6 Best WordPress Popup Plugins

By default, just about every email marketing tool allows you to create a popup form. However, if you are looking to grow your email list significantly, having a generic popup will not help you achieve said objective. Fortunately, this is where a WordPress popup plugin can come in handy. 

In this article, let us examine the pros and cons of 6 of the most popular WordPress popup plugins so you can narrow down your search and pick one that is best for you.

Six of the Best WordPress Popup Plugins

OptinMonster

OptinMonster is a standalone product. In other words, it can be used on different website platforms such as Joomla, HTML sites, WordPress, etc. With OptinMonster, you will find key features that can help you grow your email list significantly.

Pros

• Advanced targeting. Target your visitors based on their interactions on your site, physical location, specific interests, etc.
• Ease of use. OptinMonster is equipped with a powerful drag and drop form builder. You have the option to build a form from scratch or opt for a built-in template.
• Speed. OptinMonster will not affect the speed of your site. Since it is hosted on Amazon’s powerful platform, it can help improve your loading time.

Cons

• No free option. Unfortunately, OptinMonster is not a free form builder solution. However, if you are focused on growing your email list, this would be a premium tool worth investing in.

Thrive Leads

This list building plugin is created by Thrive Themes. This plugin is great when creating conversion-focused WordPress plugins and themes. Thrive Leads also allows you to create attractive optin forms straight from your WordPress dashboard.

Pros

• One-time payment. With Thrive Leads, you will not be bound by any recurring payment contract. You just need to pay one time and you can download the plugin after.
• Advanced analytics. You will get a detailed insight into your conversion rates and list building efforts.

Cons

• Usability. You would need to tackle a slight learning curve as getting started can be challenging even for experienced WordPress users.
• Speed. Thrive Leads is a heavy plugin. That said, it might affect your WordPress performance.

Sumo

Sumo brands itself as more than just a WordPress popup plugin. Aside from growing your email list, it is also designed to help you grow your social sharing. This standalone product also offers analytics features such as scroll box and heat maps.

Pros

• Free. If you want a free WordPress popup plugin, Sumo is something you can look into. However, you must keep in mind that you will be limited in terms of features. The free plugin also creates a blue menu bar across your site which can make it appear unprofessional. You will need to purchase the premium product if you want to remove it.
• Pre-built templates. When you invest in a premium version, you can choose from several pre-designed templates that are designed to help you hit your goals.
• Create popups based on traffic sources. Sumo allows you to create tailored popups based on the traffic source of your visitor. For instance, if you are receiving lots of Facebook traffic, you can create tailored popups just for them.

Cons

• Expensive. If you are looking for a straightforward popup plugin, Sumo is not a good match. 
• Limited features. This is a broad product that is not focused primarily on growing the email list. Compared with other popup plugins, Sumo lacks several list building features. 

Popups

Popups is a free but powerful WordPress popup plugin. It allows you to show multiple popups to get social likes, cookie notice, display subscription, and many more. It also has several trigger conditions and popup types. 

Pros

• Popup frequency. You have the option to set the number of days for returning visitors.
• Filterable popups. If you want to target certain users, you can use the filter option to target visitors based on page visits, search engines, user roles, and user comments.
• Customisable. You have the option to customise the typography, background, colour, border, and background opacity for each popup.

Cons

• Customer support. Support is not available unless you are using the premium version.
• A/B testing. Unlike OptinMonster, Popups does not have the A/B testing option.

Icegram

Icegram is a new solution that allows you to create email optins and popups to grow your email list. However, it is more than just a popup form builder. Icegram can also create a powerful CTA button that will drive visitors to any page you want.

Pros

• Free. If you want a free plugin that allows you to create popup forms and optins, this is one solution you can look into. 
• No traffic limits. Unlike Sumo, Icegram has no traffic limit. That means you can grow your email list regardless of the amount of traffic generated by your site.

Cons

• Unattractive built-in templates. Compared to other premium solutions, built-in templates are considered unattractive. 
• User interface. Icegram’s user interface is a mess. And since it does not have a drag and drop building, creating even a simple popup can be a tedious task.
• Limited targeting options. Icegram only provides basic targeting such as time-based targeting.

Bloom

This WordPress popup builder is created by Elegant Themes. It allows you to create visually appealing popup forms straight from your WordPress dashboard. If you want to test the plugin before purchasing it, you can try their live plugin demo site.

Pros

• Built-in templates. Bloom gives you an option to choose from 6 different display types like optin fly-ins, optin popups, etc. It also comes with 115 pre-made templates you can choose from, so you will not need to build a form from scratch.
• A/B testing. You can compare the performance of your forms through split testing so you can figure out which one is best.

Cons

• Speed. Bloom might slow down your site.
• No visual customiser. You need to click on the preview button to view the changes you are making on the form.
• Not as feature rich as OptinMonster. Bloom only offers basic targeting options.

Over to You

Finding the best WordPress popup plugins can be tricky. Hopefully, our quick and easy guide has taken you a step closer to finding the popup plugin that is best for you!