Gravity Forms vs Jetpack Forms: An In-Depth Comparison

Posted by Josh Blackburn, in Contact Form Plugins

Overview of Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms

Gravity Forms is a powerful plugin designed for WordPress users who need robust form-building capabilities. It’s known for its wide array of features that allows for in-depth customization and functionality. Created to streamline data collection, Gravity Forms provides a user-friendly editor with Advanced Fields for crafting forms tailored to diverse requirements, such as lead generation.

On the other hand, Jetpack Forms is part of the Jetpack plugin, a suite of tools designed to enhance WordPress site functionality. Jetpack Forms focuses on simplicity and ease of use, offering a quick setup for creating basic contact forms. While it may not boast the complexity of Gravity Forms, it integrates smoothly with other Jetpack features like security and performance tools.

We recognize that when it comes to WordPress form plugins, the choice between Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms largely depends on the user’s needs. Gravity Forms is a standalone form plugin that shines in scenarios requiring detailed, complex forms. Jetpack Forms, however, serves as a component of a larger plugin, aimed at users who need straightforward forms with minimal setup.

Each plugin offers unique benefits, and we encourage users to consider their specific requirements when choosing between these WordPress form plugins available for WordPress sites.

Key Features and Functionality

We’ll explore the distinct features and functionalities Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms offer, focusing on what sets them apart in form building capabilities, design, integrations, advanced features, and the support available to users.

Form Building Capabilities

• Gravity Forms:

  • Drag-and-drop form builder with over 30 form field types.
  • Offers the ability to create complex and advanced forms with ease.

• Jetpack Forms:

  • Includes a straightforward drag-and-drop interface for quickly adding contact forms.
  • Provides basic form creation with checkboxes, dropdown menus, and standard form fields.

Design and Customization

• Gravity Forms:

  • Allows extensive design customization with an abundance of visual options and form field tweaking.
  • Supports custom CSS for a personalized appearance.

• Jetpack Forms:

  • Offers basic design customization that caters to users looking for simplicity.
  • Capable of integrating with themes for a cohesive design across the website.

Integrations and Add-ons

• Gravity Forms:

  • Robust integration options with various CRMs like HubSpot and Zoho CRM.
  • Connects to email marketing services such as AWeber and MailChimp.

• Jetpack Forms:

  • Limited third-party integrations, yet integrates well with other Jetpack features.
  • Direct integration with Jetpack CRM for managing customer relationships.

Advanced Features

• Gravity Forms:
  • Supports advanced features like multi-page forms, quizzes, polls, and surveys.
  • Offers conditional logic, file uploads, and payment form functionalities.
• Jetpack Forms:
  • Provides basic conditional logic and spam protection tools like reCAPTCHA.
  • Suitable for users who need standard forms without complex configurations.

Support and Resources

• Gravity Forms:

  • Comprehensive documentation and a wealth of FAQs to assist users.
  • Access to a community forum and priority support based on the license purchased.

• Jetpack Forms:

  • Offers support through WordPress.com forums and direct email support.
  • Access to Jetpack’s extensive documentation and resources for troubleshooting.

Ease of Use

In our exploration of Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms, we focus on how these WordPress plugins cater to user experience, specifically addressing ease of form creation for beginners, range of templates, and availability of documentation and tutorials.

User Experience

Gravity Forms boasts a robust drag-and-drop interface that simplifies form creation. It’s fine-tuned for web professionals, but may be somewhat overwhelming for beginners due to its extensive features. Meanwhile, Jetpack Forms serves up a more streamlined, straightforward approach, integrated directly with the Jetpack plugin, making it a less daunting option for new users.

Form Building for Beginners

For those new to website building, Jetpack Forms provides an intuitive design with fewer complexities, making it beginner-friendly. On the flip side, Gravity Forms requires a slight learning curve, but offers a drag-and-drop builder that becomes a powerful tool once mastered.

Templates and Pre-designs

• Gravity Forms: Offers a comprehensive range of form templates catering to complex needs.
• Jetpack Forms: Supplies basic templates, suitable for standard contact forms and surveys.

The depth of templates from Gravity Forms aligns with its ability to handle varied and specific tasks, whereas Jetpack focuses on simplicity, which is ideal for straightforward applications.

Documentation and Tutorials

Gravity Forms is supported by extensive documentation and FAQs, aiding users in harnessing the full potential of the form builder. Resources for troubleshooting and advanced features are readily available. Jetpack Forms also provides support resources, though these are generally easier to navigate and more suited for beginners, reflecting the plugin’s simpler design ethos.

