More traffic means more customers, more sales, and more profit. So, you might be looking for a quality SEO tool to improve your search rankings and attract more visitors.

With so many SEO tools available, both free and paid, it’s natural to wonder whether paying for a premium plugin is worth the money.

In this article, we’ll share our firsthand experience using both free and premium WordPress SEO plugins. We’ll explore the extra features premium tools offer and the impact they can have on your website’s traffic and success.

Choosing the Right SEO Tool for Your WordPress Website

WordPress users have a lot of options when it comes to plugins that help optimize websites for search engines. But with so many tools that promise to boost your rankings, it’s hard to know where to start.

Here at WPBeginner, we get tons of questions from readers asking which SEO plugin is the best for making it to the top spots in search results.

In response, we created a detailed showcase of the best SEO plugins and tools. These tools can help you increase your website traffic by 20-30% within just a few months.

This list covers a wide range of use cases and includes leading plugins like All in One SEO (AIOSEO) and Yoast SEO, as well as standalone tools like Semrush and Ahrefs.

But here’s the catch. Many of these plugins offer both free and premium versions, leaving you with another decision to make.

While free versions provide a solid foundation for basic SEO, the premium upgrades promise to unlock advanced features designed to give your site an edge in search engine rankings.

So, are those premium features worth the investment? Do they really make a difference in your search rankings?

Let’s dive in and explore the unique capabilities of premium WordPress SEO tools and see how they can help your website make it into the top search results pages.

What Are the Benefits of Premium WordPress SEO Plugins?

At WPBeginner, we’ve been using premium SEO plugins for many years. Here are some of our favorite features and benefits:

1. Comprehensive SEO Audits

While free plugins provide basic on-page analysis, premium versions often offer more in-depth insights and recommendations.

They run comprehensive SEO audits on your website. This way, you get a clear idea of your site’s overall health from an SEO perspective. They scan all of your web pages and then highlight potential issues, recommending how to fix them.

We regularly use AIOSEO to analyze our content for readability, keyword usage, and overall optimization. It gives us access to an actionable SEO report inside our WordPress admin area that gives us a clear roadmap for improvement.

This is really helpful because search engine optimization is a complex procedure that takes time. Having a clear checklist of everything that needs to be improved simplifies the process so you can easily fix one issue at a time.

2. Advanced Sitemaps

Search engines need to find and index every page on your website before they can be displayed in search results.

Google recommends using sitemaps to help with this process. Sitemaps help search engines crawl up to 40% more pages, resulting in more of your content appearing in search results.

There are different types of sitemaps, such as XML sitemaps that help search engines discover and index your content and RSS sitemaps that notify them of updated content.

Enabling both of these will give you the biggest SEO benefits. With a premium WordPress SEO plugin, this is as easy as switching on a setting for each type of sitemap.

3. Powerful Redirects and 404 Monitoring

Broken links point to web pages that do not exist, leading to frustration and 404 error messages for your users. They are also bad for SEO and result in a 12% higher bounce rate.

Premium SEO plugins help you avoid broken links by automatically creating redirects when you rename a post or page or change its URL.

They also automatically track and log 404 errors so you can quickly redirect these URLs to existing posts as part of your regular WordPress maintenance.

This will make sure your visitors find the information they are looking for and avoid frustrating surprises when clicking links on your site.

4. Advanced Schema Markup

Schema markup is structured data that is added to your web pages behind the scenes. It helps search engines better understand your content and display it more prominently in search results.

For example, using recipe schema can make food blogs more visible in search results. It can increase your click-through rates by 30%, bringing valuable traffic to your website.

But manually adding this structured data to your posts is very technical and time-consuming.

It’s much easier using a premium SEO plugin because it can add schema markup automatically. These tools also let you add more specific markup to individual posts with the click of a mouse, including FAQs, recipes, events, products, and more.

5. Internal Linking Suggestions

We always recommend that you add links to your own content throughout your website. This way, you help users find posts that are related to the topic they are reading about. These are called internal links and they are good for SEO, increasing page views by up to 40%.

The problem is that as you create more content, it becomes hard to find all the related blog posts you can link to. Searching for them manually becomes frustrating and takes a lot of time.

Premium SEO plugins help by automatically listing internal linking opportunities. With a click of your mouse, you can easily add these links to relevant posts along with an automatically generated phrase and anchor text, improving your SEO and saving you time.

6. Social Media Optimization

We also use a premium WordPress SEO plugin for social media optimization because it allows us to control how our WPBeginner content appears when shared on platforms like Facebook and Twitter (X).

Instead of these platforms pulling random information and images from our posts, we can specify the title, description, and image that is used. This means that our posts are more likely to resonate with our social media followers, bringing more traffic to our site.

7. Local SEO Optimization

If your business has physical locations, then premium SEO plugins can help optimize your site for local search results, including automatically generating location-specific schema markup that makes it easier for customers in your area to find you.

Potential customers will see your business on Google Maps and search results when looking for your type of business in their local area.

They will be able to see your address, phone number, and opening hours right from the search results page. Plus, they can even get turn-by-turn directions as they drive to your store.

8. WooCommerce SEO

If you have an online store, you can also benefit from the specialized WooCommerce SEO features offered by premium plugins. These help you optimize your product pages so they are more visible in product searches.

Users will also be able to see customer reviews and star ratings, showing that other customers have had a positive experience with your products. This can help drive more traffic to your store.

9. Priority Support

When you’re running an online business website, having access to expert support can be invaluable. Premium versions usually offer priority support to help you resolve issues quickly.

This ensures that if you come across any problems or issues when using the plugin, then you can receive prompt help from experts and get back to the job of running your business.

For more details, you can see our guide on how to ask for WordPress support and get it.

What Is the Best Value Premium SEO Plugin?

If you’re serious about driving more organic traffic to your website, then subscribing to a premium SEO plugin like we have is a smart move.

