Gravity Forms vs Kwes (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gravity Forms and Kwes share a 2.0 GPA, and only Kwes has a free plan.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Gravity Forms grades higher on value for money and platforms. Kwes grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on 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
Kwes
Developer form service with front and back end validation
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 Kwes if
- Fits if you write your own forms and want server-side checks
- Works for developers on healthcare projects that need HIPAA
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, as 1 form and 100 submissions a month is the limit
- Watch out: JSON API calls are capped at 200 a day on Bronze
- Watch out: GDPR compliance is listed as coming soon
- Pricey if you scale: Gold is $99 a month and Platinum $249
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAGravity FormsFair | 2.0GPAKwesFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CBronze is $19 a month, in the middle of form tools, and Platinum is $249. |
| 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. | CFree is 1 form and 100 submissions a month, and every plan has a 14-day trial with no card. |
| 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. | CValidation, form components, spam and tampering protection, emails and files, an API and HIPAA. It isn't a builder, JSON API calls are capped per day and GDPR is listed as coming soon. |
| 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 web app where the work is writing the form markup yourself, 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. | CWeb only, with an API and one listed integration. |
| Best for | forms on your own WordPress site | developer forms with front and back end validation |
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 Kwes. 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. Kwes starts at $19 a month and scores 2.0.
Gravity Forms scores higher and starts $14.08 a month lower. Of the other form and survey tools on the chart, 3 score higher than Gravity Forms for less, and 36 score higher than Kwes 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
- Gravity Forms also covers templates and surveys.
- Kwes also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Gravity Forms | Kwes | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $59 per year | $19 per month |
| Free plan | None | Free forever plan for personal projects: 1 form and 100 submissions a month. |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial on every plan, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Rocketgenius Inc. | Kwes, LLC |
| Price read from | gravityforms.com | kwesforms.com |
| 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.
Kwes
- It is not a drag-and-drop form builder; forms are written in HTML and CSS.
- A yearly billing option exists on the page, but its prices were not shown.
- JSON API calls are capped per day: 200 on Bronze up to 20K+ on Platinum.
- GDPR compliance is listed as coming soon.
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.
Kwes
- Dual validation
- Validation rules run on the front end and the back end, including custom rules.
- Form components
- Multistep forms, repeater fields, datepicker, show and hide logic and calculated fields.
- Spam and tampering protection
- Unlimited spam blocks and tampering protection are listed on all plans.
- Emails and files
- Notification and confirmation emails, file uploads and file attachments on emails.
- API and integrations
- Webhooks, Zapier and a JSON API with daily call limits by plan.
- HIPAA
- The vendor says one signed BAA can cover several sites of the same business.
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.
Kwes
Free$0
1 form and 100 submissions a month.
Bronze$19
per month, billed monthly
5 forms, 1K submissions a month, 1 additional user, 1 GB file uploads.
Silver$39
per month, billed monthly
20 forms, 5K submissions a month, 3 additional users, 5 GB file uploads.
Gold$99
per month, billed monthly
100 forms, 10K submissions a month, 10 additional users, 20 GB file uploads.
Platinum$249
per month, billed monthly
1,000 forms, 100K submissions a month, 20 additional users, 50 GB+ file uploads.
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.
Kwes
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Gravity Forms or Kwes?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gravity Forms is cheaper to start with: $4.92 a month when paid by the year, against $19 a month for Kwes. Gravity Forms starts at $59 per year, and Kwes starts at $19 per month.
Which has a free plan, Gravity Forms or Kwes?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Kwes 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.