Lead Generation and Management

In this section, we’ll explore the capabilities that Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms offer for collecting leads, integrating with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, leveraging email marketing automation, and optimizing forms for better conversion rates.

Lead Collection Tools

Gravity Forms excels with a suite of tools for lead collection. Users can access a wide array of form fields, including basic fields like name and email, as well as advanced fields. These forms can be tailored with conditional logic to collect the most relevant information from potential leads.

• Form Fields: Customize with text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, and more.
• Conditional Logic: Dynamically display fields based on user input.

Conversely, Jetpack Forms offers Lead Generation Forms, designed to quickly capture lead data.

• Simplicity: Streamlined setup for immediate use.
• Styles: Choose from pre-designed form styles for a consistent look.

CRM Integration

When it comes to managing the leads, Gravity Forms provides robust integration solutions for various CRM platforms like Zoho CRM and HubSpot. It allows seamless transfer of lead data into the CRM of choice. Additionally, with Gravity Forms Connect, users can push data directly to Jetpack CRM.

• Jetpack CRM Integration: Built-in connection for easy management.

Jetpack Forms, being part of the Jetpack suite, has natural synergy with Jetpack CRM. The integration process is designed to be straightforward, without the need for additional plugins.

• No Complex Setup: Integrate forms and CRM with minimal effort.

Email Marketing and Automation

Both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms support integrations with popular email marketing services like MailChimp and ActiveCampaign. This enables users to set up email notifications and automate responses to newly captured leads.

• Email Notifications: Automatically inform your team about new leads.
• Automation: Trigger marketing emails based on lead actions.

These integrations ensure that leads are nurtured as soon as they are captured, potentially increasing the chances of conversion.

Form Optimization for Conversion

We understand that conversion rates are paramount. Gravity Forms offers tools to optimize forms for this purpose, using analytics and testing to improve lead generation effectiveness. Anti-spam features like Akismet help keep forms clean and focused on quality leads.

• Anti-Spam: Reduce unwanted spam entries.

Jetpack Forms also allows for some form customization to aid conversion. However, detailed optimization and testing features might be more limited compared to the advanced options available with Gravity Forms.

• Simplified Conversion Tools: Basic optimization for user forms.

By leveraging these features, we can create forms that not only attract leads but also convert them into customers, all while maintaining a streamlined process that integrates with our preferred CRM and email marketing systems.

Security and Compliance

When evaluating the security and compliance features of Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms, we prioritize maintaining the integrity of data and protecting against unauthorized access. Here’s how each handles security measures:

Gravity Forms:

• Provides robust security practices as indicated by their documentation and whitepapers.
• reCAPTCHA integration helps in mitigating spam submissions.
• Older versions have had vulnerabilities, which underscores the importance of using the latest version.
• The plugin offers strong anti-spam options and compatibility with Akismet for additional spam filtering.
• While not inherently HIPAA compliant, steps can be taken to enhance compliance, especially regarding encryption in transit and at rest.

Jetpack Forms:

• Jetpack maintains a secure environment with regular updates, including features that leverage WordPress.com’s infrastructure.
• Spam Protection: Jetpack Forms are bolstered by Akismet, providing a powerful anti-spam layer without the need for reCAPTCHA.

We ensure to implement and activate the latest versions of both platforms to leverage the best security measures available. Our continuous monitoring and updating process aim to mitigate potential security risks, thereby upholding the optimal security posture for our online forms.

E-commerce Functionality and Payments

When looking at Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms for e-commerce capabilities, we focus specifically on how effectively these platforms handle online payments and the processing of order forms with various payment gateways.

Online Payments

We understand the need for reliable and secure online payment options. Gravity Forms offers extensive payment functionalities when paired with its Add-Ons.

• Supported Payment Gateways: With Gravity Forms, we can integrate multiple payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net, allowing us to cater to a broad audience with different payment preferences.
• Payment Forms: Creating payment forms with Gravity Forms is straightforward, enabling us to collect payments efficiently.
• Complex Payment Structures: Gravity Forms excels in handling complex payment operations like donations, subscriptions, and dynamic pricing, especially when we use the available Add-Ons.

