Opt-in forms are one of the most effective ways for websites to capture leads and grow their mailing list.
But with dozens of WordPress opt-in form plugins available, how do you pick the right one for your needs?
In this definitive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, from why opt-in forms matter to specific features you should look for when choosing a WordPress plugin.
You’ll also get:
- 📃 A head-to-head features comparison chart
- 🏆 Our expert recommendations based on use cases
- ⏯️ Real-world examples and case studies
- 💡 Tips to optimize your opt-in forms
So whether you’re new to email list building or want to level up your existing efforts, you’ll find helpful advice here.
Let’s dive in!
Why Opt-In Forms Matter for List Building
Collecting email addresses is crucial for brands today. But randomly asking people to “subscribe to our newsletter” tends to deliver poor conversion rates.
That’s why opt-in forms are important – they encourage visitors to raise their hand and actively sign up to receive more content.
Some of the benefits of using dedicated opt-in forms include:
✅ Higher conversion rates than plain newsletter sign up fields
✅ Lets you advertise an ethical bribe or offer to incentivize sign ups
✅ Opportunities for aggressive placement (e.g. pop up forms)
✅ Advanced targeting based on user behavior
✅ Testing different styles and content for optimization
✅ Detailed analytics on performance
When executed correctly, opt-in forms can quickly become one of the main drivers for growing your lists and customer base.
Now let’s explore some of the top plugins available for adding high converting opt-in forms to WordPress sites…
9 Best WordPress Opt-In Plugins for 2024
Here are the top plugins on the market for adding a wide variety of opt-in form types to capture more email subscribers.
View Comparison Chart
| Plugin | Key Features | Pricing | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thrive Leads | Pop ups, floating bars, slide ins, content locking. Great templates and targeting. | $99/year – $299/year | Advanced users |
| Convert Pro | Pop ups, floating bars, slide ins. 100+ templates. Easy editor. | $99/year – $399 lifetime | Great value |
| ConvertBox | Slide ins, bars, pop ups, embeddable. Intelligent targeting. | $495 lifetime offer (will increase) | Easy to use |
| Bloom | Wide range of opt-in types. Decent templates. Works with Divi. | $89/year – $249 lifetime | Divi users |
| OptinMonster | Pop ups, floating bars. Great targeting and testing. | From $14/month billed annually | Advanced targeting |
| WP Subscribe | Simple widget opt-ins | Free | Beginners |
| WP Notification Bar | Top and bottom bars. Basic targeting. | From $29 for 1 site | Easy bars |
| Elementor Pro | Pop ups, slide ins, content locker. Beautiful designs. | $49+/year – $199+/year | Elementor users |
| Brevo | Embed opt-ins easily. Contact list management. | Free – Premium plans available | Basic opt-ins + email marketing |
Next, let’s explore some of the standout options in more detail…
1. Thrive Leads
Thrive Leads lives up to its name – it’s one of the most complete opt-in form plugins available. Some highlights:
📈 8 different opt-in form types including floating bars, slide ins, content locking and more
🌟 Beautiful templates make it easy to get started fast
🔎 Precise targeting and triggers ensure your forms display for maximum impact
💯 Full analytics and A/B testing capabilities to optimize conversions
🚀 Works seamlessly with all major email services like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, AWeber
In short – Thrive Leads reduces the technical challenge of creating high performing opt-in forms significantly.
It’s a robust platform, so it may seem overwhelming for beginners. But the pre-made templates and intuitive drag and drop editor make it easier.
This is why Thrive is a popular choice among marketers as well as web design agencies creating sites for clients.
2. Convert Pro
Convert Pro takes a modular, building block approach to its features, which keeps things lightweight and fast loading.
Some of the notable aspects include:
🔌 Drag and drop form customization
💯+ templates to choose from
🎯 Advanced targeting and triggers
📊 A/B testing
ConvertPro might have fewer form types than Thrive Leads. But the core options it does provide are excellent. And you can achieve a lot of complexity through layers and combinations.
For example, you can load different forms, content, images and offers based on:
- URL parameters
- Referrer
- Cookie status
- And more
This makes it possible to create flows and sequences – guiding visitors through multiple steps over time.
The other advantage of Convert Pro is it’s just a one time payment rather than a yearly subscription. So it can work out more cost effective long term.
3. ConvertBox
ConvertBox is one of the newest entrants to the opt-in form space, but has made big waves with its fresh take.
What makes it unique?
☁️ As a hosted platform, you manage everything through a central dashboard
🎯 Powerful intelligent targeting based on visitor identity and history
🔧 Robust form customization without needing design expertise
Since ConvertBox isn’t tied to WordPress, you can even reuse forms across multiple sites and channels beyond your website.
The plugin itself is simple. But the backend smarts more than makeup for it!
4. Bloom
Bloom comes from respected WordPress theme developer Elegant Themes.
While not quite as feature packed as Thrive or ConvertPro, you still get respectable functionality.
Some of the notable aspects:
📐 6 types of opt-in forms
🎯 Decent targeting options
🔀 Works nicely with Divi builder
As a bonus, Bloom integrates seamlessly with email providers like Mailchimp, AWeber, Active Campaign, and more.
So if you love Divi, Bloom could be an ideal pick as your all-in-one opt-in solution.
The pricing is also competitive compared to most other premium form plugins.
5. OptinMonster
Trusted by over 1 million websites, OptinMonster is a hosted platform like ConvertBox.
It also packs advanced targeting and customization features, albeit through their web interface vs WordPress alone.