Your next task is to decide which plugin or service to use. Your first question will probably be which plugin offers the best value for money.

All in One SEO vs. Yoast SEO Premium

AIOSEO and Yoast SEO are the leading WordPress SEO plugins and offer extensive features.

However, there are important differences in their pricing and features.

When we compare the two plugins’ most affordable plans, AIOSEO is more affordable while offering comparable features:

• AIOSEO’s Basic plan starts at $49.60 per year
• Yoast SEO Premium starts at $99 per year

At first glance, the prices of their most powerful SEO plans look similar:

• AIOSEO’s Elite plan costs $299.60 per year
• Bundle pricing for Yoast SEO Premium, Yoast WooCommerce SEO, Yoast Local SEO, Yoast News SEO, and Yoast Video SEO costs $229 per year.

However, the difference is that AIOSEO’s plan covers 100 websites, while Yoast’s price is for a single site. Plus, AIOSEO offers a more comprehensive feature set.

When it comes to value for money, AIOSEO stands out. It offers a compelling package that covers multiple websites at a competitive price point.

You can learn more in our detailed comparison of Yoast SEO vs. All in One SEO.

You might also like to read about our journey switching from Yoast to All in One SEO to improve our SEO workflow and access the SEO features we need.

All in One SEO vs. Premium Standalone SEO Tools

If you don’t have the budget for standalone SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, AIOSEO Premium offers a lot of impressive features for a great price.

To give you an idea, even when looking at the most affordable options, Semrush‘s most basic plan starts at $119.95 per month, and Ahrefs‘ lite plan starts at $99 per month.

While these tools are incredibly powerful, their starting prices come to more than $1,000 per year, which may not be justifiable for smaller websites or bloggers.

By contrast, you can subscribe to AIOSEO’s highest-tier Elite plan for far less money. It includes advanced features like local SEO, advanced WooCommerce support, and video SEO and costs less than $300 per year.

Besides that, AIOSEO focuses specifically on WordPress, making it easier to use and more tailored to your website’s needs. This makes it a cost-effective solution for agencies or businesses managing multiple WordPress sites.

Plus, if you run a small business or are just getting started, AIOSEO Premium’s features might be more than enough for your needs.

That said, if you’re looking for more SEO features at a lower cost, you can pair the plugin with an affordable tool like SEOBoost to get powerful content optimization options. This will give you AI-powered analyses, content audits, content briefs, and much more.

Or, if you need just a little extra help with keyword research, LowFruits is a great choice. It helps you generate keywords and analyze the SERPs to improve your rankings.

Premium WordPress SEO Plugins FAQ

Here are some questions we are asked most often about premium SEO plugins for WordPress:

What are premium SEO plugins?

Premium SEO plugins are paid versions of WordPress SEO tools that offer advanced features, enhanced optimization capabilities, and often superior support compared to their free alternatives.

How do premium SEO plugins differ from free SEO plugins?

Premium SEO plugins typically offer more advanced features like schema markup generators, content optimization tools, local SEO features, and dedicated support. Free plugins usually provide basic SEO functionality but may lack advanced features or regular updates.

Are premium SEO plugins necessary for good search engine rankings?

While not absolutely necessary, premium SEO plugins can significantly enhance your WordPress site’s optimization efforts, potentially leading to better search engine rankings. They often provide tools and features that can give you an edge in competitive markets.

Will a premium SEO plugin automatically improve my search rankings?

No SEO plugin can guarantee improved rankings. However, premium plugins provide advanced tools and guidance to help you optimize your site more effectively, which can contribute to better search performance.

How much do premium SEO plugins typically cost?

Prices vary, but most premium SEO plugins cost between $50 and $300 per year, depending on the features offered and the number of sites you can use them on.

Do I need to renew my premium SEO plugin license annually?

In most cases, yes. Annual renewals ensure you continue to receive updates, support, and access to new features. However, some plugins offer lifetime licenses.

Can I get a refund if I’m not satisfied with a premium SEO plugin?

Many premium plugin developers offer money-back guarantees for a certain period. Always check the refund policy before purchasing.

Currently, AIOSEO offers a 14-day money-back guarantee, and Yoast SEO has a 30-day guarantee.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn that, for many websites, premium plugins are definitely worth investing in. You may also want to see our guide on how to automate WordPress SEO or our expert pick of the best FAQ WordPress plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Are Premium WordPress SEO Plugins Worth It? (+ How to Choose) first appeared on WPBeginner.

We’ve tested tons of ways to build a website to help our audience at WPBeginner. Since many of our readers are just starting out, we think we’re in a good spot to share what we’ve learned.

Let’s be clear: coding gives you total control, but website builders can help beginners make great sites quickly. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer – it depends on your needs, skills, and goals.

In this post, we’ll give you a simple, honest comparison of website builders and coding, from each of their advantages and disadvantages to tips on choosing the best option.

Website Builder vs Manual Coding: A Summary

What Do We Mean by Manual Coding vs. Website Builders?

Before we start, let’s define what we mean by manual coding and website builders. These are two different approaches to creating a website, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Manual coding, also known as hand coding, is like building a house from scratch. You build your website using special programming languages that web browsers understand so that they can display your web content correctly.

The most common languages for this are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. HTML structures your content, CSS styles it, and JavaScript adds interactivity.

On the other hand, with a website builder, it’s like using parts that developers have prepared for you to construct your house. These website builder tools provide a user-friendly interface where you can design a site yourself without writing code.

Popular examples include WordPress, Wix, and the Hostinger Website Builder. These platforms offer templates and drag-and-drop features, making it easier for beginners to create professional-looking websites.

Is WordPress a website builder?

WordPress is technically an open-source content management system (CMS) that is free to download. However, it has evolved to include powerful website builder capabilities.

