Essential Form – The lightest plugin for contact forms, ultra lightweight and no spam vs Post SMTP – Complete

Looking for a no-fuss, ultra-lightweight contact form that just works? Essential Form gives you exactly what you need — no more, no less. Use the shortcode [essential_form] wherever you want a simple contact form with the following fields: Name Email Message Agreement checkbox That’s it. No extra fluff, no performance hit. ⚡ Zero Bloat. Zero Requests. Zero Spam. Essential Form adds no HTTP requests, loads no external libraries, and runs on pure Vanilla JavaScript — only 1 kB of inline script, injected only on pages with a form. When we say it’s the lightest contact form ever made, we mean it. The entire plugin zip is just 14 kB. 🛡️ Anti-Spam, Reinvented (No Captchas, Ever) Our invisible anti-spam system blocks all automated bots — no annoying captchas, no puzzles, no headaches. Here’s how it works: Each form submission uses a unique, random token 20 random security keys are generated per site AJAX actions have unpredictable names like essential_form_fbe52b696 Robots can’t guess or simulate a valid submission The result? Only real humans get through. Bots don’t stand a chance. 🧘‍♀️ Keep It Simple Most of the time, all you need is a name, email, message, and a simple checkbox. That’s exactly what Essential Form gives you. If you need complex forms with extra fields or logic, this plugin isn’t for you — try Contact Form 7 instead. But if you want something fast, clean, and incredibly secure, Essential Form is for you. Try Essential Form today — and enjoy a faster, cleaner contact form experience. How to add a contact form on the page Add the shortcode [essential_form] Done! Features of the Contact Form Extremely lightweight – The plugin inlines about 1 kB of pure Vanilla JavaScript (even smaller when compressed) only on the page where you use the shortcode — and never above the fold. On all other pages, it doesn’t exist at all. You could say it only “exists” on a page because the form is visible — otherwise, you’d never know the plugin is there. No tool will be able to measure any meaningful resource usage caused by this plugin. The contact form includes only four fields: name, email, message, and an agreement checkbox. Nothing else. If you need more fields, this plugin isn’t for you. But if that’s all you need — you’ll love how simple and fast it is. It inherits your theme’s styles automatically. If you want custom styling, you can add your own CSS — or use a different plugin if you need more built-in design options. It includes a powerful, invisible anti-spam system. Bots won’t be able to send messages through your form. Only real humans can submit it — and if you ever get spam, it will be from a human doing it manually. No captchas, no puzzles, no user frustration. The anti-spam system works entirely behind the scenes — quietly and effectively. Shortcode Parameters You can customize the form labels and messages using these shortcode parameters: label_email label_message button_text agreement_text success_message Example usage: [essential_form label_email="Your email" label_message="Your message" button_text="Send" agreement_text="You agree with our privacy policy" success_message="Thank you for your message!"] If you don’t provide these parameters, the plugin will use the default values. How to customize the contact forms You can also customize the contact forms throught the filter hook ‘essential_form_settings’. Here an example. add_filter( 'essential_form_settings',function( $options ){ return array_merge( $options, array( 'email_from' => '[email protected]', 'email_to' => '[email protected]', 'email_subject' => sprintf( esc_html__( 'Message from %s','your-domain' ),get_bloginfo( 'name' ) ), 'label_name' => __( 'Name','your-domain' ), 'label_email' => __( 'Email','your-domain' ), 'label_message' => __( 'Message','your-domain' ), 'button_text' => __( 'Send','your-domain' ), 'agreement_text' => __( 'By submitting this form I agree with the privacy policy','your-domain' ), 'success_message' => __( 'Form submitted successfully! Thank you for your message!','your-domain' ), 'name_missing_error' => __( 'Name is a required field!','your-domain' ), 'email_missing_error' => __( 'Email is a required field!','your-domain' ), 'email_not_valid_error' => __( 'Email not valid!','your-domain' ), 'message_missing_error' => __( 'Message is a required field!','your-domain' ), 'message_too_long_error' => __( 'This message is too long! Please, write not more than 50000 characters.','your-domain' ), 'missing_agreement_error' => __( 'You have to agree with our privacy policy to submit the form.','your-domain' ) ) ); } ); If you need to do a custom action after the sending of the email, you can use the action hook ‘essential_form_after_sending’. Here an example. add_action( 'essential_form_after_sending',function( $name,$email,$message,$post_id ){ //$name is the name of the user who submitted the contant form //$message is the message which is sent through the contact form //$post_id is the ID of the page where is included the contact form //Your code here },10,4 ); If you need to customize the message that is included in the email, use the filter hook ‘essential_form_message’. Here you have an example. add_filter('essential_form_message',function( $message,$name,$email,$post_id ){ if( isset( $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] ) ){ $message .