours of repetitive emails every week.

With Resolver, you can choose exactly which pages to train your chatbot on, and it can train on over 1,000 pages in a matter of seconds. Since the plugin lives inside WordPress, it knows when you edit a page and retrains automatically. It can also learn from new pages as soon as they’re published, so your customers always get up-to-date answers.

Resolver doesn’t charge a monthly subscription or sell AI credits. You connect your own API key from OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic and pay only for what you use, which is usually just a few cents per conversation. The free version has no limits on chats, training, or domains, and its token monitoring lets you track usage and set spending limits.

Key Features:

• AI chatbot powered by ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude models.
• Automatic retraining on edited and newly published pages.
• Bring your own API key with no monthly subscription.
• Works with the Classic Editor, Gutenberg, and page builders.
• Customizable bot name, color, and greeting.
• Full chat history for reviewing conversations.
• Token monitoring with usage limits and email alerts.
• Page-level visibility controls.

Price:

Resolver is a freemium plugin. Download the free version from WordPress.org (you’ll pay your AI platform for API usage) or buy Resolver Pro starting at $49/year.

Best for: Site owners who want an AI support agent trained on their own content, without a monthly subscription.

3. AI Engine

AI Engine by Meow Apps is one of the most feature-rich AI plugins for WordPress, and its chatbot is one of its core tools. With over 90,000 active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating, it’s also one of the most trusted.

You connect your own API key from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, or another provider, then build chatbots with custom themes, memory, and instructions. Visitors can upload files and images, and the chatbot can even hold voice conversations in real time. With the Pro version, you can feed it your own knowledge through embeddings and PDF imports, so it answers based on your content.

AI Engine goes beyond chat, too. It includes AI forms, a content studio, and a built-in MCP server that lets AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT work with your WordPress site. If you like to tinker and want full control, AI Engine is hard to beat.

Key Features:

• Chatbots powered by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, xAI, and more.
• Bring your own API key.
• Custom chatbot themes, memory, and instructions.
• File, image, and real-time voice support.
• Knowledge base with embeddings and PDF import (Pro).
• WooCommerce integration through function calling.
• Built-in MCP server, AI forms, and content tools.
• Usage limits and moderation controls.

Price:

AI Engine is free to download from WordPress.org (you pay your AI provider for usage). AI Engine Pro starts at $59/year for one site.

Best for: Developers and power users who want maximum control over their AI chatbot.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot’s free WordPress plugin brings its CRM, forms, popups, live chat, and chatbots to your site. It’s active on over 200,000 WordPress sites.

The chatbot builder needs no coding. You can start from templates for lead qualification, meeting booking, support tickets, and offline messages, then customize the questions and replies. Every conversation is saved to the visitor’s contact record in HubSpot’s free CRM, so you always have the full history when you follow up.

HubSpot also offers Breeze Customer Agent, an AI agent that answers support questions from your knowledge base. Keep in mind that Breeze is only available on Service Hub Professional and above, so the free version uses rule-based bots.

Key Features:

• No-code chatbot builder with templates.
• Bots for lead qualification, meeting booking, and support tickets.
• Live chat with handoff to your team.
• Conversations synced to the free HubSpot CRM.
• Mobile app and Slack notifications.
• Breeze AI Customer Agent on higher plans.

Price:

HubSpot’s free tools include live chat and chatbots for up to 2 users, with HubSpot branding. Service Hub Starter costs $7/seat/month (billed annually).

Best for: Businesses that want their chatbot connected to a free CRM.

5. Smartsupp

Smartsupp combines live chat, chatbots, and an AI shopping assistant, which makes it a strong choice for online stores. It runs on over 20,000 WordPress sites with a 4.7 out of 5 rating.

Its AI agent, Mira, learns from your website or product feed in a few minutes and can handle catalogs of up to 30,000 products. Mira answers questions, recommends products, and suggests upsells, and Smartsupp says it can resolve up to 80% of customer queries. When a shopper needs a person, the chat moves to your team.

Smartsupp also brings WhatsApp and Messenger into one inbox and lets you set up automated messages that greet visitors at the right moment.

Key Features:

• Mira AI shopping assistant trained on your site or product feed.
• Product recommendations and upsells inside the chat.
• Live chat with smooth human handover.
• Chatbots and automated messages.
• WhatsApp, Messenger, and email in one inbox.
• GDPR compliant.
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Price:

Smartsupp has a free plan for 1 agent with up to 25 conversations per month. Paid plans start at $17/month (billed annually), and the Mira AI agent starts at $16/month for 100 conversations.

Best for: eCommerce stores that want an AI shopping assistant.

6. Chatbot for WordPress by Collect.chat

Chatbot for WordPress by Collect.chat lets you build conversational chatbots that collect leads, run surveys, and book appointments in a friendly chat format instead of a plain form.

You can build bots from ready-made templates, or describe your goal and let the Create with AI feature build the bot for you. Bots can also reply to open questions with AI answers, and you can send the responses you collect to Google Sheets and other apps.

Collect.chat is a chatbot tool rather than a live chat tool, so it works best when you want to fully automate conversations like lead capture and bookings.

Key Features:

• Template-based conversational chatbots.
• Create with AI bot builder.
• AI answers for open questions.
• Lead capture and surveys.
• Appointment booking.
• Integrations with Google Sheets and other apps.

Price:

Collect.chat has a free forever plan with 100 responses, 50 AI answers, and 3 chatbots per month. Paid plans start at $14/month (billed yearly).

Best for: Lead generation and bookings without live agents.

7. WPBot

WPBot by QuantumCloud is a long-running WordPress chatbot plugin that has grown into a full AI assistant. It works with OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Mistral, and Dialogflow, and it can also run without AI as a simple rule-based bot.

WPBot can learn from your site content, sitemaps, and files, so its answers match your business. It also includes conversational forms, Google Calendar booking, WooCommerce product search, and cart recovery. When the bot can’t help, it can pass the chat to a human through Slack or your dashboard.

Key Features:

• Supports OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, Mistral, and more.
• Knowledge base built from site content, sitemaps, and files.
• WooCommerce product search and cart recovery.
• Conversational forms and Google Calendar booking.
• Human escalation through Slack or the dashboard.
• Voice input and output.
• Works without AI as a rule-based bot.

Price:

WPBot has a free version on WordPress.org. WPBot Pro starts at $39/year for one site.

Best for: WooCommerce stores and sites that want lots of built-in chatbot features.

8. ChatBot by Text

ChatBot is an AI customer service platform from Text, the company behind LiveChat. ChatBot, LiveChat, and HelpDesk are now unified under the Text brand, and WordPress users can connect it with the official Text: AI chatbot, live chat & ticketing plugin.

The AI agent trains on your website content and files like PDFs and Word documents using Text’s own AI, so you don’t need an API key. You can add custom skills for lead qualification, discounts, and appointments, and it supports 46 languages. When a conversation needs a person, it hands off to live chat, where AI Copilot suggests replies and summarizes chats for your agents.

Key Features:

• AI agent trained on your website and files.
• No API key needed.
• Custom skills for leads, discounts, and appointments.
• Support for 46 languages.
• Handoff to live chat with AI Copilot.
• WooCommerce cart and order context.
• Omnichannel inbox.

Price:

ChatBot has no free plan, but you can try it free for 14 days. Paid plans start at $19/user/month (billed annually) and include 10 AI resolutions per month.

Best for: Teams that want a fully managed AI agent with no API setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there free AI chatbot plugins for WordPress?

Yes. Resolver, AI Engine, and WPBot have free versions with AI built in. You connect your own API key and pay the AI provider only for what you use, often just a few cents per conversation. Tidio, Smartsupp, HubSpot, and Collect.chat also have free plans with usage limits.

What is the difference between a chatbot and live chat?

A chatbot answers automatically using AI or pre-written scripts. Live chat connects visitors with a real person on your team. Tools like Tidio, Smartsupp, and HubSpot offer both, so the bot handles simple questions and passes harder ones to a human.

Can a chatbot learn from my WordPress content?

Yes. Resolver, AI Engine (Pro), WPBot, and ChatBot by Text can all train on your pages and files. Resolver also retrains automatically whenever you edit or publish a page, so its answers stay up to date.

Conclusion

A good chatbot answers the questions your visitors ask every day, so your team can focus on the conversations that really need a person.

If you want live chat and AI in one tool, Tidio is a great all-rounder. If you’d rather train an AI agent on your own content without a monthly subscription, Resolver is the simplest option, while AI Engine gives power users the most control. HubSpot fits teams that need a free CRM, Smartsupp and WPBot are strong picks for online stores, Collect.chat is ideal for lead capture, and ChatBot by Text suits teams that want a fully managed AI agent.

Most of these plugins have a free version, so try one or two on your site and see which one your visitors respond to best.