Reasons to choose OptinMonster:
✅ Powerful exit intent technology
✅ Robust A/B testing
✅ Attention grabbing templates
✅ Time saving retention features
In particular, the exit intent and scroll trigger options in OptinMonster work very reliably. So you can capture visitors just as they’re about to leave.
This is why it’s trusted by leading publishers and eCommerce brands.
One drawback is OptinMonster has a higher learning curve than most plugins. But they provide excellent onboarding and support.
6. WP Subscribe
If you want a simple, no frills opt-in solution, WP Subscribe fits the bill.
As a basic plugin, features are intentionally limited. But it still gets the job done well.
WP Subscribe lets you add opt-in forms as widgets. So just activate, configure settings, and add wherever widgets are supported.
The free version connects with major providers like Mailchimp. The Pro upgrade adds more integrations and customization capabilities.
Overall, it’s perfect for sites without huge email list building initiatives.
Just inject a subtle form widget and start capturing subscribers easily!
7. WP Notification Bar
Do you want to capture emails with a fixed bar at the top or bottom of pages instead of modal popups?
WP Notification Bar lets you do exactly that.
Despite the simple concept, it packs decent configuration options like:
🔹 Control per page, post and category
🔹 Target logged in vs logged out users
🔹 Set priority for which bars load first
There’s also basic A/B testing baked in to see which notification converts best. Pretty impressive!
And just like all the others, it works great with Mailchimp, AWeber, etc.
If you want an easy way to add unobtrusive opt-in forms, give the WP Notification Bar a try.
8. Elementor Pro Popup Builder
Elementor pioneered the site builder concept for WordPress. And millions now use it to design full pages and templates visually.
Naturally, they also offer opt-in form creation and popups through the premium Elementor Pro plugin.
Some reasons to choose Elementor popups:
👌 100+ pre-made templates
🎨 Beautiful designs fit your brand
⚙️ Advanced entrance/exit effects
😊 Easy to tweak for designers/developers
For example, you can set conditional display logic based on:
🔹 URL parameter
🔹 Referrer check
🔹 Cookie presence
🔹 And more
The only thing missing is split testing and analytics. But otherwise, it’s quite a versatile popup builder.
If you already use Elementor Pro, it just makes sense to create your opt-ins consistently.
But any design-conscious site owner would appreciate it too.
9. Brevo
Lastly we have Brevo – an email marketing platform that happens to offer a WordPress plugin too.
You can design embeddable opt-in forms right within WordPress and display them anywhere:
✅ Posts
✅ Pages
✅ Widget areas
✅ Custom form shortcodes
Each opt-in lets you map connected email list and desired fields. Everything syncs automatically.
But Brevo isn’t just about list building. You also get access to full-featured email marketing at scale:
🚀 Drag and drop campaign designer
🚀 Automations
🚀 Advanced analytics
🚀 Surveys, RSS-to-email and more
Their free plan is quite generous, and the starter paid plan is only $7/month.
So if you’re looking for an integrated solution to level up email marketing, Brevo delivers.
And their recently launched WordPress plugin makes managing everything quite seamless too.
Honorable Mentions
Here are a few other popular options that didn’t quite crack the top 9 but are still capable solutions:
- MailOptin – great Mailchimp integration
- MailPoet – good free plan available
- Popup Maker – basic but customizable
And don’t forget, some page builder plugins also include opt-in functionality:
- Beaver Builder
- WPBakery Page Builder
- Oxygen Builder
How to Optimize Opt-In Forms for Higher Conversions
Designing an opt-in form that converts is both art and science.
Here are some best practices to follow:
📋 Use identifying headline
Avoid generic “Sign up to our Newsletter”. Use language that piques curiosity instead.
Good example:
“Join 20,000+ who get our exclusive SEO tips straight to inbox”
🤝🏻 Speak to the reader
Address them directly as “you”. And focus on tangible outcomes they’ll achieve.
🚨 Convey urgency
Use scarcity to encourage instant action.
Example:
“FREE for first 25 subscribers today!”
💌 Describe value clearly
What freebies, discounts or access do they gain by submitting email?
💰 Offer ethical bribe
An ethical bribe or lead magnet (like a guide, template, or even chance to win something) boosts conversions significantly.
👤 Reduce fields
The fewer fields to complete, the higher opt ins you’ll get. Sometimes just email is enough.
⚡️ Catch attention quickly
Bright colors, animations and contrast help opt-ins stand out in peripheral vision.
⏰ Use behavior triggers
Display forms only after a desired visitor action signals readiness (like exiting site or scrolling 75% down).
💯 Ensure full mobile responsiveness
If forms don’t work flawlessly on mobile, you’ll lose sign ups.
Like any marketing tactic, you’ll need to continuously test and tweak opt-in forms over time. Use built-in analytics or tools like Google Optimize or HotJar to identify opportunities.
Over time, you’ll discover which layouts, headlines and designs resonate best with your audience and maximize your list growth.
Wrap Up
I hope this comprehensive guide covered everything you need to know about supercharging email list building with dedicated WordPress opt-in plugins.
The key takeaways include:
✅ Why opt-in forms are more effective than basic subscription boxes
✅ 9 top WordPress plugins to consider
✅ Key features and use cases for each
✅ Optimization and testing strategies that work
Don’t leave potential list subscribers hanging!
Implementing even just basic opt-in functionality can provide a nice boost. And more advanced behavioral targeting takes things to the next level.
So pick a plugin that aligns with your email list building goals and technical comfort today.
Let us know if you have any other questions!