For example, it offers tools called page builders like SeedProd and Thrive Architect that make it even easier for you to build your site.

The only difference between WordPress and other standard site builders is you need to buy and set up your own web hosting. With other options, the hosting is already configured for you, so you can start the onboarding process right away and build your site.

Because this difference is so minor, and since the CMS is so popular, we’ll also compare the differences between a WordPress builder vs. manual coding.

Website Builder vs Coding: By the Numbers

Lots of people debate between using a website builder vs manual coding because these methods are still widely used. To understand this better, let’s look at some real numbers.

A company called W3Techs keeps track of how websites are made. They found that 43.4% of all websites use WordPress. Other popular website builders like Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace are used by 4.5%, 2.8%, and 2.1% of websites.

When we add these up, that means around 50% of people are using website builders to create their sites.

Interestingly, 30.7% of websites don’t use any of the website-building tools that W3Techs checks for. This doesn’t mean all these sites are coded from scratch, but it’s likely that many of them are. So, even though website builders are popular, there are still plenty of custom-coded websites out there.

These numbers show us something important: website builders are becoming more common, but manual coding is still widely used.

Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of a website builder or WordPress builder vs manual coding. This way, you’ll be able to choose what’s best for your needs. You can use the quick links below to navigate through this article:

Otherwise, we’ll start with an in-depth analysis of website builders.

Pros of Website Builders: Easy to Use and Accessible

Easy to Use

One of the biggest advantages of website builders is how simple they are to use. You don’t need to be a computer whiz or know any coding to get started. It’s like building with digital Lego blocks. You just pick the pieces you want and put them together.

This low barrier to entry means anyone can create a website, whether you’re a small business owner, a blogger, or just someone who wants to share their hobby online.

Let’s look at an example. If you use the Hostinger Website Builder, all you need to do to get started is sign up for a plan, go through the onboarding wizard to set up your website, and then you’ll arrive at the website-building interface.

With the drag-and-drop editor, you can add and move around all of the elements on your website as you preview them in real time. Whenever you need to change them, you can just click on an element, and you’ll be able to customize it based on your preferences.

The same goes for using a page builder like SeedProd on WordPress. The hosting and website setup takes a bit longer than a website builder like Hostinger’s, but there’s still zero coding involved.

Once the page builder plugin is up and running, you can choose a theme template kit for your website and start customizing it on the drag-and-drop interface. The same principle applies: if you click on a block, you can customize it using the available tools.

Ready-to-Use Templates

Another great thing about website builders is their customizable templates. You don’t need to be a design expert to make your site look professional.

For instance, Thrive Architect has over 300 templates to choose from across different industry categories, including everything from online stores and SaaS companies to home services. These templates are like pre-decorated rooms, which means you just choose one you like and move in.

Of course, you can still add your personal touch by changing colors, fonts, and layouts to match your style or brand.

This way, your website won’t look similar to other sites using the same templates.

Speedy Setup

You may need to get a website up and running as fast as possible. Website builders are perfect for these situations. You can get a basic site online in just a few hours, which is great for things like landing page campaigns or when you need to create a quick online presence for an event.

Fun fact: When the OptinMonster team needed a landing page for their ad campaign, they used SeedProd to build one in less than 30 minutes. Not only did they launch their campaign quickly, but they were also able to increase their conversions by 340%.

Large Collection of Built-in Features

Website builders often come with a whole toolbox of features. Things like contact forms, photo galleries, and opt-in forms are usually just a click away. This means you don’t have to hunt for separate tools or plugins because everything you need is right there in the builder.

Some builders, like SeedProd, may even have an AI feature built-in. This makes it even easier for you to generate content without hiring a copywriter or a graphic designer.

For platforms like Hostinger Website Builder, Wix, and Squarespace, you may even find some eCommerce functionality available.

As a result, you don’t need a separate platform to run your business and build an online store.

And if you use WordPress with a page builder, then you can install WooCommerce to set up your online store while using the page builder’s templates to design the website.

Ongoing Support and Updates

When you use a website builder, you’re not on your own. Most platforms offer customer support and regularly update their tools. This means you don’t have to worry about keeping your site’s technology up-to-date or fixing technical issues on your own.

For example, SeedProd has a large collection of resources, including extensive documentation and a library of blog tutorials to help you get started. You can also submit a support ticket to get direct assistance from the team.

If you use a hosted platform like Wix or Squarespace, that also means your web hosting is taken care of for you. In other words, you don’t need to configure your site’s hosting back end and can just focus on building the front end of your site.

Cons of Website Builders: Limited Customization and Cost

Dependency on the Platform

Platform dependency is one of the key disadvantages of website builders. By that, we mean your site is tied to the website builder’s system, which can be problematic if the company makes significant changes (or worse, shuts down).

Also, the features available are often limited to what the platform offers. Some builders like Wix or Squarespace may have an addon library, but the features you can get are limited to what addons are actually available there. You may even need to pay extra for some extensions.

This is why we often prefer WordPress with a page builder as a website builder solution. It offers more flexibility and customization options because it’s an open-source platform with a vast collection of WordPress plugins and themes.

Instead of being locked into a single provider, you have the freedom to extend your site’s functionality. Plus, if you ever want to move your site or change your theme completely, WordPress makes it much easier to do so without starting from scratch.

Limited Customization

Website builders often come with pre-designed templates, which can lead to certain similarities in design across many sites. This limited customization can be frustrating for users who want a truly unique website.

However, it’s important to consider whether having a completely unique design is always beneficial. As Kate Shokurova from UX Collective points out:

99% of the websites are functional. Excessive creativity might help produce a site that is aesthetically interesting but less productive as a business tool. All these innovative, cutting-edge efforts to create immersive emotional experiences can prevent people from achieving their aim: to buy, to read, to watch, to find, etc. So to complain that today’s websites look dull would be getting it wrong.