Also Read:

• 6 Best Facebook Messenger WordPress Plugins
• 7 Best WordPress WhatsApp Plugins
• 6 Best WordPress Slack Plugins
• 7 Best AI Plugins for WordPress
• 15 Best WordPress Plugins for Business Websites

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase using any of these links, we will get a small commission without any extra cost to you.

Elementor is the most popular page builder for WordPress. It also sells managed WordPress hosting and add-ons like Elementor AI, Image Optimizer, Site Mailer and the Ally accessibility tool. Its Black Friday sale covers most of these, but the discounts vary a lot by product.

When Does the Elementor Black Friday Sale Start?

Elementor hasn’t confirmed its 2026 dates. Its last two sales followed the same pattern:

• 2024: Tuesday, November 26 to Wednesday, December 4
• 2025: Tuesday, November 25 to Wednesday, December 3

If it follows the same pattern, the 2026 sale would start around Tuesday, November 24 and run through early December. That’s our estimate, not an announcement.

Elementor Black Friday 2025 at a Glance

No coupon code was needed. Discounts were applied automatically through Elementor’s sale page.

Editor Pro: Up to 20% OFF

Elementor Pro (now called Editor Pro) unlocks the theme builder, popup builder, form builder and over 100 pro widgets. Last year’s Black Friday discounts were modest, and they grew with the plan size:

The biggest saving was on the Expert plan, which suits freelancers and small agencies.

Elementor Hosting: Up to 50% OFF

Elementor Hosting is managed WordPress hosting with Elementor Pro included, running on Google Cloud with a Cloudflare CDN.

Last year, the standard Host Cloud plans were 13% to 20% off. The “up to 50%” figure applied to the larger WooCommerce hosting plan. Today, Host Cloud starts at $15/month billed yearly, and Host Cloud 3 Sites costs $35/month.

Add-Ons: AI, Image Optimizer, Site Mailer and Ally

Elementor’s add-ons had some of the biggest discounts last year:

• Elementor AI: up to 31% off
• Image Optimizer: up to 50% off
• Site Mailer: up to 40% off
• Ally (accessibility): up to 65% off, the biggest discount of the sale

What’s New for 2026: Elementor One

In January 2026, Elementor launched Elementor One, a bundle that combines the editor, AI, image optimization, accessibility and email deliverability, with one shared pool of credits. It costs $180 for the first year for one site (renewing at $228), and One Agency costs $432 for the first year.

The old Agency plan (1,000 sites) is no longer sold, so agencies now choose between Expert and One Agency.

Elementor One didn’t exist during last year’s sale, so we don’t know yet whether it will be discounted this Black Friday.

Should You Wait for Black Friday?

It depends on what you’re buying:

• Editor Pro, Essential or Advanced Solo: the discount was small (0% to 6%) last year. If you need it now, there’s little reason to wait.
• Expert plan: 20% off is a meaningful saving if you’re buying for client sites.
• Add-ons and WooCommerce hosting: this is where the biggest Black Friday discounts were.

Elementor Pro plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so buying early carries little risk.

How to Get the Elementor Black Friday Deal

1. Go to Elementor’s pricing page using the button below.
2. Pick your plan or add-on.
3. Complete checkout. Last year, no coupon was needed: the sale price showed automatically.

Last year, existing customers could also upgrade at the sale price.

FAQ

When does the Elementor Black Friday 2026 sale start?

Elementor hasn’t announced it yet. Based on the last two years, expect it to start around Tuesday, November 24 and end in early December.

Is there an Elementor Black Friday coupon code?

No. In 2024 and 2025, discounts were applied automatically. Codes you see on coupon sites usually don’t work.

How much is Elementor Pro on Black Friday?

Last year’s discounts ranged from 6% (Advanced Solo) to 20% (Expert). The Essential plan wasn’t discounted.

Does the discount apply to renewals?

In 2024, renewals were excluded. Elementor didn’t clearly say for 2025, so expect the discount to cover new purchases and upgrades only.

Conclusion

Elementor’s Black Friday sale is worth waiting for if you want the Expert plan, an add-on, or WooCommerce hosting. For the smaller Editor Pro plans, last year’s discounts were small, so buy whenever you need it.

We’ll update this page with 2026 prices as soon as the sale goes live.

More Black Friday deals:

• Best Black Friday page builder deals
• Best Black Friday WordPress theme deals
• Best Black Friday web hosting deals

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Black Friday is the best time of the year to buy a premium WordPress theme. Most theme shops run their biggest discounts of the year, and some offer lifetime plans at a lower price than usual.

Quick answer: Based on last year, the biggest theme discounts came from Divi (up to 80% off Divi Pro) and Themify (40% off memberships plus $75 off its Lifetime Club). GeneratePress offered its full GeneratePress One bundle for $99, and Astra gave up to 40% off.

Let’s look at each deal in more detail.

1. Elegant Themes (Divi): Up to 80% OFF

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. Last year’s sale ran from November 25 to November 30, 2025.

Elegant Themes makes Divi, one of the best-known WordPress themes, which comes with its own drag-and-drop visual builder. Divi 5, a rebuilt version of the theme and builder, was released on February 26, 2026. A membership also includes the Extra theme and the Bloom and Monarch plugins.

Divi costs $89/year, or $249 for lifetime access. Divi Pro ($277/year) adds Divi AI, Divi Cloud, Divi Teams, and VIP support. Every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Last Black Friday, Elegant Themes gave up to 80% OFF Divi Pro, 70% off Divi AI and Marketplace bundles, and 44% off Divi Cloud, Teams, and VIP.

You can learn more about Divi Black Friday deals here.

2. Astra: Up to 40% OFF

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. Last year’s sale ran from November 17 to December 5, 2025.

Astra is one of the most popular WordPress themes, with over 1 million active installs on WordPress.org. It’s lightweight, beginner-friendly, and works with WooCommerce and all the major page builders. Astra also offers 300+ starter templates you can import in a few clicks.

Astra Pro starts at $99 for the first year (renewing at $149/year), and the Essential and Business Toolkit bundles add more templates and plugins. Lifetime plans are available too, and every plan has a 14-day refund window.

Last Black Friday, Astra gave up to 40% OFF its annual and lifetime plans. The discount was applied automatically, with no coupon needed.

3. GeneratePress: GeneratePress One for $99

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. Last year’s deal ended on December 1, 2025.

GeneratePress is a lightweight, ultra-fast theme that suits blogs, business sites, and agencies alike. The base theme is free on WordPress.org. GP Premium ($59/year) adds more customization options and 60+ starter sites.

Its full bundle, GeneratePress One ($149/year), includes GP Premium, GenerateBlocks Pro (a block builder for designing pages without code), and GenerateCloud. GeneratePress stopped selling lifetime licenses in June 2024, and it offers a 30-day refund policy.

Last Black Friday, GeneratePress offered GeneratePress One for $99 for the first year, down from $149.

You can learn more about GeneratePress Black Friday deals here.

4. OceanWP: 2026 Deal TBA

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. We couldn’t confirm OceanWP’s 2025 Black Friday deal on its official site, so we’ll add details once its 2026 sale goes live.

OceanWP is a free multipurpose theme with over 400,000 active installs. It works with Elementor and other popular page builders (Elementor is not included), and it’s fully compatible with WooCommerce.

The OceanWP Core Extensions Bundle adds premium features and 200+ pro demo templates. It starts at $34/year for one site (or $136 for lifetime access) and goes up to $104/year for the Agency plan, which covers up to 300 sites. OceanWP offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

5. aThemes: 2026 Deal TBA

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. We couldn’t confirm aThemes’ 2025 Black Friday deal on its official site.

aThemes makes two popular themes: Sydney, a multipurpose business theme, and Botiga, a WooCommerce theme. It also sells Merchant, a WooCommerce plugin, and aThemes Addons for Elementor. Every product has a free version, and the Pro versions add more features.

The All Access Pass gives you every aThemes product in one plan. Right now, aThemes shows about 20% off the first year on all its plans, and it offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

6. Themify: 40% OFF + $75 OFF Lifetime

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. Last year’s sale ran from November 24 to December 2, 2025.

Themify has been making WordPress themes and plugins since 2010. Its club gives you 42 themes, the Themify Builder, 25 Builder Addons, and 11 plugins. Ultra is one of its most popular themes.

The Master Club costs $89/year, and the Lifetime Club costs $249 one time. Both come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Last Black Friday, Themify gave 40% OFF its regular memberships, including renewals (code BF2025), and $75 OFF the Lifetime Club (code BF25LIFE). Themify ran the same discount for its 16th anniversary in August 2026, so expect something similar this Black Friday.

7. WPZOOM: 35% OFF Lifetime Pass

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. WPZOOM’s Black Friday page still shows last year’s ended sale.

WPZOOM makes modern, beginner-friendly themes for businesses, magazines, blogs, restaurants, and portfolios, with one-click demo imports.

