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Advanced Forms for ACF

by Phil Kurth · Forms

Also makes 1 other plugin · 3K+ installs across the portfolio →

Flexible and developer-friendly forms using the power of Advanced Custom Fields

Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.

Health

A 87/100

no flags

Active installs

3K+

≈3.5K estimated

Momentum

+15%

downloads vs prior 30d

Biggest opportunity: Swap “contact form” for “ajax forms”. “contact form” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “ajax forms” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.

How scoring works →
87 Health · A
Maintenance 89/100
Rating quality 95/100
Support 70/100
Security 94/100

87 health vs 65 average across 2,510 Forms plugins

Install conversion

How it's measured →

2.7%

of downloads still active

At least 3K of 113.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Forms plugin keeps 1.3%, across 1,667 plugins.

Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Forms plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.

This plugin shipped 2 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.

Details

Version
1.9.3.8
Last updated
6mo ago
Added
2016-11-13 · 9 yrs old
Requires WP
5.4.0
Tested up to
6.9.11
Requires PHP
7.1

Directory ranking optimization

How it's scored →

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

98 / 100

Excellent listing optimization

Well tuned across the board

Update recency 100/100

Updated 173 days ago

WP compatibility 100/100

Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer

Rating quality 90/100

5.0★ over 41 reviews, smoothed to 4.51★

Listing tuning 100/100

5 of 5 tags set · short description in place

Support resolution 100/100

1 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months

Daily downloads

Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+15% vs prior 30d
4731 Oct 2026

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.8K · peaks are release surges

1.3K31 Oct 2026

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

Advanced Forms for A · #4171youAdvanced Custom Fiel · #1010ACF Field For CF7 · #2014ACF Content Analysis · #297

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

531 Oct 2026

Health trend

Composite health score, snapshotted daily

8731 Oct 2026

Update activity

How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.

44931 Oct 2026

Release cadence

Occasionally updated
from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

2

releases in the last 12 months

6mo ago

latest release · v1.9.3.8 · 11 May 2026

50

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.9.3.8 · 11 May 20261.9.3.7 · 4 Mar 20261.9.3.6 · 1 Sep 20241.9.3.5 · 21 Jul 20241.9.3.4 · 11 May 20241.9.3.3 · 4 Feb 20241.9.3.2 · 26 Jul 20231.9.3.1 · 7 Dec 20221.9.3 · 7 Dec 20221.9.2.1 · 8 Aug 20221.9.1 · 5 Jan 20221.9.0 · 4 Jan 20221.8.2 · 20 Oct 20211.8.1 · 2 Jul 2021

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 88% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v1.9 88%
v1.8 6%
Older / other versions 5.7%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
3K–4K ≈3.5K

Crossed into this band 20 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.

Install history since 1 Sep 2020

3K31 Oct 2026

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. ★★★★★ zebomfim
    3.7y ago

    Great plugin, and the support is excellent, the developers have done a great job.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. ★★★★★ Adrian Mörchen
    4.5y ago

    This plugin is a very good addition to the already very good and high-quality ACF. I was a long time user of Caldera Forms, which never was good (very poor quality). As developer, I often had to customize forms… this always was a struggle with Caldera Forms, but worked… And lately a user of its successor Ninja Forms (Pro)… Unfortunately, Ninja Forms doesn’t stand to its advertising… support, quality.. Because of the general very high quality of ACF I always wanted to switch to ACF based forms, but hesitated because of ACF itself. (I’m a long term user of ACF pro too and using it in nearly every project). The problem with ACF is its quite “end user unfriendly” and very technical UI… But after another frustrating project using Ninja Forms, I bit the bullet and switched to Advanced Forms (Pro) and Advanced Custom Fields Pro. And I only regret not to have done this earlier. The pros just outweigh the cons multiple times… (To admit: I currently only use it in projects where the end user has not to work with the forms directly. This might be a problem in the future, but maybe not.)

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. ★★★★★ neuromorph
    4.8y ago

    Advanced Forms Pro is an essential component to our patient and animal intake system – a system which integrates Acuity Scheduling, WordPress-ACF, Zapier and Google Workspace apps. AF Pro’s API is used to pre-fill ACF form fields with URL query string values initially generated in Acuity. After that, AF Pro’s Zapier API passes to Google raw field values, and computed values, which populate placeholders inside a G-Doc template. Then, automatically created Workspace folders receive new intake G-Docs derived from the populated templates. The folders also receive image files passed to Google via AF Pro’s Zapier integration. Largely thanks to AF Pro, and Fabian’s outstanding tech support, I was able to pull this whole thing off. My client is absolutely over-the-moon at all the functionality and subsequent tremendous time savings the system is providing them. Thank you! This topic was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by neuromorph.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  4. ★★★★★ drl
    4.9y ago

    This is a really useful set of tools for those of us who rely on ACF. Goes way beyond the basic field and form interface with a whole host of ready to use helper functions. Well documented and clear.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  5. ★★★★★ blurFactor New Media, LLC
    5.0y ago