Kate Shokurova from UX Collective

These templates are designed in similar ways for a reason. They follow best practices and create a familiar experience for users, reducing the time they need to navigate and understand your site.

This familiarity can actually be a benefit, especially for business websites where the goal is to call users to do specific actions.

Potential for Bloated Code

When we looked into why a lot of developers prefer hand-coding a website, one of the primary reasons we discovered was speed. This is because sites built with website builders can sometimes end up with bloated code, including unnecessary elements that can slow down their overall performance.

After trying out various website builders for years, however, we’ve discovered this isn’t always the case. Some website builders include fast hosting and a built-in content delivery network (CDN) to improve your site’s speed.

This is another reason why we recommend using WordPress with a page builder. There are a lot of speed optimization and caching plugins that you can install, so you don’t have to depend on a website builder’s hosting setup to make sure your site runs fast.

Plus, some page builders have been shown to create surprisingly fast sites. In our Elementor vs. Divi vs. SeedProd review, all of the demo sites we tested scored 90 or higher on PageSpeed Insights, with SeedProd scoring 93.

Ongoing Costs

Many website builders operate on a subscription model, which means you’ll have ongoing costs to keep your site running.

The prices vary a lot, too. Plans for Hostinger Website Builder start from $2.99 per month, billed annually (which equals $71.76 per year). Meanwhile, SeedProd’s plans start from $39.50 per year. If you use Wix, then you can expect to pay around $17 to $159 per month.

While these high costs can be a drawback, it’s important to consider what you’re getting for your money. Subscriptions often include regular updates, security patches, and customer support, which can save you time and headaches in the long run.

Most importantly, you don’t need to invest the time and money needed to learn how to code from scratch.

When to Choose a Website Builder Over Manual Coding

You may want to choose a website builder over manual coding if:

• You’re a beginner with little to no coding knowledge or skills.
• You need to create a website quickly, such as for a time-sensitive project, event, or campaign.
• You want to create a simple blog or portfolio site.
• You want to test out a website idea before investing in a custom-built solution.
• You’re a small business owner or entrepreneur focusing on your core business rather than web development.
• You’re a nonprofit or community organization with limited technical resources.

Of course, there are plenty of other highly specific situations where you might prefer a website builder. These are just a few of the most common.

Tips for Choosing a Website Builder

Now, before choosing a website builder, we recommend doing some deep research first. This way, you can pick the best option for your needs. Here are a few tips:

1. Consider your budget. Many builders offer free plans to start, but premium features often require a subscription. Compare costs and features to find the best value.
2. Evaluate the feature set. Ensure the builder offers the functionality you need, such as specific design elements like rotating testimonials or a custom scrollbar.
3. Check the builder’s longevity. Choose established platforms that have been around for a while and support many websites. This will reduce the risk of using a platform that may shut down soon.
4. Think about scalability. Consider whether the builder’s features can grow with your needs over time. Find examples of established businesses that use those builders to get a better idea.

Our personal recommendation is to use WordPress with a page builder. This combination offers the best of both worlds: the ease of use of a website builder with the flexibility and extensibility of WordPress. It’s ideal for beginners but also powerful enough for more advanced users.

While WordPress requires web hosting, many providers now offer one-click WordPress installs, making setup a breeze. Bluehost, for example, is officially recommended by WordPress.org and offers easy installation.

Also, WordPress has a large dedicated community, so you can easily find resources to help you use the platform. Here are some examples made by our team here at WPBeginner:

• How to Edit a WordPress Website
• Ways to Create a Mobile-Friendly WordPress Site
• How to Create a Squeeze Page in WordPress That Converts

If you want to explore WordPress before committing, you can also try WordPress Playground. It lets you use WordPress in your browser, giving you a feel for the platform.

Pros of Manual Coding: Powerful Control and Customization

Now, let’s move on to our assessment of using manual coding to create a website.

Full Control

When you’re hand coding, you have the power to dictate every aspect of your site’s design, functionality, and performance. This level of control is particularly appealing to those with coding knowledge who want to craft every detail of their online presence.

For example, you can optimize your site’s loading speed by writing lean, efficient code without the bloat that sometimes comes with website builders. This control extends to every element on your page, allowing you to create a truly unique user experience.

Full Customization

The ability to create unique, custom designs without limitations is another significant benefit of coding from scratch. While website builders often constrain you to their templates and design elements, manual coding allows you to bring any design vision to life.

This level of customization is especially valuable for businesses or individuals looking to stand out in a crowded online space. With manual coding skills, you can create interactive elements, unique layouts, and custom functionalities that may not be possible with most website builders.

Optimized Performance

When coding a website by hand, there’s a higher potential for optimized, lightweight code. This can result in faster loading times and better overall performance, which is crucial for user experience and search engine optimization.

Experienced coders can write clean, efficient code that does exactly what it needs to do without unnecessary extras. This level of quality control is harder to achieve with website builders, which often include extra code for features you might not even use.

No Platform Restrictions

The flexibility to adapt and modify code without the restrictions of a predefined interface is another key advantage of manual coding. As your website grows and evolves, you can easily add new features or change existing ones without being limited by a website builder’s capabilities.

This flexibility is particularly valuable for complex or enterprise websites or those with unique requirements that may not be easily supported by standard website builders.

What’s more, a hand-coded website doesn’t depend on third-party software updates. This means you have more control over when and how your site changes, reducing the risk of unexpected issues caused by automatic updates.

Learning Opportunity

While not ideal for beginners, coding a website from scratch provides an excellent learning opportunity. It allows you to deepen your understanding of web technologies, which can be valuable for future projects or career development.

You might even want to become a professional web developer one day.

This way, you can work as a freelancer and make money for clients who need websites.

Cost-Effective in the Long Run

Although there might be a higher initial time investment, hand-coding can be more cost-effective in the long run. You won’t have ongoing subscription fees associated with many website builders, and you’ll have the skills to maintain and update your site yourself.

