6 Best WordPress Popup Plugins For 2024: Get More Email Subscribers

Best WordPress Popup Plugins For List BuildingPin
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Popups get a bad rep in some circles. But done right, popups can be a great way to grow your email list, promote offers, improve your site’s navigation, plus a whole lot more.

Of course, to do all that, you’ll need the right WordPress popup plugin.

To help, I’ve collected six of the best popup plugins for WordPress. You’ll find both free and premium options, as well as plugins that are focused on both list building and other types of popups, like CTAs and contact forms.

1. Thrive Leads

Thrive LeadsPin

Thrive Leads is a popular list building plugin for WordPress that helps you create popups, as well as a number of other types of forms like notification bars or even in-content forms.

One area where Thrive Leads excels is its focus on conversions. You get a pretty detailed analytics and A/B testing suite built into the tool, and you also get plenty of targeting and triggering rules to control where and when your popups appear.

Beyond that, you can build your popups with drag-and-drop thanks to the integrated builder, and you can also connect directly with most popular email marketing services for list building.

If you want a deeper look at this tool, you can check out our full Thrive Leads review.

A look at the popup design interface

If you’ve ever used the Thrive Architect page builder, you should feel right at home in the Thrive Leads builder because the two are pretty much identical.

You can either choose from one of the many pre-made popup templates or build your own from scratch. Then, you’ll be able to further design your form or add new content using the drag-and-drop builder:

Thrive Leads InterfacePin

Targeting and trigger rules

Thrive Leads comes with a solid set of targeting and triggering rules to help you control where and when your popups display.

For triggers, you can use:

  • On page load
  • After a certain period of time
  • Scroll depth, either as a percentage or when a visitor reaches a certain element
  • On click
  • Exit intent

And you also get a lot of WordPress-specific targeting rules, including options to target specific:

  • Types of content (e.g. front page, all pages, blog index, etc.)
  • Posts or pages
  • Categories
  • Post types

Beyond that, you can also target:

  • Devices
  • Whether or not a user is logged in to WordPress

Pricing

$99/year (renews at $199/year thereafter) for the standalone product or $299/year (renews at $599/year thereafter) as part of Thrive Suite (includes all Thrive products).

Learn more in our Thrive Leads review.

2. ConvertPro

ConvertProPin

ConvertPro is a popular list building plugin that gives you access to a lightweight drag-and-drop popup builder, as well as in-dashboard analytics and plenty of targeting and triggering rules.

To help you optimize your popups, ConvertPro offers built-in A/B testing, and you can also connect to a variety of popular email marketing services.

A look at the popup design interface

ConvertPro’s drag-and-drop builder gives you a good amount of control over your popups, though it’s not quite as flexible as what you’d get with Thrive Leads or Elementor Popup Builder.

Like the others, you’ll start by choosing from one of the many pre-made templates or a blank slate.

From there, you’ll use the drag-and-drop builder to design or refine your popup:

ConvertPro InterfacePin

Targeting and trigger rules

ConvertPro excels when it comes to targeting and trigger rules, giving you more options than your average WordPress popup plugin. The only other tool that I’d put as an equal is OptinMonster, which you’ll see later on this list.

To launch your popup (AKA trigger), ConvertPro gives you options for:

  • Time on page
  • Exit intent – either a percentage, CSS element, or when a visitor reaches the bottom of a blog post
  • Scroll
  • Inactivity
  • Cookie
  • Ad block usage
  • New vs returning visitors
  • Referrer
  • Schedule – e.g. only during certain times/days
  • Click

You can also combine these various rules and create different rulesets, which opens up a lot of flexibility:

ConvertPro ConfigurationPin

Then, to target your popups, you can use rules for:

  • Specific content – e.g. homepage, categories, post types, author, etc.
  • Geolocation
  • Cookie
  • Device
  • WordPress logged in status
  • Click

Pricing

ConvertPro costs either $99 for one year of support and updates or $399 for lifetime support and updates.

