Gravity Forms vs Happyforms (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Happyforms grades higher than Gravity Forms: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Gravity Forms grades higher on platforms. Happyforms grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Gravity Forms
WordPress form builder plugin sold as a yearly license
Happyforms
WordPress form builder with a live preview in the customizer
Which one is for you
Pick Gravity Forms if
- Fits if you run WordPress and want form entries kept on your own site
- Works for agencies building forms across many client sites on the $259 Elite license
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't have a self-hosted WordPress site or a WordPress.com Business plan, since it's only a plugin
- Skip it if you want to try before paying, as there's no free version or trial, only an online demo
- Pricey if you need Stripe, PayPal or Zapier ($159 Pro) or surveys, quizzes, signatures and webhooks ($259 Elite)
- Tight if you have more than one site, as Basic covers 1 site and Pro 3
- Watch out: asking for a refund within the 30 days switches the license off at once
Pick Happyforms if
- Fits if you run WordPress and want to see the form as you build it
- Works for sites that want signatures or payments in a form
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't use WordPress, as it runs only inside it
- Watch out: without an active subscription you are locked out of the plugin in the dashboard, though entries can be exported
- Watch out: Starter covers 1 site and Pro 3, and Starter has only some paid features
- Watch out: the page doesn't list what the free edition includes
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAGravity FormsFair | 2.2GPAHappyformsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BGraded against its alternatives. Basic is $59 a year for one site with unlimited forms and entries, a fraction of what hosted builders like Jotform or Typeform charge. Stripe and PayPal need Pro at $159 a year, and you need a WordPress site and hosting to run it on. | BStarter is $89 a year for 1 website, about $7.40 a month, with Pro at $99 for 3 sites shown on a sale with no end date. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free and no trial, just an online demo. There are refunds within 30 days, but asking for one switches the license off at once, and a refund isn't a trial anyway. | CA free edition is listed on WordPress.org, but the plans page names conditional logic and signatures as paid-only and doesn't list what the free one has. |
| Features | C30+ field types, conditional logic, multi-page forms, calculations, payments and, on Elite, surveys, quizzes, polls and signatures. The gap is the listing's own: it only runs as a WordPress plugin, so without a WordPress site it does nothing. | CLive builder, conditional logic, multi-page forms, payments, signatures and uploads. Starter has only a subset of the paid features, and the free edition's features aren't listed. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Fields are dragged into place inside WordPress, but first you need a self-hosted WordPress site or a WordPress.com Business plan, then the plugin and its add-ons installed, then each form built. | CNo store rating on record, and it is a plugin you install and configure inside WordPress, so it sits at C. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs in the browser inside WordPress and connects to Stripe, PayPal, Square, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zapier and Slack, with a REST API and 500+ hooks for developers. No desktop or phone app of its own. | CWordPress only, with eight listed features including email marketing connections. |
| Best for | forms on your own WordPress site | a WordPress form builder with a live preview |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Gravity Forms and Happyforms. How we grade
Price against what you get
Gravity Forms starts at $4.92 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Happyforms starts at $7.42 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
Gravity Forms scores higher and starts $2.50 a month lower. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Gravity Forms for less, and 19 score higher than Happyforms for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Happyforms also covers workflow automation and no-code.
At a glance
| Gravity Forms | Happyforms | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $59 per year | $89 per year for 1 website |
| Free plan | None | A free edition of the plugin is listed on WordPress.org; the plans page describes paid-only features such as conditional logic and signatures. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Rocketgenius Inc. | Jestro LLC (trading as Happyforms) |
| Price read from | gravityforms.com | happyforms.io |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Gravity Forms
- It runs only as a WordPress plugin, so you need a self-hosted WordPress site, or a WordPress.com Business plan with a custom domain.
- There is no free version and no trial; the vendor offers an online demo instead.
- Stripe, PayPal and Zapier need Pro, and surveys, quizzes, signatures, user registration and webhooks need the $259 Elite license.
- Refunds are given within 30 days of a payment, and requesting one deactivates the license immediately.
Happyforms
- It runs only inside WordPress.
- Without an active subscription you are locked out of the plugin in the WordPress dashboard, though submissions can still be exported.
- Starter covers 1 website and Pro 3 websites; going beyond a limit is not billed automatically.
- The plans page does not list which features are in the free edition.
Key features
Gravity Forms
- Drag-and-drop builder
- Build forms inside WordPress from 30+ field types, a template library and layouts of up to four columns per row, then embed them on any page.
- Conditional logic and multi-page forms
- Show or hide fields, sections and pages based on answers, split long forms into pages, and route notification emails by what was submitted.
- Calculations and payments
- Fields can be calculated from a formula. The Stripe, PayPal Checkout and Square add-ons, which handle subscriptions, need Pro; discount codes need Elite.
- Surveys, quizzes and polls
- Elite adds add-ons for surveys, graded quizzes, polls, signatures, partial entries from abandoned forms and conversational one-question-at-a-time forms.
- Entries stored on your own site
- Entries and uploaded files are saved to your WordPress database and server, with unlimited forms and entries, CSV export and tools for handling personal data and consent.
- REST API and hooks
- A REST API, 500+ actions and filters and an add-on framework let developers build their own integrations; the Webhooks add-on needs Elite.
Happyforms
- Live form builder
- Preview the form as you build it, directly in the WordPress customizer.
- Conditional logic and multi-page forms
- Show or hide parts of a form, split long forms over pages and let people resume partial submissions.
- Payments
- PayPal and Stripe order, donation and payment forms with coupon codes and no transaction fees from the plugin.
- Signatures and file uploads
- Collect hand-drawn signatures and file uploads, with over 20 advanced fields.
- Email marketing integrations
- Connects to Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, AWeber, Constant Contact, ConvertKit, MailerLite and others.
- Spam protection and data control
- reCAPTCHA, a submission blocklist and IP logging; submissions stay in your own WordPress database.
Plans
Gravity Forms
Basic$59
per year
1 site, standard support, and the Basic add-ons for email marketing tools such as Mailchimp, HubSpot and ActiveCampaign, plus reCAPTCHA and Akismet.
Pro$159
per year
3 sites and standard support. Adds the Pro add-ons, including Stripe, PayPal Checkout, Square, Zapier, Slack, Dropbox and Trello.
Elite$259
per year
Unlimited sites, WordPress Multisite, priority support and every add-on, including surveys, quizzes, polls, signatures, user registration and webhooks.
Happyforms
Free$0
The WordPress.org edition, installed on your own site, with fewer features than the paid plans.
Starter$89
per year for 1 website
Priority support and a subset of the paid features, marked as Starter-only on the plans page.
Pro$99
per year for up to 3 websites
All features; shown on sale at $99 with $159 crossed out and a '$60 off today' label, with no end date given.
Unlimited$399
per year for unlimited websites
All features on unlimited websites.
Ways to pay less
Gravity Forms
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit License at $129 a year
Registered nonprofits can apply for a $129-a-year license covering 3 sites with add-ons such as Stripe, PayPal, Survey and User Registration. It renews at the same price.
Happyforms
- Other savings
14-day refund guarantee
The plans page says a payment is refunded in full if Happyforms is not right for you within 14 days.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Gravity Forms or Happyforms?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gravity Forms is cheaper to start with: $4.92 a month when paid by the year, against $7.42 a month when paid by the year for Happyforms. Gravity Forms starts at $59 per year, and Happyforms starts at $89 per year for 1 website.
Which has a free plan, Gravity Forms or Happyforms?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Happyforms has a free plan. Gravity Forms does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.