= ' IP: '.sanitize_text_field( $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] ).' '; } return $message; },10,4 ); If you need to customize the agreement text, use the filter hook ‘essential_form_agreement_text’. Here you have an example. add_filter( 'essential_form_agreement_text',function( $text ){ return 'By submitting this form I agree with the Privacy Policy '; } ); Limitations The limits of Essential Form are many, but they are what make this plugin the best if you need a ultra-lightweight contact form with just name, email, comment, and privacy agreement. If you need more, you can always install more complete but also heavier contact forms like: Contact Form 7 WPForms Forminator Formidable Forms Ninja Forms and many other amazing plugins for contact forms. How to speed up the form submission and avoid conflicts with other plugins Install and activate Freesoul Deactivate Plugins Go to Freesoul Deactivate Plugins => Plugin Manger => Actions => Essential Form Deactivate all the plugins for the actions “Getting secret key during submission” and “Form submission” By using Freesoul Deactivate Plugins to clean up all the other plugins, the form submission will be faster and without any conflict with third plugins. Demo You can see Essential Form in action on my blog post The Lightest Contact Form Plugin Ever You don’t need any demo for the backend, because there are no settings for this plugin. Just use the shortcode [essential_form] where you want to add the form, and customized as mentioned in the description. I need this plugin to do something custom If you want to integrate this plugin with other tools or workflows, I offer a custom development service for WordPress plugin integrations and feature extensions. Learn more about advanced custom functionality for WordPress.

👑 Go Pro | 💻Live Demo | 🔌Extensions | 📱Mobile Application WordPress Mail SMTP Plugin Are you facing the WordPress not sending emails issue❓Don’t worry! Install the Post SMTP Plugin aka (WordPress mail SMTP plugin), for smooth WordPress email deliverability. Over 400,000 website owners use Post SMTP daily to send WordPress emails securely and reliably💯 using Gmail SMTP, Microsoft Office 365/Outlook, and other SMTP integrations. Post SMTP is a free, next-generation WordPress SMTP plugin that improves email deliverability for your WordPress site. The best part is that to ensure high email deliverability the Post SMTP plugin offers 15+ SMTP mailer options, including Gmail, Brevo, Microsoft 365 SMTP (formerly Office 365), Amazon SES, Zoho Mail, Postmark, Mailgun, SendGrid, etc. With the ✨Post SMTP Pro version✨, you can unlock even more advanced features, such as detailed email logs, email delivery stats and reporting, email open-tracking, premium SMTP integration (Microsoft 365, Amazon SES, and Zoho Mail SMTP), multiple options for email alerts (i.e., Teams, Webhook, Twilio, and Slack), and much more. What is SMTP, and Why Do You Need It? SMTP, short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is the most widely used protocol for online email transmission. SMTP configuration with proper authentication for your WordPress site ensures that your WordPress emails do not end up in spam. By default, WordPress sends emails using the PHP mail function, which isn’t ideal because most WordPress hosting servers don’t support PHP email. On top of that, most email clients, such as Outlook (Office 365 / Microsoft365), Yahoo, Gmail, Brevo, Zoho, Amazon SES, Mailgun, etc., automatically block or mark spam emails that lack proper authentication. That’s why you need to install the Post SMTP plugin on your WordPress site to configure the SMTP mailer of your choice with one-click SMTP setup for Gmail, Microsoft 365, and more. How Does Post SMTP Work? Post SMTP allows you to easily replace the default PHP mail function (wp_mail) of your WordPress site with the SMTP mailer of your choice, like Microsoft 365(Office 365), Brevo, Zoho, SendGrid, Mailgun SMTP, Gmail (Gmail SMTP Server), Post Mark, Amazon SES etc., which in turn improves WordPress email deliverability. This WordPress mail SMTP plugin provides detailed email logs, email open tracking, email alerts, and a mobile app to monitor WordPress email deliverability. Additionally, with a 3-step setup wizard you can configure any SMTP mailer (e.g., Gmail SMTP (Gmail one-click setup), Microsoft Office 365, Mailgun, Brevo, etc.) securely via API Keys in seconds without providing your SMTP account credentials. NOTE: If you want to set up a Gmail SMTP server for WordPress, check out our detailed guide on how to configure Gmail SMTP server to send WordPress emails reliably. Ultimately, this WordPress SMTP plugin helps you fix all your issues related to WordPress not sending emails. ⚡ Features That Make Post SMTP Stand Out ✅ Quick Setup Wizard: Easy-to-use and powerful 3-Step Setup Wizard for quick