Jetpack Forms, primarily focused on ease of use, provides basic options for receiving payments:

• Stripe Integration: Jetpack Forms supports Stripe for processing payments, making it a practical choice for Stripe users.
• Simplicity: While its payment functionalities are not as extensive as Gravity Forms, Jetpack Forms provides a simpler solution for basic payment collection needs.

Order Forms and Payment Processing

Delving into order forms and payment processing, we assess how each plugin streamlines our e-commerce transactions.

• Gravity Forms: We can build detailed, multi-page order forms that allow our customers to select products, fill out information, and make payments without any hassle. These functionalities become more robust with the appropriate Add-Ons installed.

  Feature	Availability with Gravity Forms
  Multi-page Forms	Yes
  Invoices	Yes with Add-Ons
  Payment Confirmation	Configurable

• Jetpack Forms: Jetpack Forms offers a simpler approach to order form creation. It enables us to create basic order forms, which suffice for modest e-commerce needs.

  Feature	Availability with Jetpack Forms
  Multi-page Forms	Limited
  Invoices	Not supported
  Payment Confirmation	Standard

In terms of processing, both plugins allow for secure handling of customer data, ensuring that transactions are not only smooth but also protected from security breaches.

Customization and Extensibility

When we talk about customization and extensibility, we’re referring specifically to how both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms allow users to tailor form fields and structure to meet various needs, and the range of extensions or plugins available for integration.

Form Fields and Structure

Gravity Forms boasts a wide array of form fields that users can utilize to craft almost any form structure. Key features include:

• Standard Fields: These include basic fields like single line text, paragraph text, drop-downs, multi-selects, radio buttons, and checkboxes.
• Advanced Fields: Users have access to fields such as name, date, time, phone, and address.
• Post Fields: For content submission, fields like post title, post content, post excerpt, post tags, post category, and post image are available.
• Pricing Fields: These are specially designed for online orders and donations, including product, option, quantity, shipping, and total.

Jetpack Forms provides a simpler yet robust set of form fields primarily focused on ease of use and rapid form creation. However, it might not offer the same level of deep customization that Gravity Forms does.

Extensions and Plugins

As for extensibility, Gravity Forms edges out with its extensive library of add-ons:

• Core Add-Ons: Only available with developer license plans onwards, providing integrations with various services such as PayPal, Stripe, and MailChimp.
• Third-Party Add-Ons: A broad ecosystem of third-party extensions allows users to integrate with virtually any kind of service, enhancing functionality with custom fields and conditional logic.
• Hooks and Filters: For those with development expertise, Gravity Forms provides a robust set of developer tools to create custom functionalities.

Jetpack Forms’ extensibility largely comes from being part of the Jetpack plugin suite, offering a range of features beyond forms, like security, backups, and performance services. When it comes to form-related extensions, Jetpack has a more limited selection compared to Gravity Forms, but the integrated nature of Jetpack plugins can simplify the experience for users who prefer a more streamlined, all-in-one solution.

Pricing and Plans

In this section, we’ll provide a detailed breakdown of the pricing structures and the differences between plans for Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms. It’s important to understand both the initial costs and the cost implications of additional features to make an informed decision.

Comparison of Plans

Gravity Forms offers several plans, ensuring that users can select the level of service that best fits their needs. The Basic plan, priced at $59 per year, is the starting point and includes a limited number of add-ons. For more extensive needs, the Pro plan, which offers more add-ons, can be considered suitable for professional users. The Elite plan is the most comprehensive, with all available add-ons, including payment system integrations and user registration features.

Jetpack Forms, on the other hand, is included in the Jetpack plugin, which comes with a Lite version that is free of charge. The more feature-rich versions are part of Jetpack’s paid plans, like the Pro version, where the forms are a feature within the larger suite of tools offered by Jetpack.

Costs for Additional Features

When evaluating the costs for additional features, such as add-ons, extensions, and integrations, Gravity Forms’ pricing is based on the plan you choose. Each tier unlocks a specific set of capabilities:

• Basic Plan: A small selection of key add-ons suitable for simple sites.
• Pro Plan: A wider range of add-ons useful for small businesses or professional sites.
• Elite Plan: Access to all add-ons including a suite of payment gateway integrations and advanced form solutions.

For Jetpack Forms, additional capabilities come bundled with Jetpack’s overall offering. To access more advanced features beyond the free lite version, users must consider the paid tiers of Jetpack, which include various tiers reflecting broader features of the Jetpack ecosystem beyond just forms.