Cons of Manual Coding: Time Investment and Learning Curve

Steep Learning Curve

This may be obvious, but the steep learning curve is one of the main cons of coding websites from scratch.

It’s not just about mastering HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for front-end development. To create fully functional, dynamic websites, you’ll also need to learn server-side languages like PHP, Python, or Ruby, as well as database management systems like MySQL.

This can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. It’s not something you can pick up overnight, and it requires consistent practice and dedication to become really good at this skill.

Significant Time Investment

Hand-coding a website requires a substantial time investment, from learning the necessary skills to practicing them.

Unlike using a website builder, where you can have a basic site up and running in a matter of minutes, coding from scratch can take weeks or even months (depending on the complexity of the site and your skill level).

All in all, the benefits of coding from scratch might not be worth the extra time it takes, especially if you need to get your site online quickly.

Difficulty in Updating Content

When you’re coding a website, updating content can be more challenging, especially if you’re working with a team that includes non-coders. Unlike website builders that offer user-friendly interfaces for content updates, hand-coded sites often require direct changes to the code.

This can lead to bottlenecks in the content update process, as all changes need to go through someone with coding knowledge.

Challenges in Adding New Functionalities

Many website builders offer plugins or apps that can be easily integrated with a few clicks. When coding from scratch, you’ll need to either code these functionalities yourself or find, evaluate, and integrate third-party libraries or APIs.

This process can be time-consuming and may require additional learning, especially if you’re working with unfamiliar technologies or APIs.

Maintenance and Security Concerns

Hand-coded websites require ongoing maintenance to ensure they remain secure and compatible with the latest web standards and browser updates.

This responsibility falls entirely on you or your development team, unlike with many website builders that handle security updates and maintenance as part of their service.

On top of that, there’s a higher risk of introducing errors or bugs into your site when you’re hand coding, especially if you’re a beginner.

When to Choose Manual Coding Over Website Builders

You may want to consider manual coding if:

• You enjoy the process of coding and want to enhance your skills.
• You need a highly customized website with unique features.
• Performance and load times are critical for your project.
• You want complete control over your website’s code and functionality.
• You want to avoid the ongoing subscription costs associated with some website builders.
• You’re looking to build a career in web development.

Keep in mind that if you’re a total beginner, building a website manually with code is likely to be a long and challenging project.

Tips for Getting Started with Manual Coding

If you’re interested in learning how to code websites from scratch, here are some tips to get started:

1. Learn HTML and CSS first. These are the building blocks of web development.
2. After that, move on to JavaScript. This will allow you to add interactivity to your websites.
3. Then, learn a back-end language. Popular options include PHP, Python, or Ruby. This will let you create dynamic websites.
4. Practice regularly. Coding is a skill that improves with practice, so try building small projects to apply what you’ve learned.
5. Use online resources. There are many free coding tutorials and courses available online.
6. Join coding communities. Websites like Stack Overflow can be great for getting help and advice.
7. Explore frameworks and libraries. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, look into tools like React or Vue.js for front-end development.

Remember, learning to code takes time and patience. While it’s not ideal for beginners who need a website quickly, the skills you gain from coding can be incredibly valuable in the long run.

If you want to learn the basics, you can check out our beginner’s guide on how to code a website.

Why a Hybrid Approach Is Often the Best Option

To be honest, you don’t have to choose between a website builder or a WordPress builder vs. manual coding. There’s a third option that gives you the best of both. We call this the hybrid approach.

In this case, a hybrid approach means using a beginner-friendly website-building platform that also allows for custom coding when needed. This method combines the user-friendliness of website builders with the flexibility of hand coding, giving you more control without the steep learning curve.

This is why WordPress has become so popular. While it might take a bit longer to set up than a typical website builder, and it may not offer the complete customization of hand coding, WordPress strikes an excellent balance.

First, it allows you to build your site using intuitive page builders like SeedProd or Thrive Architect. Plus, many features that would take significant time to code manually are readily available in WordPress through plugins.

At the same time, if you need custom functionality, you can add your own code by editing the theme or plugin files directly.

Or, if you’re not comfortable diving into core files, you can use a plugin like WPCode to safely and easily add custom code snippets.

Unlike many website builders that lock you into their hosting, WordPress allows you to choose your own web hosting provider. This means you can monitor your website resources more closely and switch to a different hosting provider only when you need to.

With website builders, you often need to upgrade to a higher plan for additional features, even if you don’t need all of them.

Admittedly, one of the downsides of WordPress is the lack of direct support. That being said, its vast community of developers and users can make up for it.

You can find solutions to most problems quickly, whether through official documentation, community groups like WPBeginner’s Facebook Group, or tutorials by WPBeginner.

For more options, you can see our guide on how to contact WordPress support.

Alternative: Hire a Professional Website Service

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We’ve used both of these contact form plugins over the years, so we know that it can be tricky to pick the right option for your website. While we prefer WPForms because it has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and thousands of templates to choose from, you may still be wondering whether Contact Form 7 is worth it.

In this article, we will compare WPForms vs. Contact Form 7 to show you which one is the best.

An Introduction to Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms

Form plugins let you add different types of forms to your WordPress websites. These can include a simple contact form, a form newsletter signup form, a booking form, or even a quiz.

Contact Form 7 and WPForms are both popular WordPress form plugins, and they have their own strengths.

Contact Form 7 is the oldest contact form plugin in the official WordPress plugin directory. This form plugin is completely free, meaning it might be a good option if you’re currently on a tight budget.

One thing that stood out the most during our Contact Form 7 research was that it has pre-made confirmation messages for various situations. This definitely lets you save some time to work on other tasks.

That said, this form plugin only has one template, a simple contact form. This can be very inconvenient if you want to build other types of web forms, such as newsletter sign-ups, order forms, or user surveys. It also uses a text editor, so you’ll need some HTML knowledge to take the most advantage of it.