All WPZOOM plans include its 30 themes and 8 plugins and can be used on unlimited sites. The All Themes Package costs $99/year, the All Access Pass costs $139/year, and the Lifetime All Access Pass costs $499. WPZOOM offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Last Black Friday, WPZOOM gave 35% OFF its Lifetime All Access Pass (limited to 100 licenses), 40% off Inspiro Premium, and 50% off Recipe Card Blocks PRO, applied automatically at checkout.

8. Kadence: 30% OFF

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. Last year’s sale ran from November 18 to December 2, 2025.

Kadence is a fast, block-based theme that pairs with the Kadence Blocks plugin, letting you design every part of your site without code. The base theme is free.

In May 2026, Kadence moved under Liquid Web (it was previously part of StellarWP), and Kadence products are now sold through Liquid Web’s site. Lifetime plans are no longer available to new buyers.

Last Black Friday, Kadence gave 30% OFF its annual bundles for new customers and 25% off early renewals for existing customers.

You can learn more about Kadence Black Friday deals here.

9. StudioPress: 2026 Deal TBA

Black Friday 2026 status: Not announced yet. StudioPress deals now run through WP Engine, and we couldn’t confirm a 2025 Black Friday deal.

StudioPress makes themes for the Genesis Framework, which is now free. Since 2021, StudioPress themes are no longer sold one by one. Instead, you get all 10 StudioPress themes with a Genesis Pro subscription.

Genesis Pro costs $360/year, covers unlimited sites, and doesn’t require WP Engine hosting. It also comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, longer than most theme shops.

Final Thoughts

Black Friday is the best time to buy a premium WordPress theme, but most of these companies haven’t announced their 2026 deals yet. Based on last year, Divi, Themify, and GeneratePress are the ones to watch if you want the biggest savings.

We’ll update this page as each 2026 deal goes live, so check back in mid to late November. Which theme are you planning to buy? Let us know in the comments.

Related Posts

• Divi Black Friday Sale
• Best Black Friday Page Builder Deals
• Best Black Friday Web Hosting Deals
• Best Black Friday VPS Hosting Deals
• Best Black Friday Dedicated Server Deals
• Best Black Friday Domain Offers

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase using any of these links, we will get a small commission without any extra cost to you.

Customers love buying from websites that answer quickly. And for billions of people, the quickest way to ask a question is WhatsApp.

A WordPress WhatsApp plugin adds a chat button to your site. Visitors tap it, WhatsApp opens with a ready-to-send message, and the conversation continues in the app they already use every day. You can answer questions, take orders, share offers, and stay in touch long after they leave your website.

The tricky part is choosing one. Some plugins add a simple button and nothing else. Others add multiple agents, WooCommerce order buttons, lead forms and analytics. And a few plugins from the old version of this list have stopped getting updates, so we replaced them.

Quick answer: Joinchat is the best WordPress WhatsApp plugin for most sites, with 700,000+ active installs and the most capable free version. Social Chat is a strong pick if you want customers to order through WhatsApp at checkout. ChatHelp is the best fit for WooCommerce stores that want WhatsApp buttons from the shop page to the thank-you page, plus lead tracking. Chaty is best if you also use Messenger, Telegram or other chat apps.

Below, we break down all 7, including what the free version actually does, what the paid version adds, and who each one is best for.

Quick Comparison

All 7 plugins have a free version on WordPress.org. The table shows where they differ.

How We Evaluated These Plugins

Most WhatsApp plugins look the same at first glance: a green button in the corner. The differences show up once real customers start using them. Here is what we judged each one on:

• Is it still maintained? We only included plugins that are available on WordPress.org and updated in 2026. Two plugins from the old version of this list are gone: one had not been updated in over a year, and the other had not been updated since 2021.
• What the free version really does. Some free versions are complete. Others give you a button and keep everything useful behind a paywall.
• One number or a team. Whether you can show several agents, such as sales and support, and set their working hours.
• WooCommerce support. Whether it adds WhatsApp buttons to product, cart or checkout pages and fills in product details automatically.
• Leads and tracking. Whether it saves inquiries in WordPress and tracks clicks in Google Analytics or its own dashboard.
• Price and licensing. Yearly vs lifetime, and how many sites one license covers.

Now, let’s look at each plugin in detail.

1. Joinchat

Joinchat by Creame is the most installed WhatsApp plugin on WordPress.org, with more than 700,000 active installs and a 4.7 out of 5 rating from 189 reviews. It is actively maintained, and the latest version was released in October 2026.

It adds a floating WhatsApp button that opens the WhatsApp app on mobile. On desktop, it opens WhatsApp Web or the desktop app and can show a QR code that visitors scan with their phone. Above the button, you can show a call-to-action message with chat bubbles, links, buttons and images to greet visitors or promote an offer.

The free version goes further than most. Start messages use dynamic variables such as the page title, product name, price and discount, so you know exactly what a visitor was looking at when they wrote to you. You can change the number, message and visibility on any post, page, product or category. It also adds a WooCommerce button next to Add to Cart, a WhatsApp button block for the block editor, a clicks counter in your dashboard, and events for Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel and Google Ads. Everything loads without jQuery, so it stays light.

Joinchat Premium adds multiple support agents with their own schedules, more contact channels such as Telegram, Messenger and phone calls, Chat Funnels that work like a simple chatbot to qualify leads, and show or hide rules by country. Premium Plus adds lead saving in WordPress and webhooks for tools like Zapier and Google Sheets. There is also Joinchat AI, a monthly subscription that answers visitor questions with an AI agent trained on your website content.

Here is what to weigh. The free version supports one WhatsApp number, so teams with separate sales and support lines need Premium. Paid plans are yearly subscriptions priced in euros, and the lead capture tools sit in the higher Premium Plus tier.

Verdict: The best all-round WordPress WhatsApp plugin, with the largest user base and the most capable free version.

Key features:

• Floating WhatsApp button with a QR code on desktop
• Call-to-action messages with chat bubbles, links, buttons and images
• Dynamic start messages with page and WooCommerce product details
• Custom number, message and visibility per post, page, product or category
• WooCommerce button next to Add to Cart
• WhatsApp button block and chat triggers for any link
• Clicks counter plus GA4, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel and Google Ads events
• Multiple support agents and more contact channels (Premium)
• Chat Funnels and country targeting (Premium)
• Lead saving and webhooks (Premium Plus)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Joinchat Premium costs €96 a year for 1 site. Premium Plus costs €180 a year for 1 site, €240 for 5 sites and €480 for 20 sites. Joinchat AI is a separate monthly subscription at €49 a month. Prices exclude tax. 14-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Most WordPress sites and WooCommerce stores that want a fast, reliable WhatsApp button with smart messages.

2. Social Chat

Social Chat by QuadLayers, formerly WP Social Chat, is one of the most active WhatsApp plugins on WordPress.org. It has more than 200,000 active installs, a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 695 reviews, and frequent updates, with the latest in October 2026.

It adds a WhatsApp button with a pre-set first message, plus an optional contact box that shows your name, avatar and a short welcome message. You can switch between two button layouts, pick colors and a custom icon, and hide the button on certain post types or categories. Message variables add the site name, page title and page URL for you.

WooCommerce support is a strength. The free version can add a WhatsApp button on single product pages, before or after Add to Cart, and on shop, category, tag and brand pages. Product variables such as the name, price and SKU go into the message automatically.

The premium version adds multiple agents, a chat box for each agent where visitors type their first message, business hours, a GDPR consent checkbox, WhatsApp group links and Google Analytics events. It also adds a WhatsApp payment option for WooCommerce: customers choose WhatsApp Order at checkout, and the order details are sent straight to your WhatsApp. A no-code chatbot builder is also available in beta.

Here is what to weigh. The free version supports one contact only, and business hours, multiple agents and GDPR consent are premium. A few recent reviewers also complained about upgrade prompts and the screen that appears when you deactivate the plugin.

Verdict: The best pick for WooCommerce stores that want customers to order through WhatsApp, backed by a strong free version and a large, happy user base.

Key features:

• WhatsApp button with a pre-set first message
• Contact box with name, avatar and welcome message
• Two button layouts, custom colors and custom icon
• Dynamic variables for site, page and product details
• WooCommerce buttons on product, shop, category, tag and brand pages
• Shortcodes for buttons and contact boxes
• Multiple agents with individual chat boxes (Premium)
• Business hours, GDPR consent and WhatsApp groups (Premium)
• WhatsApp Order payment option for WooCommerce checkout (Premium)
• Google Analytics events and chatbot builder (Premium)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Social Chat Premium costs $49 a year for 1 site, $99 a year for 5 sites and $149 a year for unlimited sites. Lifetime plans cost $99, $199 and $299. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: WooCommerce stores and service businesses that want a polished WhatsApp button now and WhatsApp ordering at checkout later.

3. ChatHelp

ChatHelp by ThemeAtelier is a flexible WhatsApp chat plugin that helps businesses connect with website visitors, answer customer questions and receive product inquiries through WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. It is newer than the plugins above, with 2,000+ active installs and a 4.4 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org, and it is updated often, with the latest release in September 2026.