3. Elementor Popup Builder (Elementor Pro)

ElementorPin

Elementor is one of the most popular WordPress page builders in existence. With the premium version – Elementor Pro – you get access to the Elementor Popup Builder functionality, which lets you build popups using the full power of the Elementor page builder interface.

For that reason, Elementor excels if you want the ability to have 100% control over the design of your popup. None of the other tools on this list match the freedom and flexibility of Elementor Popup Builder when it comes to popup design.

However, one area where Elementor Popup Builder falters is analytics. At the time that I’m writing this post, there’s no built-in conversion tracking like you get with most other tools, nor is there A/B testing. The Popup Builder feature is pretty new, so that might come in the future. But for now, that’s a trade-off to keep in mind.

A look at the popup design interface

With Elementor Popup Builder, you also get the option to choose from 100+ included templates or a blank canvas.

Then, you’ll be able to use a new Popup Settings area in the sidebar, along with the regular Elementor interface, to build your popup:

Elementor InterfacePin

Because you can use all the regular Elementor and Elementor Pro widgets, you can include both regular forms and email opt-in forms using the Form widget.

You can also connect those forms to a variety of popular email marketing services, as well as Zapier webhooks.

Other helpful widgets here include:

  • Regular and evergreen countdown timers
  • CTAs
  • Login forms
  • Social share buttons

Targeting and trigger rules

Once you’re ready to publish your popup, Elementor lets you choose from a variety of targeting and triggering options.

On the targeting front, you can target specific WordPress content, with lots of options to target categories, post types, authors, etc.

Beyond that, you can also target:

  • WordPress logged in status
  • WordPress user roles
  • Devices
  • Referrers
Elementor Publish SettingsPin

And for triggering options, you can trigger by:

  • Time on page – either immediately or after a delay
  • On scroll – either a percentage or specific CSS element
  • Click
  • Inactivity
  • Exit intent

Pricing

Elementor Popup Builder is included in the regular Elementor Pro plugin. Elementor Pro starts at $59 for use on a single site and ranges up to $199 for use on 25 websites.

4. WP Subscribe Pro

WP Subscribe ProPin

WP Subscribe Pro is a lot simpler than the previous three WordPress popup plugins. There’s no drag-and-drop builder. Instead, you’ll use a back-end interface to customize the pre-made templates with your own colors and text.

While you certainly lose a little flexibility with this approach, the upshot is that it’s really easy to use, which may be a plus for you (especially if you like the looks of the default templates).

WP Subscribe Pro has most of the important targeting/trigger features, though again, they’re not as detailed as other tools.

Like the others, WP Subscribe Pro lets you integrate directly with most popular email marketing services.

A look at the popup design interface

Again, there’s no visual design interface with WP Subscribe Pro. Instead, you’ll customize your popups using a back-end interface that looks like this:

WP Subscribe Pro InterfacePin

You can swap in text and colors, but don’t expect to make wholesale changes to the looks of the default template.

Targeting and trigger rules

With WP Subscribe Pro, you can target your popups to specific WordPress content, but that’s it. You can target to:

  • Specific posts or pages
  • Front page
  • Archive pages
  • Etc.

The trigger list is a little broader, letting you trigger your popups:

  • Immediately
  • After a time delay
  • When a visitor scrolls to the bottom of the page
  • Based on exit intent

Pricing

WP Subscribe Pro is affordable, starting at just $19 for use on a single site.

5. OptinMonster

OptinMonsterPin

OptinMonster isn’t technically a WordPress popup plugin. Rather, it’s a software as a service (SaaS) that you can easily integrate into WordPress via its dedicated WordPress plugin.

In terms of overall functionality, OptinMonster has one of the deeper feature lists, especially when it comes to targeting and triggering rules.

The latest version of OptinMonster also includes a drag-and-drop builder to help you customize your popups, as well as in-dashboard analytics and easy A/B testing.