    We’ve used the pro version of Advanced Forms for a couple of years and could not be happier with the functionality and support. This is a great solution for forms, and it’s especially useful when collecting user-submitted content. Can’t recommend Advanced Forms and the folks at Hookturn enough. We’ve used all three of their pro plugins and they are all of excellent quality.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  6. ★★★★★ markuschv
    5.0y ago

    I luckily stumbled upon Advanced Forms when I had a client with many special requirements. The form had to have some different ACF-fields (maps, image upload, …), mutli-step with a lot of conditional fields, hidden calculated fields and custom validation of some elements. It’s used for registered users to submit events (Custom Post Type), which then will be marked as pending and an email is sent to the revisor for approval. I couldn’t find any other Form-Plugin plugin that met all of the special requirements, and was about code the form myself. Needles to say, Advanced Forms Pro saved me a lot of headache and development time. Also: Great support PS: The provided filters and actions are very powerfull!

    Read on wp.org ↗
  7. ★★★★★ stirrell42
    5.0y ago

    Wonderful product for making custom forms. If you are a user of Advanced Custom Fields, this is a great tool to add to your workflow.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  8. ★★★★★ Renaud Hamelin
    5.0y ago

    Using this without fear, because it’s simple and usual as it’s based on ACF that is mostly well know, and because products from Hookturn are always carefully tailored, and with a small teams taking time to perfect the products. And they are very opened and easy to contact and discuss with.

    Read on wp.org ↗

Latest updates

via wp.org changelog

Recent releases and news for this plugin

  1. — Version 1.9.3.8 Security: Fixed a missing authorization check on the form import handler. An unauthenticated request to admin-post.php could overwrite an existing form (identified by its publicly visible form key) and inject stored cros 1.9.3.8
  2. — Version 1.9.3.7 Added copy-to-clipboard button for the shortcode field on the form edit screen. Pro Fixed issue where HTML in integration field labels was escaped by ACF 6.7+. 1.9.3.7
  3. — Version 1.9.3.6 Fixed bug preventing taxonomy terms from loading in field’s conditional logic settings. 1.9.3.6
  4. — Version 1.9.3.5 Added the af/form/field_groups filter to allow modification and reordering of field groups. 1.9.3.5
  5. — Version 1.9.3.4 Added the af/form/submission/value filter to allow modification of submission values before they are processed. 1.9.3.4
  6. — Version 1.9.3.3 Added capability and nonce checks to prevent unauthorized export of form JSON. 1.9.3.3

Security history

via Wordfence Intelligence

All 3 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (1.9.3.8). Sites still on an older version should update.

  1. 2026-07-07 CVE-2026-57378 Missing Authorization Affects <= 1.9.3.7 Patched in 1.9.3.8
  2. 2024-02-05 CVE-2024-1121 Missing Authorization Affects <= 1.9.3.2 Patched in 1.9.3.3
  3. 2020-06-27 CVE-2021-24892 Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key Affects < 1.6.9 Patched in 1.6.9

Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.

CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

✓ Low memory footprint
✓ Low page-speed impact
✓ Runs on latest PHP + WP
✓ No PHP errors
✓ No JS errors
✓ Activates cleanly
✓ No resource errors
✓ No external HTTP errors
✓ Optimized database use
✕ Frequently updated

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 10 languages, 1 at 90% or more

Swedish 92%
Danish 84%
Portuguese (Portugal) 74%
Portuguese (Portugal) AO90 74%
French (France) 58%
Vietnamese 49%
Russian 46%
Italian 43%
Spanish (Spain) 40%
German 30%

AI assistants

How it's measured →

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.

Readme readiness

6 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026

Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.

  • ✓ Says what it does "Flexible and developer-friendly forms using the power of Advanced Custom Fields"
  • ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
  • ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
  • ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you need", "designed for", "use cases").
  • ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg, Mailchimp, Zapier, Advanced Custom Fields and 2 more.
  • ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 3 lists.
  • ✓ Enough to quote 2,817 characters of description.
  • ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "acf form", "contact form" do not.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2025-03-21 4K+ → 3K+ down after 1 days in tier
  2. 2025-03-20 3K+ → 4K+ up after 3 days in tier
  3. 2025-03-17 4K+ → 3K+ down after 1 days in tier
  4. 2025-03-16 3K+ → 4K+ up after 1 days in tier
  5. 2025-03-15 4K+ → 3K+ down after 7 days in tier
  6. 2025-03-08 3K+ → 4K+ up after 1756 days in tier
  7. 2020-05-17 2K+ → 3K+ up after 411 days in tier
  8. 2019-04-02 1K+ → 2K+ up after 298 days in tier

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Advanced Forms for ACF into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

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Preview card ↗

Advanced Forms for ACF: 3K+ active installs, 5.0★ (41 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/advanced-forms

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