Unlike basic WhatsApp button plugins, ChatHelp gives you several chat layouts. You can show a simple floating button, a single agent card, a pre-chat welcome message, or a short contact form that collects visitor details before the chat starts. Visitors can reach your personal WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business, or a WhatsApp Group link.

It has the widest WooCommerce coverage on this list. You can add WhatsApp buttons to the shop, product, cart, checkout and order confirmation pages, so customers can ask a question or place an order at any step. Pre-filled messages can include the product name, price, SKU, stock status, page URL, and even cart and order details automatically.

ChatHelp also goes beyond the button. Form submissions can be saved as leads that you search, filter and export to CSV, and a built-in analytics dashboard tracks visitors, chat views, conversions and leads. You can create multiple chat widgets and assign each one to specific pages, posts or products, set working hours and time zones, and add a GDPR consent checkbox. Buttons can go anywhere with a shortcode, a Gutenberg block or an Elementor widget, and the design is fully adjustable: colors, typography, icons, tooltips, animations and position.

The Pro version unlocks multi-agent layouts in a list or grid, a multi-agent form, unlimited form fields, dark mode, thousands of extra icons, separate positions for desktop and mobile, advanced visibility rules, webhooks, and country, page and browser reports in the analytics dashboard.

Here is what to weigh. ChatHelp has a much smaller user base than Joinchat or Social Chat, so there are fewer reviews to judge it by. And multiple agents, the feature support teams usually want most, are Pro only.

Verdict: The best choice for online stores that want WhatsApp buttons across the whole shopping journey, with lead management and analytics built in.

Key features:

• Floating chat bubble with single agent, floating button, pre-chat message and contact form layouts
• Personal WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Group support
• WooCommerce buttons on shop, product, cart, checkout and order confirmation pages
• Dynamic pre-filled messages with product name, price, SKU, stock status and page URL
• Contact form with lead management and CSV export
• Built-in analytics for visitors, chat views, conversions and leads
• Shortcode, Gutenberg block and Elementor widget
• Availability schedules, page-level visibility and GDPR consent
• Multi-agent list, grid and form layouts (Pro)
• Webhooks, dark mode and advanced visibility rules (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. ChatHelp Pro costs $39 a year for 1 site, $79 a year for 5 sites and $139 a year for unlimited sites. Lifetime plans start at $119 for 1 site. At the time of writing, all plans were discounted. 14-day money-back guarantee. See the ChatHelp website for current plans.

Best for: Online stores, service businesses and any site that wants to turn WhatsApp chats into tracked leads and orders.

4. Chaty

Chaty by Premio is a floating chat widget with more than 300,000 active installs and a perfect 5 out of 5 rating from over 1,200 reviews. It is actively maintained, with the latest update in October 2026.

Chaty is not WhatsApp only. It lets visitors reach you on more than 20 channels, including WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, TikTok, Line, WeChat, Viber, SMS, email and phone calls. Visitors pick the app they prefer from one floating button.

For WhatsApp, the free version includes a chat popup that looks like a WhatsApp window, so visitors start typing on your site before they are sent to WhatsApp. You also get a contact form channel, display triggers (time delay, scroll and exit intent), attention effects, different channels for mobile and desktop, and a choice between wa.me and desktop links.

Chaty Pro adds agents (for example, separate WhatsApp contacts for sales and support), multiple widgets, page, country and traffic source targeting, opening hours, date scheduling, widget analytics, and pre-set WhatsApp messages with merge tags such as the page title, URL and WooCommerce product name.

Here is what to weigh. If you only need WhatsApp, Chaty can feel like more than you need. Several WhatsApp extras, such as pre-set messages and multiple agents, require Pro. And it focuses on the floating widget, so it does not add WhatsApp buttons inside your WooCommerce product pages.

Verdict: The best choice if you want WhatsApp alongside Messenger, Telegram, phone and other channels in one widget.

Key features:

• 20+ chat channels in one floating widget
• WhatsApp chat popup that looks like a WhatsApp window
• Contact form channel
• Display triggers and attention effects
• Different channels for mobile and desktop
• Custom chat buttons that link anywhere
• Multiple agents per channel (Pro)
• Pre-set WhatsApp messages with merge tags (Pro)
• Page, country and traffic source targeting (Pro)
• Widget analytics, opening hours and date scheduling (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Chaty Pro costs $59 a year for 1 site or $89 for 2 years. A lifetime license costs $169 for 1 site, and plans for 5 to 1,000 sites are also available. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Businesses that talk to customers on several messaging apps, not just WhatsApp.

5. WP Chat App

WP Chat App by NinjaTeam, the team behind FileBird, has more than 100,000 active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 221 reviews. It is tested with WordPress 7.1.

Its standout feature is free multiple agents. You can add several WhatsApp accounts, each with a name, job title, greeting and pre-filled message, and show them all in one floating widget. Visitors choose who they want to talk to, such as sales or support.

For WooCommerce, it adds an Order on WhatsApp button after Add to Cart and lets you pick a specific agent for each product. You can also place WhatsApp buttons anywhere with a shortcode or a Gutenberg block. It works with caching plugins, supports WPML and Polylang, and includes a GDPR checkbox.

The Pro version adds working hours and avatars for each agent, more WooCommerce button positions, and event tracking for Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel. A nice touch: when an agent is offline, the widget tells visitors how long until they are back.

Here is what to weigh. Updates come less often than with the plugins above, and the last release was in May 2026. And working hours, which most support teams want, are Pro only.

Verdict: The best free option for teams that want multiple WhatsApp agents without paying.

Key features:

• Multiple agent accounts in the free version
• Agent name, title, greeting and pre-filled message
• WooCommerce Order on WhatsApp button
• Specific agent for each product
• Shortcode and Gutenberg block
• Works with caching plugins
• WPML, Polylang and RTL support
• GDPR checkbox
• Working hours and avatars (Pro)
• GA4, Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel tracking (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. WP Chat App Pro costs $29 a year for 1 site (discounted from $39), $69 a year for 5 sites and $199 a year for unlimited sites. Lifetime plans start at $49 for 1 site (discounted from $89). It is also sold on CodeCanyon.

Best for: Small teams that want several WhatsApp contacts in one widget using a free plugin.

6. FormyChat

FormyChat by WPPOOL, formerly Easy Form to Chat, takes a different approach. Instead of only opening a chat, it sends contact form submissions straight to your WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. It has 3,000+ active installs and a 5 out of 5 rating, and it is actively maintained, with the latest update at the end of September 2026.

Visitors click a floating WhatsApp icon, fill in a short form, and are sent to WhatsApp with their details already in the message. Every submission is also saved as a lead in your WordPress dashboard, so you keep a record even if the chat goes nowhere.

It works with the forms you may already use. You can connect Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms and Fluent Forms, either as a floating form or embedded on a page. Recent updates added WhatsApp group support, a WooCommerce button with product details, reCAPTCHA and Cloudflare Turnstile spam protection, and separate display controls for mobile and desktop.

FormyChat Ultimate adds multiple widgets and agents, smart triggers (time delay, scroll and exit intent), lead filtering and CSV export, email notifications, FluentCRM, Mailchimp and Google Sheets integrations, and Google Tag Manager click tracking.

Here is what to weigh. FormyChat is built around forms, so if you just want a one-click chat button, the plugins above are simpler. It also has very few reviews so far, and sending Contact Form 7 entries to WhatsApp needs a working email (SMTP) setup on your site.

Verdict: The best choice if you want contact form leads delivered to WhatsApp and saved in WordPress.

Key features:

• Sends contact form submissions to WhatsApp
• Floating WhatsApp icon with a popup form
• Works with Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms and Fluent Forms
• Leads saved in your WordPress dashboard
• WhatsApp group support
• Merge tags and preset messages
• WooCommerce button with product details
• reCAPTCHA and Cloudflare Turnstile spam protection
• Smart triggers and multiple agents (Ultimate)
• CSV export, email alerts, CRM and Google Sheets sync (Ultimate)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. FormyChat Ultimate lifetime plans cost $147 for 1 site, $237 for 5 sites and $447 for 500 sites. At the time of writing, they were discounted to $89, $139 and $329. Annual plans are also offered. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Service businesses and agencies that collect inquiries through forms and want them on WhatsApp.

7. Buttonizer

Buttonizer is a floating button builder with more than 70,000 active installs and a 4.5 out of 5 rating from 151 reviews. It was last updated in September 2026.

WhatsApp is one of more than 40 click actions. You can build a single floating WhatsApp button, or a floating menu that opens into several buttons, such as WhatsApp, call, email, SMS, Messenger, Google Maps and back to top. It also includes a WhatsApp chat widget with a popup, support for multiple WhatsApp numbers, a contact form and social sharing buttons.

Styling is flexible. You control colors, labels, Font Awesome icons, positions and animations, and you can show different buttons on mobile and desktop or only after a visitor scrolls. New accounts also get Formilla live chat and a popup builder.