WordPress SMTP configuration with One-click SMTP setup for Gmail SMTP and Microsoft 365 SMTP. ✅ SPF, DKIM & DMARC Checks: Keep an eye on domain’s reputation with out built-in Spam Score Checker that looks at your DNS records.. ✅ Detailed Email Logs: Quickly view, filter, and check the status of all your WordPress emails and error messages with a simple click, ensuring your email logs are always up to date. ✅ Post SMTP Mobile App: Get WordPress email alerts directly on your mobile phone so you can track email deliverability on the go. ✅ Extensive Email Reporting: Get a thorough report at a glance regarding your WordPress email deliverability performance, including email open tracking and other important stats. ✅ Resend Email Attachments [PRO]: With a single click, you can resend any email attachment right through your email log screen, maintaining a seamless record in your email logs. ✅ OAuth 2.0 Support: Authenticate all major SMTP service providers’ accounts (i.e., Microsoft Office 365/Microsoft365, Brevo, Gmail SMTP (Gmail one-click setup), Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, etc.) securely using APIs. ✅ Fallback Mailing: Easily set up a backup WordPress SMTP mailer to send any transactional email in case of a failure with the main mailer. ✅ Instant Failure Notification: In case of any WordPress email delivery failure, you’ll get an instant email alert, Slack notification, SMS (via Twilio), push notification (via webhook and Chrome Extension), etc. ✅ Free Chrome Extension:Receive all your WordPress email alerts for failed email deliveries directly into your Chrome browser window. ✅ Weekly Email Summary: Get a snapshot of your WordPress email deliverability report right in your inbox every week, which reveals the total number of emails, the number of failed emails, total successful email deliveries, and your recent email logs. ✅ Unparalleled Customer Support: We offer multiple support options, including email, a WordPress forum, and even one-on-one expert assistance for WordPress SMTP Configuration and all your email delivery issues. ⚡ Post SMTP Mobile App: Get an Instant Pulse of Your WordPress Emails ✅ Keep track of Your Emails: You can monitor all the emails sent from your WordPress site and check the status of each email. ✅ Get Instant Alerts: When an email fails to deliver, you will receive an instant notification on your phone. ✅ Resend Failed Emails [PRO]: With one tap on your app, you can resend any failed email. Preview Any Email: You can preview your emails and see how it looks. ✅ Connect Multiple Sites [PRO]: Monitor email logs and get email failure notifications (email alerts) for all your WordPress sites right from the app. ✅ Troubleshoot Errors: Quickly fix email failure issues by viewing the error details with a single tap. SMTP Mailer Options for Post SMTP With Post SMTP, you get many SMTP mailer options, such as: Sweego SMTP – Newly Added Mailtrap SMTP – Newly Added Emailit SMTP Resend SMTP MailerSend SMTP Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) SMTP Microsoft 365 SMTP (Formerly Office 365 and Outlook) Gmail SMTP (Gmail API, G Suite, Google Workspace) Amazon SES SMTP Zoho Mail SMTP Mandrill SMTP Mailgun SMTP SendGrid SMTP Mailjet SMTP SparkPost SMTP Postmark SMTP Elastic Email SMTP Other SMTP (To connect any SMTP server) You often need to install a different WordPress mail smtp plugin for each SMTP mailer setup. However, with Post SMTP, you can set up all popular SMTP providers, such as Gmail one-click setup, Microsoft Office 365, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Zoho Mail, etc. Microsoft 365 SMTP Millions of businesses around the world use Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) or Outlook for their email communications. With Post SMTP Pro, you can easily connect your existing Outlook or Microsoft 365 (formerly Office365) account with WordPress via one-click SMTP setup to improve email deliverability. 👉 For more details, check out our guide on how to set up Microsoft 365 for WordPress emails. Amazon SES SMTP Amazon SES (Simple Email Service) is a cloud-based email service that can send transactional and mass emails. SES is cost-effective, reliable, and scalable. Using the Post SMTP Pro, you can securely integrate your Amazon SES account with WordPress via APIs so that you can send large numbers of emails on a budget. 👉 For more details, check out our Amazon SES documentation. Zoho Mail SMTP Connect your Zoho mail personal or business account with WordPress via Post SMTP Pro to improve email deliverability. It has a 99.9% server uptime and offers a free option. 👉 For more details, check out our Zoho Mail documentation. 