Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms

74 Quality Score

Active Installs

20/30

With 30,000 active installs it sits well below category leaders like WPForms Lite (5 million) and Forminator (600,000), indicating a modest but established user base.

Update Freshness

25/25

The plugin was last updated on January 20, 2025 and is tested against WordPress 6.7.5, so it is current on compatibility, though the low maintenance score reflects limited recent development activity relative to top alternatives.

User Rating

14/15

A 94 out of 100 rating from 223 users signals strong satisfaction among those who have tried it, even if the sample size is modest.

Support Health

8/15

The 50 score reflects that the plugin currently has zero open support threads and zero resolved threads in the tracked period, which is neutral rather than negative but means there is no visible track record of community help.

WP Compatibility

8/15

Requiring PHP 5.6 and WordPress 5.5 makes it compatible with very old environments, which is generous, but the 50 score suggests some concern with modern PHP versions or edge-case hosting setups.

Scores higher than 35% of indexed plugins

About

A simple and effective WordPress contact form & SMTP plugin. Compatible with best themes out there, is both a secure and responsive contact form p …

Active Installs 30k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.7/5

Last Updated 2026-09-22 7:44am GMT

Requires WordPress 5.5+

Tested Up To 6.7.9

Requires PHP 5.6+

Security History

4 known vulnerabilities, all patched

2 High 2 Medium

Most recent: March 3, 2025

View details ▸

What It Does

PirateForms is a free WordPress plugin that lets site owners add a contact, feedback, or subscribe form to their site without touching code, and it bundles SMTP settings so outgoing form emails are more likely to reach inboxes instead of getting lost in spam folders. The plugin stores submissions in the WordPress dashboard and supports reCAPTCHA and basic field customization out of the box.

Who It's For

This plugin is well suited for small businesses, freelancers, and local service providers who need a simple, no-frills contact form on their site and do not want to configure a separate SMTP plugin. It works best on sites with straightforward form needs where budget matters more than advanced conditional logic, multi-page flows, or payment collection.

Who Should Skip It

Anyone who needs payment forms, advanced surveys, conditional logic, or integration with CRMs and marketing tools should look at WPForms or Forminator instead, since PirateForms is a deliberately basic builder. Sites expecting high submission volume or needing detailed form analytics will also outgrow this plugin quickly.

The Bottom Line

PirateForms is a competent, lightweight contact form with SMTP bundled in, and its 94/100 user rating from 223 reviewers shows it delivers on its narrow promise. However, with only 30,000 installs, zero recent support threads, and a 57.76 overall quality score, it is best viewed as a simple starter option rather than a serious competitor to WPForms or Forminator. If your needs go beyond a single contact or feedback form, you will likely want a more capable alternative.

Choose WPForms Lite when you need a polished drag-and-drop builder with templates, conditional logic, and a clear upgrade path to payment and marketing integrations.

Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 99/100

Pair any contact form with Akismet rather than using PirateForms alone when spam submissions are a concern, since PirateForms only includes reCAPTCHA as its anti-spam layer.

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – The Most Popular SMTP and Email Log Plugin 97/100

Pick WP Mail SMTP instead if your main pain point is unreliable WordPress email delivery and you do not actually need a new form builder at all.

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 94/100

Forminator is the stronger pick when you want free built-in payment, quiz, and poll forms along with a visual builder, all in one plugin.

FluentSMTP – WP SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, MailGun, Postmark, Google and Any SMTP Provider 91/100

FluentSMTP is the better SMTP-only option if you want a dedicated, free mailer with no upsells and integration with major transactional email providers.