Paid plans add page rules, time schedules, custom JavaScript, an iframe widget, contact form webhooks and higher usage limits.

Here is what to weigh. Buttonizer now runs on its own hosted platform, so you need a Buttonizer account and your buttons are managed in their dashboard. Plans are limited by monthly pageviews, and a few reviewers say the limits feel tight for busy sites. If you want everything to stay inside WordPress, choose one of the plugins above.

Verdict: The best pick if you want WhatsApp as part of a multi-button floating menu rather than a standalone chat button.

Key features:

• 40+ click actions, including WhatsApp
• Floating menus that hold several buttons
• WhatsApp chat widget with a popup
• Click to call, SMS, email and Messenger buttons
• Show buttons on scroll or after a delay
• Different buttons for mobile and desktop
• Google Analytics click tracking
• Formilla live chat and popup builder
• Page rules and time schedules (Paid)
• Custom JavaScript and iframe widget (Paid)

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans are billed by monthly pageviews. Check the Buttonizer website for current prices.

Best for: Sites that want one floating menu for WhatsApp, calls, email and other actions.

FAQs

Conclusion

The right WhatsApp plugin comes down to two questions: how many people will answer chats, and do you sell through WooCommerce?

For most sites, start with Joinchat. Its free version covers the essentials, and Premium adds agents and chat funnels when you need them. If you run an online store, ChatHelp puts WhatsApp buttons on every step from the shop page to the thank-you page and tracks your leads, while Social Chat lets customers order through WhatsApp at checkout.

If you use several messaging apps, Chaty puts them all in one widget. WP Chat App is the best way to show multiple agents for free, FormyChat sends your form leads to WhatsApp, and Buttonizer fits sites that want WhatsApp inside a bigger floating menu.

Whichever you pick, test the button on your phone and on a desktop before you call it done. Make sure your number is in international format and the pre-filled message reads well, because that first message is the start of every conversation.

Are you using a WhatsApp plugin that is not on this list? Tell us about it in the comments.

Related Posts:

• Best Free Live Chat Plugins for WordPress
• Best WordPress Facebook Chat Plugins
• Best WordPress Chatbot Plugins
• Best Click to Call WordPress Plugins
• Best Floating Button WordPress Plugins

Most of your visitors already use dark mode on their phones and laptops. Then they land on your WordPress site and get hit with a bright white page at midnight. Not a great first impression.

A WordPress dark mode plugin fixes that. It adds a dark version of your site and a small switch so visitors can choose light or dark. Many plugins also follow the visitor’s device setting automatically, so dark mode users get a dark site without clicking anything.

The tricky part is choosing one. Some plugins are actively developed, while others have quietly stopped getting updates or been pulled from WordPress.org. Some darken only your public site, while others also darken your WordPress dashboard and editor. And “free” can mean very different things from one plugin to the next.

Quick answer: WP Dark Mode is the best WordPress dark mode plugin for most sites, with 20,000+ active installs and the most complete free version. Darkify is the best pick if you also want dark mode in your dashboard and editors, with Pro from $39 a year. Darklup adds a built-in accessibility panel, and DarkLooks is the best completely free option.

Below, we break down all 6, including what the free version actually does, what Pro adds, and who each one is best for. All prices were checked on 12 October 2026.

Quick Comparison

All 6 plugins have a free version on WordPress.org. The table shows where they differ.

How We Evaluated These Plugins

Dark mode plugins look alike on a feature list. The differences show up once they are running on a real site. Here is what we judged each one on:

• Is it still maintained? We only included plugins that are available on WordPress.org and tested with a recent WordPress version. Two plugins from the old version of this list are gone: one was closed by WordPress.org for a security issue, and another has not been tested with the last three major WordPress releases.
• What the free version really does. Some free versions are complete. Others give you a toggle and lock everything useful behind Pro.
• Frontend vs admin. Whether it darkens only your public site, or your dashboard and editor too.
• How it looks on real content. Whether you can tame bright images, keep brand colors, and exclude pages or elements that should stay light.
• Automatic switching. Whether it can follow the visitor’s device setting or switch on a schedule.
• Price and licensing. Yearly vs lifetime, and how many sites one license covers.

Now, let’s look at each plugin in detail.

1. WP Dark Mode

WP Dark Mode by WPPOOL is the most popular dedicated dark mode plugin for WordPress, with more than 20,000 active installs and a 4.5 out of 5 rating from 390 reviews on WordPress.org. It is updated often, and the latest version was released at the end of September 2026.

It works the moment you activate it. Visitors whose device is set to dark mode see a dark version of your site automatically, and everyone else gets a floating switch to toggle between light and dark. The plugin remembers each visitor’s choice, so they do not have to switch again on every page.

The free version is the most complete on this list. It includes dark mode for your WordPress dashboard, a Gutenberg block and an Elementor widget for placing the switch, a shortcode, lower image brightness in dark mode, a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + Alt + D) and basic usage analytics. Recent updates added native switch elements for Divi, WPBakery, SiteOrigin and Themify Builder too.

The paid version, WP Dark Mode Ultimate, is where the design control lives. You get scheduled and sunset-based dark mode, many more switch styles and color presets, an AI tool that creates a color preset from a text description, separate images and videos for dark mode, and rules to exclude pages, posts, elements or WooCommerce products.

Here is what to weigh. The free version gives you only two color presets and a couple of switch styles, so matching dark mode to your brand usually means upgrading. It also ships a social share buttons module, which is useful for some sites but has nothing to do with dark mode.

Verdict: The best all-round WordPress dark mode plugin, with the most generous free version and the largest user base.

Key features:

• Automatic dark mode based on the visitor’s device setting
• Floating switch, Gutenberg block, Elementor widget and shortcode
• Dark mode for the WordPress admin dashboard
• Remembers each visitor’s preference
• Lower image brightness in dark mode
• Keyboard shortcut and dark mode usage analytics
• Scheduled and sunset-based dark mode (Pro)
• AI color preset generator and custom presets (Pro)
• Separate dark mode images and videos (Pro)
• Exclude pages, posts, elements and WooCommerce products (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. WP Dark Mode Ultimate currently costs $99 for 1 site, $169 for 5 sites and $349 for 500 sites as one-time payments, discounted from $147, $267 and $537. Yearly billing is also offered. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Most WordPress sites, especially if you want a strong free version and plan to upgrade for full design control later.

2. Darkify

If you want a flexible and lightweight way to add dark mode to both your website and your admin area, Darkify by ThemeAtelier is a great option. Visitors can switch between light and dark, while you control how dark mode looks and behaves across the frontend, the dashboard and the editors. It has a 4.7 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org and is updated regularly, with the latest release in September 2026.

What sets it apart is admin and editor coverage. You can turn dark mode on separately for the WordPress dashboard, the block editor (Gutenberg) and the Classic Editor. So you can write in a dark editor while the rest of the dashboard stays light, or the other way around. It also supports multisite, with settings applied network-wide or per site.

Setup feels modern. The React-powered settings panel shows a live preview of your own site, with desktop and mobile views, and a settings search (Ctrl + K) jumps you straight to any option. Dark mode can follow the visitor’s device setting, run on a schedule, or be switched by hand, and it works with popular themes, page builders and WooCommerce without editing theme files.

For finer control, you get multiple switch designs, color presets, image and video brightness and grayscale controls, page and element-level targeting, a Gutenberg block and an Elementor widget for the switch, and settings export and import for moving your setup to another site.

Here is what to weigh. Darkify has a smaller user base than WP Dark Mode (900+ active installs), so it has less of a track record. Its dark mode engine handles every element on the page, which works well on most sites, but if your theme is heavily customized, test it on a staging site first.

Verdict: The best choice if you want dark mode in your WordPress dashboard and editors as well as on your site, with a modern, visual settings panel.

Key features:

• React-powered settings panel with live preview, responsive preview modes and settings search
• Separate dark mode for the frontend, dashboard, Gutenberg and Classic Editor
• Automatic dark mode based on device setting, or on a schedule
• Floating switch, menu switch, shortcode, Gutenberg block and Elementor widget
• Image and video brightness and grayscale controls
• Include or exclude pages, posts, HTML elements, classes or IDs
• Works with Astra, Kadence, GeneratePress, Blocksy, Hello Elementor, Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, Beaver Builder and Oxygen
• Multisite support and settings export and import
• 16+ switch designs, 11 color presets and a draggable switch (Pro)
• Separate dark mode images and videos, and custom CSS (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Darkify Pro costs $39 a year for 1 site, $79 a year for 5 sites and $130 a year for unlimited sites. Lifetime plans start at $119 for 1 site. 14-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Site owners who want dark mode across the frontend, dashboard and editors, and anyone who prefers to see changes live before saving them.

3. Darklup

Darklup by WPCommerz is a freemium dark mode plugin that recently grew into something more: version 4.0 added a built-in accessibility panel. It has more than 1,000 active installs and a 4.5 out of 5 rating from 44 reviews on WordPress.org.