👉 To learn about all the supported SMTP mailers, check out our Complete SMTP Mailer Guide. ⚡ Added Benefits of Getting Post SMTP Pro The Post SMTP Pro gives you an edge that makes your WordPress email management and performance reporting a breeze! With Post SMTP Pro, you get the following additional perks: ✅ Microsoft 365 One-Click: Upgrade to unlock a smooth and effortless Microsoft email setup. Just enable Microsoft 365 One-Click Setup. With a single toggle, Post SMTP automatically configures everything needed for secure and reliable Outlook / Office 365 email delivery no manual settings required, no technical steps to worry about. ✅ Google (Gmail) SMTP One-Click: Upgrade now for a worry-free Gmail SMTP integration. Activate Gmail One-Click Setup and let Post SMTP Setup Wizard handle all the API-related technicalities. ✅ Microsoft Teams Notifications: This WordPress SMTP plugin enables you to receive real-time notifications for your emails on Microsoft Teams with a simple webhook. ✅ Native SMTP Integration: You can use this WordPress SMTP plugin to securely configure 15+ SMTP service provider accounts, such as Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Office 365), Gmail SMTP, Amazon SES, Zoho Mail, Mailgun, Postmark, etc., with WordPress using APIs. ✅ Twilio (SMS) With this WordPress SMTP plugin, you can easily configure and receive all your WordPress email failure alerts through SMS by connecting your Twilio account. ✅ Secondary SMTP Connection: Using the Post SMTP Pro, you can set up multiple SMTP mailers so that for any reason, whenever an email fails to deliver, Post SMTP will automatically route that email through the secondary SMTP connection. In turn, this will improve your email delivery rate. ✅ Weekly Email Health Report: As a Post SMTP Pro member, you get a weekly email report that reveals all your deliverability statistics at a glance, such as the total number of emails sent from your WordPress site, the number of failed emails, the total number of successful email deliveries, and the complete email logs report so you can identify any issues right away without login into your WordPress. ✅ Email Open Tracking: Are you curious about which of your emails get opened? With Post SMTP Pro, you can easily view email open tracking right on your email log screen, which greatly enhances your ability to analyze the performance of your WordPress emails. ✅ Auto Resend Failed Emails: With Post SMTP Pro, you can effortlessly increase your WordPress email delivery success rate by simply specifying the number of resubmission attempts after the first failed submission. ✅ Email Batching and Quota Scheduling: Avoid any spam detection and daily email limit exceeding issues with the Post SMTP email batching and quota scheduling feature. As a pro user, you can easily specify the duration and number of emails per batch and choose how often to send the emails (hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly) for optimal email delivery. ✅ Priority Support: We offer exceptional customer support to all the Post SMTP Pro users. You can access our team of WordPress experts on one-on-one email support 24/7 for any WordPress email-related issue. Also, we offer WordPress SMTP Configuration service on demand. 🆕 MainWP Post SMTP Extension – NEW Manage WordPress SMTP Configuration Across All Your Sites From A Single Dashboard With MainWP Post SMTP Extension, you can: Set up and sync your SMTP settings for all your sites with one click. Ensure email deliverability with backup SMTP connections. Receive instant email failure alerts via email webhook, Slack, SMS, and Microsoft Teams. Track and resend your WordPress emails with a dedicated mobile app Access detailed email logs of all your sites in one place MainWP Post SMTP Extension is the ultimate solution for WordPress email management. Get it today and enjoy the benefits of easy and efficient WP SMTP management.🙃 ⛑ Need Help? Get Expert Assistance on Demand!!! With our Expert Assistance, you can get help with email deliverability and SMTP plugin configuration for Gmail, Microsoft Office 365, and any SMTP setup for WordPress. All you need is to click here, fill out the form, sit back, and relax while our WordPress expert sets up your SMTP configuration. Also, you can request us to configure all your DNS records for proper email authentication. In short, our Expert Assistance is your one-stop destination for all your WordPress email delivery issues. Compatibility and Support Contact Form 7 Woocommerce New User Approve Password Protected Elementor Forms Gravity Forms Login Designer Visual Forms Builder Mailster Newsletter plugin SendPress Newsletters WP HTML Mail Email Templates .. and every other plugin that uses the WordPress API wp_mail to send mail! Try Our Other Awesome WordPress Plugins Gutena Forms – Create modern, responsive contact forms directly in the Gutenberg block editor. Add advanced fields, protect against spam with reCAPTCHA and Cloudflare Turnstile, manage form entries, and more. Password Protected – Secure your WordPress site, posts, pages, and categories with simple password protection. 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WPExperts WooCommerce Store – Explore premium WooCommerce plugins and professional solutions by WPExperts.== Requirements == WordPress v6.2 and above is recommended PHP v7.6 and above is recommended. Memory should be at least 800KiB per processing at idle. Ensure your email service provider allows SMTP connection through 3rd party applications, if not you can have it enabled.(Other SMTP) For reliable email deliverability, valid credentials are required.