On the other hand, WPForms was launched in 2016 by Syed Balkhi (the founder of WPBeginner) and Jared Atchison.

This form builder is one of the fastest-growing WordPress form plugins on the market. Since its launch, it has had more than 6 million installs on WordPress websites around the world.

WPForms offers more than 1800 form templates in various categories, including business operations, customer service, and even calculators. Whatever form you want to create, WPForms will most likely have just the right template to use.

Plus, WPForms uses a drag-and-drop visual editor. This lets you build your forms easily without having to touch a single line of code.

One downside of WPForms is that you’ll need to upgrade to the premium plans to access its advanced features.

Since both are so popular, we took a deep dive into Contact Form 7 and WPForms to see which one really comes out on top. In our research, we compared these top 2 form plugins in the following criteria:

In a hurry? Here’s a quick overview of how the 2 plugins compare in each of the above criteria:

Now, let’s dive into a more detailed comparison between the 2 WordPress form plugins and find out which is best for your project.

Ease of Use

Choosing a WordPress form plugin that’s user-friendly can make the form-building process a lot easier.

A beginner-friendly form plugin lets users create and customize forms without needing to touch a single line of code.

Contact Form 7 – Ease of Use

Contact Form 7 uses a text-based editor, which offers a similar experience to using the WordPress classic editor.

In the form editor, the form fields appear as ‘label’. For example, the following sample form has the ‘Your name’, ‘Your email’, ‘Subject’, and ‘Your message’ fields.

At first glance, our first impression was that this form builder was a bit intimidating. While the form is in HTML, most of the time, you don’t need to have coding knowledge to create forms using this plugin.

Contact Form 7 offers various field types, including a dropdown menu, checkboxes, and radio buttons.

When you click on a button, such as ‘Checkboxes,’ a pop-up window where you can fill out the field’s details will appear.

We also noticed that these pop-ups might contain additional notes. So, be sure to read all of them and follow the instructions. Otherwise, inserting the tag into the text editor might cause errors.

However, during the testing process, we found the publishing step a bit annoying.

First, the plugin’s dashboard doesn’t have a publish button. So, in order to publish your form, you’ll need to access your page or post’s block editor from the WordPress admin area.

Second, Contact Form 7 doesn’t provide a live preview in the block editor.

As we can see from the screenshot above, we’ve selected the ‘Contact form 1’ we just created, but nothing happened. So, we don’t know if we’ve successfully embedded the form or if there has been an error.

So, we suspected that the form would only be visible in the preview mode, which was true.

We then clicked on the ‘Preview’ button, and we could finally see that the form and the checkbox field we tried to add had been successfully added.

At this point, you can check if your form looks okay on the front end. If not, then you’ll have to go back to the Contact Form 7 plugin interface to fix it.

If everything looks fine, then congratulations, you’ve passed this slightly confusing stage.

Here’s what the form might look like on the live website:

WPForms – Ease of Use

When compared to Contact Form 7, WPForms is the much more user-friendly option.

This form builder uses a visual-based editor with drag-and-drop functionality. It requires zero technical skills, which definitely helps you create forms quicker and easier.

The WPForms form builder has all the customization tools on the left-hand side of the screen.

Every time you make changes, you can see them in the live preview on the right-hand side. It’s also where you can drag and drop components to ensure everything looks good.

In the ‘Add Fields’ tab, you’ll see a lot of field types, including ‘Single Line Text,’ ‘Dropdown,’ and ‘Number Slider.’

Note: All the fields in the ‘Standard Fields’ section are included in WPForms Lite. To access those in the ‘Fancy Fields’ section, you’ll need to upgrade to the Basic plan or higher.

So, if you want add a multiple-choice field to the form, all you have to do is click the ‘Multiple Choice’ button. It will then appear in the live preview.

By default, we noticed that WPForms will place the new field at the bottom of the form. We then tried to move the fields around using the drag-and-drop functionality.

We found this feature very handy because we can see directly what the form might look like after moving around its elements.

The ‘Field Options’ tab is where you adjust a field’s ‘Label,’ ‘Choices,’ and ‘Description.’

Below the ‘Description’ field, there’s a ‘Required’ slider.

This feature allows you to set whether a question is optional or required. When enabled, a red asterisk (*), which indicates that users must fill out the field to continue, will appear next to the form’s label.

Plus, we found that publishing your WPForms form on your WordPress post or page is much easier than with Contact Form 7.

First of all, they have the ‘</> Embed’ button within the form builder’s interface. So you don’t have to leave the builder to publish your form.

Clicking the ‘</> Embed’ button will trigger a pop-up window where you’ll choose to publish it on an existing page or create a new dedicated page. Then, you’ll add the form using the WPForms block in the block editor.

Unlike Contact Form 7, which doesn’t let us know if we’ve successfully added the form, WPForms offers a preview in the block editor. And from our experience, this saved us a lot of headaches.

Note: You don’t have to publish your form right away. Simply take advantage of the ‘Save’ button and leave the editor to publish the form whenever you want. You can always use the form’s shortcode or add it using the WPForms block on a post or page’s block editor.

Once you’re happy with everything, you can publish your form super easily. This is what it might look like on your WordPress website:

Winner – WPForms

WPForms is the winner for ease of use, thanks to its visual-based editor with drag-and-drop functionality.

Unlike Contact Form 7, which relies on a text-based editor and can be intimidating for beginners, WPForms lets users create and customize forms without any coding knowledge.

The live preview feature in WPForms also makes the form-building process even easier. It removes the need to switch back and forth between the form builder and the block editor.

Form Templates

Templates can make your form-building process smoother and quicker. You can simply use a pre-made template straightaway or quickly edit it to match your needs.

Let’s see how the 2 WordPress form plugins stack up in terms of templates.