On the dark mode side, Darklup uses what it calls Dynamic Color Mode. It looks at each element on your page (backgrounds, text, buttons, images) and picks a suitable dark color for it, so most sites look reasonable without any manual color work. The free version covers both your website and your WordPress dashboard, and it includes OS-based and time-based dark mode, 15+ switch styles, a repositionable floating switch, and image controls for brightness, contrast, opacity and sepia.

The accessibility panel is the standout. Pick the Accessibility Switch style and visitors get a small toolbar where they can turn on dark mode, raise contrast, enlarge text, switch to a more readable font, highlight links or stop animations. Their choices are remembered across pages. Monochrome, reading mask, font weight and a few other modules are Pro.

Here is what to weigh. Several useful controls, such as custom colors, custom CSS, the menu switch, a dark mode logo and WooCommerce exclusions, are Pro only. A few reviewers also mention needing exclusions or custom CSS to make certain blocks readable, so check your key pages after turning it on.

Verdict: The best pick if you want dark mode and basic accessibility tools from one plugin, with both frontend and dashboard dark mode free.

Key features:

• Dynamic Color Mode that picks a dark color for each element automatically
• Frontend and admin dashboard dark mode
• OS-based and time-based dark mode
• 15+ switch styles and a repositionable floating switch
• Gutenberg, Elementor and WordPress widget for the switch
• Image brightness, contrast, opacity and sepia controls
• Accessibility panel with contrast, bigger text, readable font, highlight links and stop animations
• Custom colors, custom CSS, menu switch and dark mode logo (Pro)
• WooCommerce product and category exclusions (Pro)
• Extra accessibility modules such as reading mask and monochrome (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Darklup Pro costs $49 a year for 1 site, $119 a year for 10 sites and $499 a year for 1,000 sites. Lifetime plans start at $179 for 3 sites. At the time of writing, yearly plans were discounted by 30% to 50%. 14-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Sites that care about accessibility and want visitors to control contrast and text size as well as dark mode.

4. Dark Reader

Dark Reader is a lightweight dark mode plugin from BdThemes, the team behind Element Pack and Prime Slider. It is not the same thing as the popular Dark Reader browser extension. This one is a WordPress plugin that adds dark mode to your site for every visitor. It is newer, with 200+ active installs and a perfect 5 out of 5 rating from 5 reviews on WordPress.org, and it is actively maintained, with the latest update in late September 2026.

Its free version leans toward reading comfort. Alongside the dark mode switch, you can adjust brightness and contrast, add a warm sepia tone or a grayscale filter, choose between a softer Dimmed mode and a full Dark mode, and add a thin text outline so text stays sharp on dark backgrounds. It can follow the visitor’s device setting, apply dark mode to embedded PDFs, and load dark mode before the page appears so there is no white flash.

The free version also gives you 5 toggle styles, a shortcode for placing the switch anywhere, and settings export and import. It works with Elementor, WPBakery and Divi, and with caching plugins.

Here is what to weigh. Compared with the plugins above, more of the basics sit behind Pro: admin dashboard dark mode, scheduled dark mode, exclusions, image and video handling, custom CSS, and the Gutenberg and Elementor switch widgets. The small user base also means fewer real-world reports to learn from.

Verdict: A clean, lightweight option with useful reading filters in the free version, best for content sites that want a simple dark mode done well.

Key features:

• Brightness, contrast, sepia and grayscale controls
• Dimmed and Dark filter modes, plus text stroke for legibility
• Follows the visitor’s device setting
• No white flash before dark mode loads
• Dark mode for embedded PDF files
• 5 toggle styles, corner positioning and a shortcode
• Settings export and import
• Time, date and sunset scheduling (Pro)
• Admin dashboard dark mode (Pro)
• Exclusions, custom CSS, image and video handling, and Gutenberg and Elementor widgets (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Dark Reader Pro costs $39 a year for 1 site, $79 a year for 5 sites and $149 a year for unlimited sites. 60-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Blogs and content sites that want lightweight dark mode with reading comfort filters.

5. Dark Mode Toggle

If you want a straightforward way to let visitors switch dark mode on and off, try Dark Mode Toggle by ScriptsTown. As the name suggests, it does one job: it adds a simple toggle button that switches your site between light and dark. It has more than 2,000 active installs, a 4.6 out of 5 rating, and it is kept up to date, with testing for WordPress 7.1.

It is ready to use out of the box and works with any theme and page builder. You can change the button’s position, width, height and corner radius, make it sticky, and add a smooth transition animation. The plugin remembers each visitor’s choice, so dark mode stays on as they move from page to page. It is also very light, so it adds almost nothing to your page load.

The Pro version adds dark mode for the WordPress dashboard and post editor, custom button images and emoji labels, custom button colors and font size, different images for light and dark mode, dark mode by default, and matching the visitor’s device setting on their first visit.

Here is what to weigh. Dark Mode Toggle creates dark mode by flipping your site’s colors rather than letting you design a dark color palette, so you have little control over the exact colors. If an image or block looks wrong, you need to add a CSS class to it to exclude it. And following the visitor’s device setting, which most plugins here include for free, is Pro only.

Verdict: The simplest option here, ideal if you just want a lightweight switch and do not need fine control over colors.

Key features:

• Simple dark mode toggle that works out of the box
• Sticky button with position, size and corner radius settings
• Smooth switching animation
• Remembers each visitor’s choice
• Exclude elements by adding a CSS class
• Very lightweight
• Dark mode for the dashboard and post editor (Pro)
• Custom button image, emoji label, colors and font size (Pro)
• Dark mode by default and device setting matching (Pro)

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org. Dark Mode Toggle Pro is a one-time payment of $29 for 1 site (discounted from $39), $49 for 5 sites or $79 for multiple sites.

Best for: Small blogs and simple sites that want a fast, no-fuss dark mode switch.

6. DarkLooks

DarkLooks by ThemeLooks is the only plugin on this list with no paid version at all. Every feature is free. It has 800+ active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org, and reviewers often point out how light it is compared with heavier dark mode plugins.

For a free plugin, it packs in a lot. You get a floating switch you can place in any corner, 5 switch styles, 9 color presets plus custom colors, automatic dark mode based on the visitor’s device setting, a time schedule, and dark mode as the default if you want it. It also lets you set a separate dark mode logo and images, lower image brightness, adjust the body font size in dark mode, and add custom CSS. It remembers each visitor’s choice and works with WooCommerce.

The latest update added WordPress 7.0 support and more options for how colors are converted to dark mode.

Here is what to weigh. DarkLooks only darkens your public website, not the WordPress dashboard. Updates come less often than with the other plugins here, and with no paid version, support depends on a small team’s goodwill, so it is a better fit for personal sites than for client or business-critical ones.

Verdict: The best completely free WordPress dark mode plugin, with features many others keep behind a paywall.

Key features:

• 100% free, with no Pro version
• Floating switch with 5 styles and a choice of corner
• 9 color presets and custom colors
• Automatic dark mode based on device setting, plus a time schedule
• Separate dark mode logo and images, and image brightness control
• Dark mode font size setting and custom CSS
• Remembers each visitor’s choice
• WooCommerce compatible and translation ready

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org.

Best for: Personal blogs and small sites that want a capable dark mode without paying anything.

FAQs

Conclusion

The right dark mode plugin comes down to two questions: where do you want dark mode, and how much control do you need over how it looks?

For most sites, start with WP Dark Mode. Its free version covers the essentials, including dashboard dark mode, and Ultimate unlocks full design control when you need it. If you want dark mode across your dashboard and editors too, with a live preview while you set it up, go with Darkify. If accessibility matters to your audience, Darklup gives visitors contrast and text size controls alongside dark mode.

If you want something lighter, Dark Reader adds useful reading filters, and Dark Mode Toggle is the simplest switch you can install. And if your budget is zero, DarkLooks is the best completely free option.

Whichever you pick, check your homepage, a blog post and any pricing or checkout page in dark mode before you call it done. Logos, images and brand colors are where dark mode most often goes wrong, and every plugin here gives you a way to fix them.

Are you using a dark mode plugin that is not on this list? Tell us about it in the comments.

Related Posts:

• Best WordPress Footer Plugins
• Best WordPress Banner Plugins
• Best WordPress CSS Editor Plugins
• Best GDPR Cookie Consent Notice WordPress Plugins

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase using any of these links, we will get a small commission without any extra cost to you. Thanks for your support.

Akismet has been the default answer to WordPress spam for years, and it still works. The catch is the price. It is free only for personal, non-commercial sites, so the moment your site sells something, runs ads or promotes a business, Akismet expects you to pay at least $9.95 a month, billed yearly.

Spam has also changed. A lot of it is now written by AI, so it reads like a real message: polite, on topic, and new enough that no spam database has seen it before. Filters that rely on matching known spam struggle with that, which is a good reason to look at the alternatives even if cost is not your problem.