A look at the popup design interface

Like most of the other popup plugins, OptinMonster lets you choose between starting from a pre-made template or a blank slate.

From there, it will drop you into the new drag-and-drop popup builder, where you can design your popups by editing the existing content and adding new content with widgets:

OptinMonster InterfacePin

Targeting and trigger rules

As I mentioned earlier, OptinMonster, along with ConvertPro, has some of the most detailed options for targeting and triggering your popups.

Like ConvertPro, you can also create different targeting/trigger rulesets that apply to the same popup.

On the trigger front, you can trigger by:

  • Time on page
  • Time on site
  • Exit intent
  • Scroll
  • Inactivity
  • Click
  • Date/time

And then you get lots of targeting rules for things like:

  • Specific pages/URL paths
  • Device
  • Geolocation
  • Cookie
  • Referrer
  • New vs returning visitors
  • Ad blocker usage

The only thing OptinMonster is missing is easy rules to target WordPress-specific content. For example, there’s no built-in option to target a visitor by their WordPress logged-in status, nor is there a dedicated option to target specific categories of posts.

You might be able to do that by targeting URL paths or cookies, but it’s not as simple as WordPress-specific solutions.

Pricing

Because OptinMonster is a SaaS tool, you’ll need to continue paying to keep using the plugin, rather than the one-time purchase approach used by most WordPress plugins.

Plans start at an introductory price of $9/month (billed annually).

6. Popup Maker

Popup MakerPin

Finally, there’s Popup Maker – the first free WordPress popup plugin on this list, though there are also premium extensions that you can use to expand the plugin’s feature list.

Like WP Subscribe Pro, Popup Maker does not offer a drag-and-drop popup builder, though you do get more flexibility for customizing a popup’s content.

Popup Maker is probably not the best option if you’re a non-technical user, but if you know your way around some basic HTML/CSS, Popup Maker is pretty flexible.

A look at the popup design interface

With Popup Maker, you’ll build your popups in an interface that’s identical to the classic WordPress editor.

That is, you’ll actually put your popup content into the text editor, along with the dedicated shortcodes to help you add the close button or subscription form:

Popup Maker InterfacePin

Further down, you’ll get a new meta box where you can control the popup’s design, as well as its targeting and trigger rules. Speaking of…

Targeting and trigger rules

With the free version, you can trigger your popups by click and time. With premium extensions, you can also add support for scroll depth, exit intent, and other triggers.

Things are better on the targeting front, though. Even in the free version, you get detailed rules that let you target all kinds of WordPress content, including:

  • Specific posts or pages
  • Categories
  • Tags
  • Post types
  • Post formats

You can also target specific devices. And if you need more functionality, there are premium extensions that let you target:

  • Users – either logged-in status or user role
  • Query strings
  • Referrers
  • Browsers

Pricing

The core Popup Maker plugin is available for free at WordPress.org. After that, you can purchase individual extensions or you can get a bundle of all 16 extensions for $192.

Which WordPress popup plugin is right for you?

Now for the important question – which WordPress popup plugin on this list is right for your needs?

Let’s run through a few scenarios…

Which WordPress popup plugin is the best all-rounder?

For the best overall option that does everything pretty well, Thrive Leads is the winner. You get a combination of drag-and-drop building, solid targeting/triggering rules and built-in A/B testing.

Which WordPress popup plugin is the best when it comes to customization?

If you want the most flexibility for the types of popups you create and how much control you have over their looks, go with Elementor Pro, as long as the lack of built-in analytics isn’t a dealbreaker for you.

Which WordPress popup plugin has the in-depth targeting and trigger rules?

On the other hand, if you value the most detailed targeting and trigger rules, you should consider ConvertPro for a WordPress-specific solution, or OptinMonster if you’re ok with the SaaS pricing.

Which WordPress popup plugin is the most simple to easy, and affordable?

Finally, WP Subscribe Pro is good if you just want something really simple and easy to use, and Popup Maker is a good free option that you can extend as needed using the many premium extensions.


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