Contact Form 7 – Form Templates

With Contact Form 7, you only have a default contact form template that you can personalize further.

This means that every time you go to Contact » Add New, you’ll see the same pre-built contact form in the editor.

The lack of templates makes it somewhat inconvenient to use Contact Form 7 to build different kinds of forms.

For example, you want to create an email newsletter signup or a request-a-quote form. To do so, you’ll have to start with the same template and work your way up from there, which can be time-consuming.

WPForms – Form Templates

WPForms has more than 1800 form templates and counting. With this vast range of choices, you can make and launch any form in just a few clicks.

In the template gallery, you’ll see categories like ‘Business Operations’, ‘Customer Service’, and ‘Marketing.’ You can expand each of them to find form template subcategories.

For example, in the ‘Business Operation’ category, there are ‘Contact’, ‘Order’, ‘Payment’, and more.

In the ‘Health and Wellness’ category, some template examples include the ‘Diet Log Form’, ‘BMI Calculator Form‘, ‘and ‘Mental Health Support Form’.

Plus, in the ‘Nonprofit’ categories, you’ll find form templates for donating and volunteering. For example, you can create forms using a ‘Sponsorship Request Form’, ‘Fundraiser Registration Form’, or ‘Donation Form‘ template.

The easy way to find the perfect form template is to use the search bar.

So, if you want to create a contact form, you can simply type ‘contact form’ into the search bar. Then, WPForms will show you all the available contact form templates.

Upon exploring the templates, we found that some templates might require us to install an add-on.

For these templates, a pop-up for installation will appear after you click ‘Use Template.’

With that said, to access all the form templates and add-ons, you’ll need WPForms Pro or higher.

If you’re on a tight budget, don’t worry. The WPForms Lite has some essential form templates like contact and feedback forms.

Winner – WPForms

WPForms has an extensive library of over 1800 pre-made templates covering a wide range of categories.

This vast selection lets users quickly find and customize the exact form they need. It saves time and effort compared to Contact Form 7, which only has a single default contact form template that needs significant modification for different uses.

Customization Options

Form customization typically includes setting up notification emails, configuring form submission confirmation, and styling the form’s appearance.

In the following sections, let’s look at the different customization options offered by the 2 plugins.

Contact Form 7 – Customization Options

Customization options are not Contact Form 7’s biggest strength. While the plugin lets you customize notifications and confirmation messages, it doesn’t really allow you to style your form’s appearance.

During our testing, we discovered that Contact Form 7 lets you customize its default email notification settings from the ‘Mail’ tab.

Note that you can only use your form’s label tags to edit the mail template. Don’t worry about going back and forth between the ‘Form’ and ‘Mail’ tab, as Contact Form 7 has included all the tags you can use in this tab.

One good thing about Contact Form 7’s notification customization option is its Mail (2).

We appreciate this feature as it encourages you to set up an auto-reply after a user submits a form. An auto-reply might read, ‘Hi, we have received your contact form submission on our website. If that was not you, please ignore this message.’

Then, in the ‘Messages’ tab, we found that it’s where you can create confirmation messages.

There’s a long list of fields with ready-made confirmation messages here. However, you can edit them and use your custom messages based on the given situations.

You can insert custom code in the ‘Additional Settings’ tab, and this is where some coding knowledge can help.

For example, here, we added the ‘subscribers_only: true’ code snippet so that only logged-in users can submit a form.

Unfortunately, Contact Form 7 does not offer customization options for polishing the form design or style. So, all forms created with this plugin tend to look similar.

You can still personalize the appearance of your Contact Form 7 forms, though this highly depends on the theme you’re using. Some WordPress themes will embed Contact Form 7 forms in a way that matches the theme’s overall look and feel.

WPForms – Customization Options

WPForms offers more flexible customization options.

In the Notifications section, you’ll be able to see all the fields for customizing your email notifications.

By default, WPForms has already filled them out with smart tags or pre-made text. So, basically, you have your email notifications set up. You can either leave it as is or personalize it, it’s really up to you.

Editing these fields can feel intimidating if you’ve never done it before. But when editing the fields with smart tags, we found that the ‘?’ button has helpful information.

For example, here’s what the ‘?’ button says for customizing the ‘Send To Email Address’ field.

There, you will find small notes for setting up multiple recipients, and you’ll want to follow the instructions to prevent errors.

Editing the fields with pre-made text is much simpler, too. You can simply type anything into the text box.

For example, we changed the default ‘Email Subject Line’ to ‘URGENT! New Submission for Medical Emergency Contact.’

When it comes to confirmations, WPForms lets you choose from three confirmation types: ‘Message,’ ‘Show a page,’ and ‘Go to URL (redirect).’

That said, the default setting is a confirmation message. You can definitely tweak the default confirmation message to match your brand’s tone.

Beyond notifications and confirmations, WPForms lets you customize your form’s appearance from the WordPress block editor under the ‘Themes’ section.

With dozens of themes available, you’ll have plenty of options to find one that matches your brand. You can see what each theme looks like in the block editor as you explore them.

We then scrolled down the ‘Block’ panel a little more, and we found more options to customize the theme.

These customization options let you change the ‘Field Styles,’ ‘Label Styles,’ ‘Button Styles,’ and ‘Container Styles,’ which can further personalize your form.

Winner – WPForms

WPForms offers a wide range of flexible features. These include customizable notification emails and confirmation messages, as well as extensive form styling options.

In contrast with Contact Form 7’s non-existent design options and reliance on coding for advanced customization, we were impressed by what WPForms offers.

Additional Features and Integrations

Extra features and third-party integrations make a form plugin more powerful. They add new functions, automate tasks, and improve how data is managed.

Let’s look at Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms when it comes to addons.

Contact Form 7 – Additional Features and Integrations

Contact Form 7 lets you integrate third-party tools to take your form to the next level.