Costs for Additional Features

The pricing of additional features for both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms largely depends on the specific requirements of a user’s site. Gravity Forms’ advanced features and integrations often require the Elite plan, while Jetpack provides certain form enhancements within its various subscription levels. It is essential to consider both the initial price and the potential long-term costs associated with the necessary features and integrations.

Support and Customer Service

In our experience with WordPress plugins, we understand that reliable support and effective customer service are key to maintaining functional websites and satisfied customers. Below, we outline the support offerings from both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms.

Gravity Forms provides extensive support options for issues related to their forms plugin:

• Documentation: Comprehensive guides and tutorials are available for new users.
• Contact Support: Users can reach out directly to the support team for personalized assistance.
• Community Support: Often, solutions to common problems can be found in the active community forums.

Jetpack Forms, as part of the Jetpack plugin, offers support tailored to its wide range of features:

• Direct Assistance: Access to support personnel for specific queries about forms.
• Documentation: Detailed instructions and FAQs cover a broad spectrum of support questions.
• Priority Support: Available for certain plan holders, elevating the response time for urgent issues.

We are confident that both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms offer ample support to address customer issues effectively. With detailed documentation, direct access to support teams, and additional resources like community forums and priority support, users can rely on timely and knowledgeable assistance.

User Feedback and Popularity

In analyzing the user feedback and popularity of both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms, we focus on their market share within the WordPress ecosystem, as well as the real-world opinions of their users. By examining both quantitative data and qualitative feedback, we can understand how these plugins stand in the eyes of the community.

Market Share and Installations

• Gravity Forms:

  • Active Installations: Not publicly listed on the WordPress.org repository.
  • Market Presence: Primarily offered in premium versions with a strong reputation in the WordPress community.

• Jetpack Forms:

  • Active Installations: Integrated part of the Jetpack plugin, which boasts over 5 million active installations.
  • Market Presence: It is accessible as part of the broad Jetpack suite of tools, contributing to its widespread use.

Community and User Reviews

• Gravity Forms:

  • Community Feedback: Generally positive feedback for its extensive functionality and customization options.
  • Support: Appreciated for quality customer support and extensive documentation.
  • Reviews: Some case studies indicate high user satisfaction.

• Jetpack Forms:

  • Community Feedback: Recognized for ease of use directly within the WordPress block editor.
  • Support: Benefits from being part of Jetpack’s overall support structure.
  • Reviews: The simplicity of adding forms to posts and pages is often highlighted by users.

We gather these insights from direct user reviews and our broader community discussions. They reflect the plugins’ standings in terms of user satisfaction and adoption rate within the WordPress plugin ecosystem.

Pros and Cons Analysis

When comparing Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms, we recognize both have distinct advantages and limitations as WordPress plugins.

For Gravity Forms:

Gravity Forms stands out for its robust functionality that’s well-suited for complex form requirements. However, it isn’t the most cost-effective solution unless those advanced features are necessary for your website needs.

Moving on to Jetpack Forms:

Jetpack Forms offers an accessible entry point for WordPress users looking for a basic contact form solution. It brings a convenient, no-frills approach but may not meet the demands of users needing more complex and tailored forms.

Both Gravity Forms and Jetpack Forms hold the potential to be the best WordPress form plugin for differing user requirements. We continuously assess these plugins to provide a straightforward understanding of their capabilities within the WordPress environment.

Final Verdict and Recommendations

When considering Gravity Forms and Jetpack for your website contact forms, we must assess our priorities and technical prowess. Gravity Forms excels in flexibility and depth of customization, making it a superior choice for developers who demand intricate form-related functionalities.

• Gravity Forms: Recommended for users who require:
  • Advanced customization
  • Extensive add-ons
  • Developer-friendly tools

However, for those of us who prioritize ease of use and speed of deployment, Jetpack Forms offers a more approachable user experience. While its feature set might be less extensive, it is embedded within the Jetpack plugin, providing a suite of features beyond just forms.

• Jetpack Forms: Ideal for:
  • Beginners seeking simplicity
  • Quick form setup
  • Integrated features within the Jetpack ecosystem

Here’s a quick comparison:

In conclusion, if your website strategy involves creating highly tailored forms and you have the technical skills to harness Gravity Forms’ potential, it excels as our recommendation. For newer users or those seeking a straightforward approach with the added benefit of Jetpack’s other features, Jetpack Forms is undoubtedly a solid choice. Weigh these considerations carefully to choose the form plugin that best aligns with your web project’s needs.