The plugins below take three different approaches. Some check every submission against a shared cloud database, the way Akismet does. Some run entirely on your own server and never send visitor data anywhere. And one reads the message itself with AI. Picking the right approach matters more than any single feature, so I have flagged it for each plugin.

Quick answer: ActiveLayer is the best Akismet alternative if your spam reads like real messages or you want to drop reCAPTCHA, with paid plans from $5 a month for 5,000 checks across unlimited sites. CleanTalk is the cheapest set-and-forget replacement for every form on your site, at $12 a year. And if you want something that costs nothing, Antispam Bee is the best free option for blog comments, while Dam Spam covers registrations, logins and contact forms for free.

Below, I break down all 6, including what each one protects, what the free version actually does, and who it is best for. All prices were checked on 10 October 2026.

Is Akismet Free?

Only for personal sites. Akismet’s Personal plan is name-your-price, so a hobby blog can pay what it likes, but it is limited to personal, non-commercial use. A business site needs a paid plan:

• Pro: $9.95 a month, billed yearly ($119.40 a year), for 1 site and 500 spam checks a month. Extra sites and checks raise the price in steps, up to $39.80 a month for 4 sites and 2,000 checks.
• Business: $49.95 a month, billed yearly, for unlimited sites and 5,000 checks a month.
• Enterprise: custom pricing.

A spam check is counted every time Akismet looks at a comment or form submission, so a busy site can outgrow the 500-check Pro tier quickly. That, more than anything, is why people go looking for an Akismet alternative. Current figures are on Akismet’s pricing page.

Quick Comparison

How I Evaluated These Plugins

Anti-spam plugins look alike on a feature list and behave very differently once they are running. Here is what I judged each one on:

• What it actually protects. This is the biggest difference between them. Several popular free plugins only filter WordPress comments and do nothing for contact forms, registrations or WooCommerce. If your spam arrives through a form, a comment-only plugin will not help, however well it is rated.
• How it decides what is spam. Local rules on your own server, a shared cloud database of known spammers, or AI that reads the message. Each catches different spam and misses different spam.
• What free really means. Free forever, a free trial, or a one-time allowance of checks. These are three very different things, and plugin listings do not always make it obvious which one you are getting.
• Privacy. Whether visitor data such as IP addresses, emails and message text is sent to an outside service. That is fine for most sites, but it matters if you have strict GDPR requirements.
• Friction for real visitors. Whether anyone is ever asked to tick a box or solve a CAPTCHA. Every extra step costs you some genuine inquiries.
• Maintenance. Whether the plugin is actively updated. One plugin from the original version of this list has since been replaced by its own successor, and another is no longer distributed through WordPress.org.

Now, let’s look at each plugin in detail.

1. ActiveLayer

ActiveLayer takes a different approach from every other plugin on this list. Instead of checking a submission against a database of spam that has been reported before, it uses AI to judge what the message actually says and whether it makes sense for your site. It comes from the team led by Syed Balkhi, the founder of WPBeginner, and it already has more than 10,000 active installs and a 4.9 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org.

That approach matters because spam has changed. A growing share of it is written by AI, which means it is grammatical, relevant to your post, and completely new. There is no known pattern for a traditional filter to recognise, so it sails through. ActiveLayer is built for exactly that kind of message.

Everything runs on ActiveLayer’s servers, so there is no CAPTCHA, no checkbox and no puzzle for your visitors. Nothing is added to your pages and nobody is asked to prove they are human, which means you are not losing real inquiries to a verification step. If the service is ever unreachable, submissions pass through rather than being lost.

Setup is one plugin and one API key. From there, you switch on protection for what you want covered: WordPress comments, contact forms, or WooCommerce product reviews and account registrations. It works with WPForms, Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, Elementor Forms, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms, Fluent Forms, Forminator and more, plus BuddyPress, MemberPress and AffiliateWP signups. A Site Context setting lets you describe your business so the AI knows what a normal message looks like for you, and there is a REST API for forms that live outside WordPress.

Every decision appears in your dashboard with a confidence score and the signals behind it, so you can see why something was blocked and mark anything that was judged wrongly. That is a real step up from the plain spam or not-spam verdict most tools give you.

Here is what to weigh before you switch. The free plan is a one-time allowance of 200 checks, so it is a way to test ActiveLayer on a live site, not a plan to run on. Like Akismet and CleanTalk, it sends submission data to an outside service for analysis. It is also the newest product here, so it has a shorter track record than the plugins below it. And it deliberately leaves the WooCommerce checkout alone, so a false positive can never cost you a sale.

Verdict: The best Akismet alternative for spam that looks like a real message, and the most affordable paid option per check on this list, with one account covering every site you run.

Key features:

• AI detection that reads the message rather than matching known spam patterns
• No CAPTCHA, checkbox or puzzle for visitors
• Protects WordPress comments, contact forms, and WooCommerce reviews and registrations
• Site Context to describe your business for more accurate filtering
• Confidence score and detection signals shown for every submission
• REST API for sites and apps outside WordPress
• Submissions pass through if the service is ever unreachable, so nothing is lost

Pricing: The free plan includes 200 checks so you can try it on a live site. Paid plans start at $5 a month for 5,000 checks a month, or $48 a year when billed yearly, and scale up to 250,000 checks a month. Every plan covers unlimited sites.

Best for: Sites getting spam that reads like real messages and slips past pattern-based filters, anyone who wants to drop reCAPTCHA without losing protection, and agencies running several sites from one dashboard.

2. CleanTalk

CleanTalk is the closest like-for-like replacement for Akismet, and in most ways it covers more ground for less money. It is a cloud service: the plugin sends each submission to CleanTalk’s servers, which check it against a database of spam activity collected from more than a million websites. It has over 200,000 active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating from more than 3,200 reviews on WordPress.org.

Where Akismet focuses on comments and a set of supported forms, CleanTalk tries to protect everything a visitor can submit. That includes comments, registrations, contact forms, newsletter signups, bookings, the site search box, and WooCommerce orders, registrations and reviews. It works with Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Elementor Forms, Fluent Forms, Formidable Forms and a long list of other form, membership and ecommerce plugins without any extra setup.

It also does a few jobs most anti-spam plugins do not. A Spam FireWall blocks the most active spam bots before your pages even load, which takes load off your server. Real-time email validation rejects fake and disposable addresses at signup. And you can scan your existing comments and user accounts to clean out spam that got in before you installed it. There is no CAPTCHA at any point.

The main thing to understand is that CleanTalk is not a free plugin. The plugin is free to install, but it needs CleanTalk’s paid cloud service to work, and that starts with a free trial. After that you pay $12 a year for one site. That is still a fraction of Akismet’s commercial price, and spam checks are unlimited on every plan, but if you specifically need $0, look further down this list. The other consideration is privacy: like Akismet, it sends visitor data to an outside service, so check that against your own GDPR policy.

Verdict: The best value for anyone happy to pay a small yearly fee, with the widest form coverage on this list and no limit on spam checks.

Key features:

• Protects comments, registrations, contact forms, search, and WooCommerce orders and reviews
• No CAPTCHA, puzzles or questions for visitors
• Spam FireWall that blocks known spam bots before pages load
• Real-time email validation and disposable email blocking
• Scans existing comments and users for spam
• Works with most popular form, membership and ecommerce plugins out of the box
• Unlimited spam checks on every plan

Pricing: Free trial, then $12 a year for 1 site, $24 for 3 sites, $36 for 5 sites and $69 for 10 sites. An unlimited-sites plan costs $27 a month.

Best for: Business sites, WooCommerce stores and agencies that want one inexpensive service covering every form, without counting spam checks.

3. Antispam Bee

Antispam Bee is the most popular free Akismet alternative, with more than 700,000 active installs and a 4.8 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org. It is maintained by pluginkollektiv, a group of German WordPress developers, and it is free forever for personal and commercial sites alike, on as many sites as you like. There is no account, no API key and no paid upgrade.

Its big difference from Akismet is privacy. Antispam Bee does its checks on your own server and does not send commenters’ personal data to a third-party service, which makes it the easiest choice on this list for strict GDPR compliance. It catches spam with a hidden honeypot field, a check on how fast the comment was written, a local database of commenters you have already marked as spam, and optional rules such as allowing comments only in certain languages or blocking certain countries.

It works out of the box, and the settings let you tune it further. You can trust commenters who have been approved before or who have a Gravatar, get an email when spam arrives, delete spam automatically after a set number of days, and see a spam statistics widget on your dashboard.

The limitation is scope, and the plugin’s own FAQ is clear about it. Antispam Bee protects default WordPress comments and trackbacks. It does not protect contact form plugins and does not stop spam registrations. It also does not work with comment systems that load in an iframe, such as Jetpack comments, wpDiscuz or Disqus. If your spam comes through a contact form, this plugin will not help.

Verdict: The best free, privacy-friendly Akismet alternative for blog comments, as long as comments are the only place you get spam.