These tools include Brevo, Akismet, re-CAPTCHA, and Stripe.

Note: Contact Form 7’s Constant Contact integration is deprecated. And they will only continue the support for existing users who have this tool integrated into their forms until the end of 2024.

While there aren’t many third-party tools you can integrate, the integration process is pretty simple. You click on the ‘Setup Integration’ button, enter one or two keys, and then wait for the process to complete.

WPForms – Additional Features and Integrations

WPForms offers one-click add-ons and a lot of third-party integrations, making it more powerful than Contact Form 7.

While the complete package of add-ons and third-party integrations is available only in WPForms Pro and above, WPForms Lite also comes with marketing and payment integrations.

In the ‘Marketing’ section, we found that you can integrate your free WPForms form with Constant Contact and Uncanny Automator.

Note: Addons in grey are not available in WPForms Lite.

We then went to see what WPForms Lite offers in the ‘Payments’ section.

Here, we found that you can connect your free WPForms form to Stripe as your payment option.

If you have a WPForms premium plan, then you’ll have more options for adding extra features or integrating third party addons.

In the ‘Addons’ section, you can see the full list of available tools to integrate.

For example, if you want to learn where users submit your forms from, you can install and activate the Geolocations addon.

Simply scroll down the page, locate the addon, and click ‘Install Addon.’ Then, all you need to do is wait for WPForms to complete the process.

To track the user journey from the first website visit to submitting the form, there’s the User Journey addon. And to track and reduce form abandonment issues, you can take advantage of the Form Abandonment addon.

Winner – WPForms

Once again, WPForms is the winner for additional features and integrations. It has an extensive library of add-ons that can improve your forms’ functionality, such as marketing, payments, and user analytics.

Even in its free version, WPForms Lite, the plugin provides users with marketing and payment solutions to expand their form capabilities.

Pricing Plans

When considering which plugin offers the most value for money, pricing plays a big role.

Let’s look at Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms pricing.

Contact Form 7 – Pricing Plans

Contact Form 7 is a free WordPress plugin, making it highly accessible for users looking to add basic contact forms to their websites without spending anything.

However, it’s important to note that Contact Form 7 does not offer premium features found in paid form plugins. This means you won’t have access to advanced functionalities such as conditional logic and file uploads.

Also, you might not get as many integration options with popular third-party services beyond basic options like reCAPTCHA and Akismet.

Additionally, since Contact Form 7 is free, it does not provide dedicated support services. You’ll need to rely on community forums and documentation for assistance, which may not always address specific or urgent issues quickly.

So, while Contact Form 7 is a solid choice for simple form needs at no cost, you may find it limiting.

WPForms – Pricing Plans

WPForms is a freemium form builder. This means that you can start with the free version, WPForms Lite, which includes basic features and functionality.

Then, you can upgrade to a paid plan to access more advanced features and integrations.

The WPForms premium version offers 4 pricing tiers that are tailored to different needs.

The Basic plan costs $49.50 per year for your first year. With this plan, you can connect your WPForms account with 1 WordPress website, which is definitely a great starter for new website owners.

It unlocks some of the premium templates and enables you to enjoy premium features, such as conditional logic, entry management, and file uploads.

The Plus plan is $99.50 per year. In addition to all the Basic plan features, this plan offers more comprehensive marketing integrations and form automation functionality.

Next is the Pro plan, which costs $199.50 per year. This plan unlocks all 1800+ form templates and provides access to more comprehensive payment integrations, conversion tools, and advanced addons.

WPForms’ highest-tier plan is called Elite. This plan costs $299.50 per year, and it has all the features that the plugin has to offer. Also, you can use it on an unlimited number of WordPress websites.

On top of all, WPForms premium plans come with a dedicated support team and a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Winner – Tie

When considering everything, we’ve decided it’s a tie in terms of pricing.

WPForms, with its tiered pricing, can accommodate a broad spectrum of user needs, from basic to advanced. It suits business owners who value speed, ease of use, and the ability to create various types of forms with additional features.

On the other hand, Contact Form 7 is free but lacks customization options and dedicated support. It best suits personal websites or bloggers who are comfortable with coding and seeking a simple, no-cost form solution.

Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms: Which Is Better?

When comparing Contact Form 7 and WPForms, we found that each plugin has pros and cons for different types of users.

However, we believe that WPForms is the overall better choice. It’s a feature-rich form builder with excellent customization options and dedicated support.

WPForms truly shines with its user-friendly interface. The drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy for anyone to create and customize forms, even if it’s their first time.

The WPForms form builder is also ideal for business websites that need advanced functionalities like payment integrations, detailed form analytics, and extensive third-party integrations.

On the other hand, Contact Form 7 can be suitable for users needing basic contact forms without any cost. It could be ideal for hobbyists, personal bloggers, and small websites requiring a simple contact form.

Although Contact Form 7 doesn’t offer advanced features like conditional logic or file uploads, it serves basic form needs effectively. With that being said, users might need to be comfortable with a bit of coding to maximize its potential.

FAQs About Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms

In this section, we will answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Contact Form 7 vs. WPForms.

Is Contact Form 7 any good?

Contact Form 7 is good enough for some needs, but it isn’t 100% beginner-friendly. Its customization options are limited, too, which makes it hard to personalize your forms.

Which is better, Contact Form 7 or WPForms?

In short, WPForms is better and more beginner-friendly. It has more than 1800 templates and offers a drag-and-drop form builder, which can help you create all kinds of forms in just a few minutes.

Which contact form is best for WordPress?

In our expert opinion, WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin. It stands out for its ease of use, extensive features, customization options, support, and value for money.

We hope this article on WPForms vs. Contact Form 7 has been helpful. If you still have doubts, you might want to have a look at our WPForms vs. Gravity Forms vs. Formidable Forms comparison article or our comprehensive WPForms review.

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