Key features:

• Free forever, for personal and commercial sites, with no account or API key
• Checks run on your own server, with no personal data sent to third parties
• Honeypot and comment-timing checks, with no CAPTCHA
• Trust approved commenters and commenters with a Gravatar
• Allow comments only in chosen languages, or block or allow countries
• Email notifications for incoming spam and automatic cleanup after a set number of days
• Spam statistics on the dashboard

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org, with no paid version and no site limit.

Best for: Bloggers, publishers and privacy-focused sites whose spam arrives through native WordPress comments.

4. Titan Anti-spam & Security

Titan Anti-spam & Security pairs a free comment spam filter with basic login security, so it suits site owners who want both in one lightweight plugin. It is now owned and maintained by Themeisle, has more than 50,000 active installs, and holds a 4.5 out of 5 rating on WordPress.org.

The spam filter works in the background with no CAPTCHA. Every comment is checked before it is saved, using hidden form fields, behavioural checks and spam pattern detection, and anything suspicious is marked as spam automatically. You can keep filtered comments for review or let Titan delete them, and a log shows what it caught.

The security side is what sets it apart from Antispam Bee. The free version limits login attempts with configurable lockouts, keeps a log of failed logins, lets you allow or block specific IPs and usernames, and applies hardening options such as disabling XML-RPC, hiding version numbers and preventing username discovery. A security audit on the dashboard flags weak spots in your setup in plain language. None of this needs an external account, and Titan says the data stays on your own server.

The limitation is the same one Antispam Bee has. Titan protects the WordPress comment form only. Its FAQ states plainly that contact forms and third-party form plugins need their own spam protection. Note too that the malware scanner and firewall mentioned in older reviews are no longer part of the free plugin. Machine learning spam detection, two-factor authentication, backups and vulnerability monitoring are now Pro features.

Verdict: A good free pick if you want comment spam filtering and login protection from one plugin, but not a fix for contact form spam.

Key features:

• Automatic comment spam filtering with no CAPTCHA
• Limit login attempts with configurable lockouts and a login log
• IP and username allow and block lists
• Hardening options, including disabling XML-RPC and hiding version information
• Security audit with plain-language fixes
• Machine learning spam detection and scans of existing comments and users (Pro)
• Two-factor authentication, scheduled backups and vulnerability monitoring (Pro)

Pricing: The core plugin is free on WordPress.org. Titan Pro currently costs $39 a year for 1 site, $99 a year for 5 sites and $199 a year for 50 sites, discounted from $79, $199 and $399. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Small business sites, blogs and WooCommerce stores that want free comment spam filtering and login protection in a single plugin.

5. WP Cerber Security

WP Cerber Security is a full security plugin with a capable anti-spam engine inside it, so it makes sense if you want spam protection and site security from one install rather than two. It is built by Cerber Tech, which reports more than 200,000 customers, and it is actively developed, with version 9.9.5 released in August 2026.

Its anti-spam engine uses heuristic and content-based checks to detect bots, and checks visitor IPs against a real-time list of addresses known for spam and attacks. Unlike the comment-only plugins above, it covers every form on the site: comments, registration, login and lost password forms, contact forms, and WooCommerce forms including checkout. You can also restrict who can submit forms by country, and add Google reCAPTCHA to the forms you choose if you want an extra layer.

The security side is extensive. It limits login attempts, blocks REST API and username enumeration, restricts XML-RPC, logs user activity, and includes a malware scanner and integrity checker that can recover changed WordPress files automatically. Two-factor authentication and a Cloudflare add-on are available too.

There are two things to know before you install it. First, WP Cerber is not on WordPress.org. The directory closed it in September 2022, citing a security issue, and the developer now distributes it from wpcerber.com, so you download a zip and upload it rather than installing it from your dashboard. Second, it is a large, technical plugin with a lot of settings. That is a strength for experienced users, but it is more than a beginner needs if the only problem is spam.

Verdict: The right choice if you want spam protection and serious site security in one plugin, and you are comfortable installing it from outside WordPress.org.

Key features:

• Anti-spam for all forms, including registration, login, contact and WooCommerce forms
• Country rules that control who can submit forms, comment, log in or register
• Optional Google reCAPTCHA on selected forms
• Limit login attempts and block REST API and username enumeration
• Malware scanner with automatic file recovery and integrity checks
• Two-factor authentication and user activity logging
• Cerber Security Cloud Protection with a real-time list of malicious IPs (Pro)

Pricing: The core plugin is free from wpcerber.com, with no site limit. WP Cerber Pro costs $29 a quarter or $99 a year for 1 site, and $399 a year for 5 sites. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: Developers, agencies and experienced site owners who want anti-spam, a firewall and malware scanning managed in one place.

6. Dam Spam (formerly Stop Spammers)

If you have used Stop Spammers, this is where it went. The developer behind it, Web Guy, renamed the original to Stop Spammers Classic, ended its development in 2026, and now provides security patches only. Active work has moved to Dam Spam, a cleaned-up fork of the same plugin. Your Stop Spammers settings are copied over automatically in the background when you install it, so switching takes a couple of minutes.

Dam Spam is free and focuses on the places Antispam Bee and Titan leave open: registrations, logins, comments and contact forms. It runs a series of checks on each submission, including IP lists, disposable email detection and behavioural checks, and can also query outside services such as Stop Forum Spam, BotScout and even Akismet for a second opinion. When something looks suspicious, you choose whether to block it outright or show a CAPTCHA, using Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile. Real visitors never see a challenge.

It gives you more manual control than anything else here. You can keep your own allow and block lists of IPs, emails and usernames, ban IPs from the whole site, limit login attempts, lock suspicious accounts from the Users page, require email verification for new users, and test your settings from a built-in testing screen. A Cloudflare integration can sync your ban list and block countries at the network level.

The trade-off is that it is a hands-on tool. There are a lot of settings, a strict configuration can occasionally block a real user, and a mistake can lock you out of your own admin (the FAQ explains how to recover). It is also young as a standalone plugin, with around 3,000 active installs so far, although it inherits years of work from Stop Spammers. And if you turn on the optional outside services, visitor data such as IP and email is sent to them.

Verdict: The best free option for stopping spam registrations and fake signups, for site owners who are happy to spend some time on the settings.

Key features:

• Free protection for registrations, logins, comments and contact forms
• IP lists, disposable email detection and behavioural checks
• Optional checks against Stop Forum Spam, BotScout, Akismet and other services
• CAPTCHA only for suspicious visitors, with reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha or Cloudflare Turnstile
• Custom allow and block lists, site-wide IP bans and limit login attempts
• Email verification for new users and tools for managing suspicious accounts
• Automatic migration of your Stop Spammers settings

Pricing: Free on WordPress.org, supported by donations.

Best for: Membership sites, communities and any site plagued by fake registrations, especially current Stop Spammers users.

FAQs

Conclusion

The right Akismet alternative comes down to one question: where does your spam actually arrive?

If it comes through contact forms, registrations or WooCommerce, you need a plugin that covers those surfaces. ActiveLayer is the strongest choice when your spam reads like real messages, and it is the most affordable paid option per check. CleanTalk is the cheapest way to cover every form with unlimited checks. WP Cerber makes sense if you also want a full security suite, and Dam Spam is the free pick for stopping fake registrations.

If your spam is mostly blog comments, start free. Antispam Bee is the best free comment filter and the most privacy-friendly option here, and Titan adds login protection if you want it in the same plugin.

Whichever you choose, check what the free version really covers before you rely on it, and test it with a logged-out submission once it is live. That one check catches more setup mistakes than any feature comparison.

If you are using an Akismet alternative that is not on this list, tell us about it in the comments.

Related Posts:

• Best WordPress Security Plugins
• Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins
• Best GDPR Cookie Consent Notice WordPress Plugins

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WordPress cannot do this on its own. A contact form can take a message asking for an appointment, but it has no idea whether that time is already taken, and it will happily let two people ask for the same one. Anything past that needs a plugin.

The plugins below split into three camps, and picking the right camp matters far more than picking the right plugin. Some schedule a person’s time, so a customer chooses a service, a staff member, and a slot. Some sell a seat on a date, so twenty people book the same event and someone scans them in at the door. Two turn a product into a bookable item inside an existing store. A tool built for one of those jobs will fight you if you ask it to do another.

Quick answer: For most service businesses, Booknetic is the best WordPress booking plugin, because it covers the whole appointment workflow and starts at $45 a year with a lifetime option. Eventnetic is the better pick if you sell tickets to dated events and want to keep every cent of the ticket price. The Events Calendar is the one to start with if you want a free events calendar before you spend anything. And if your site is already a WooCommerce store, Bookings and Appointments for WooCommerce (the lower price, with staff scheduling) or WooCommerce Bookings (the official extension) saves you from running a second system.

Below, I break down all 10, including what each one costs, what the free version actually does, and who it is best for. All prices were checked on 14 September 2026.

Quick Comparison