7 Perfect Newsletter Popups That Convert

Picture this: you just landed on a beautifully designed page, and before you get the information you need, you get 5 popups. Now you’re distracted and annoyed and quickly exit the page.

As a WordPress expert, I understand this frustration completely.

But at the same time, I understand the importance of popups. They’re incredible for lead generation and building your email subscriber base – two things that can make or break your online success.

Now, I try to avoid popups because of the frustration they bring. But I cannot ignore the power of bringing in leads, especially for email marketing.

All you have to do is have a look at this list of the best popups for WordPress I created to find one that actually works.

So, just like with the list of best WordPress subscription popups I created, I decided to go even more granular.

I went on a mission to find WordPress email capture popups that don’t distract or overwhelm visitors. Ones that appear just at the right time to improve conversions without ruining the user experience.

Here’s what I discovered:

• Premium newsletter popup plugins with advanced features, but command a higher pricing
• More cost-effective options that offer the best value for WordPress-only users
• Options that uniquely combine popups with built-in newsletters
• Free versions available for budget-conscious beginners
• Each tool serves distinct user needs and experience levels

How I Test Email Popup Plugins for WordPress

When testing email popup plugins, I focus on what matters most to beginners who are just starting their email marketing journey. I don’t get caught up in complex business metrics that overwhelm new users.

• Setup ease and user-friendliness comes first. Can you get your first popup running without pulling your hair out? I time how long it takes from plugin installation to having a working popup on your site.
• Email capture effectiveness is next. Does the subscription popup actually collect emails properly? I test the forms myself and check if subscribers show up in email lists correctly.
• Integration with popular email services matters a lot. Most beginners use MailChimp, ConvertKit, or AWeber. I verify these connections work smoothly without technical headaches.
• Mobile experience and responsiveness can’t be ignored. Over half your visitors use phones. I check every popup on different screen sizes to make sure buttons are easy to tap.
• Timing and targeting options separate good popups from annoying ones. Can you set them to appear after someone reads for 30 seconds? Can you avoid showing the same popup twice?
• Value for money rounds out my testing. I compare free versions against paid plans to see what beginners actually need versus fancy features they’ll never use.

These criteria help me find popup plugins to get more email subscribers that work for real WordPress users, not just marketing agencies with unlimited budgets.

Why Trust IsItWP?

At IsItWP, we’ve been the WordPress community’s go-to resource since 2009, helping over 2 million users make better business decisions.

Unlike review sites that never actually use the products, we maintain active accounts, run real client websites, and provide ongoing WordPress consultation.

For us, this is the best way to experience what our community is going through so that we can recommend solutions that actually work.

What’s more, we have built countless free tools. This includes tools like our domain name generator to help those still looking for the perfect company name, and a free malware scanner to help improve your site security.

Most importantly, our most popular tool, the Is It WordPress scanner, is used to see what WordPress theme other websites are using.

As you can see, we listen to what businesses are experiencing and offer real and easy solutions.

Best Newsletter Popup Plugins I Tested and Compared

Now that you understand how the email popup testing process works and what IsItWP stands for, let us get into our ranked list.

To make it easier for you to quickly compare the email popup plugins on this list, I have created a table. You can see if it has a free version, and also get started by clicking on the price of the tool.

Plugin	Best For	Free Version	Ease of Use	Starting Price
🥇 OptinMonster	Advanced marketers with budget	❌	Moderate	$84/year
🥈Thrive Leads	WordPress-only users wanting control	❌	Moderate	$99/year
🥉 Bloom	Divi theme users	❌	Easy	$89/year
4. Elementor Pro	Elementor page builder users	❌ (Free excludes popups)	Easy	$60/year
5. Convert Pro	Visual designers	❌	Easy	$89/year
6. PopupAlly	Beginner-friendly capture	✅	Very Easy	$49/year
7. MailOptin	All-in-one WordPress solution	✅	Easy	$99/year

Apart from that, you can skip to any section of this article by selecting one of the links below.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

1. OptinMonster ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cloud-based conversion powerhouse | Best for: Advanced marketers with budget | Pricing: Starting at $84/year (no free version)

OptinMonster is absolutely the best popup for email subscribers you can use. First, it works as a cloud-based platform, not just a WordPress plugin, so you can use it on any website.

As a WordPress expert, that flexibility becomes huge when you’re managing multiple sites on different platforms.

The email capture setup is pretty straightforward once you get used to their dashboard. You add a small piece of code to your site, then build everything through their online interface or directly in WordPress.

Both interfaces look similar, so you will not experience a learning curve. This makes OptinMonster super easy to use.

OptinMonster’s main focus is on getting you quality leads.

So, it doesn’t send newsletters itself. Instead, it just captures emails really well and sends them to whatever email service you prefer.

OptinMonster connects to over 30 email services like MailChimp, ConvertKit, and AWeber with automatic syncing. No manual work needed once it’s set up.

Here’s what makes OptinMonster special for email capture.

Their Exit-Intent technology catches people right before they leave and shows a popup at the perfect moment. This means it helps your users stay longer on your page and engage with it.

On top of that, the system remembers returning visitors and shows them different messages, so people don’t get annoyed seeing the same popup twice.

You can target visitors from specific countries or cities, which works great for location-based offers.

My favorite feature is the spin-to-win game popups, which get people excited instead of annoyed. This gamification feature is one of the ways to make signup forms more engaging.

Plus, you can create sequences that show different messages to people who didn’t subscribe the first time.

Beyond email capture, OptinMonster helps reduce cart abandonment and shows special offers to win them back.

Other than that, you also get content promotion features that highlight your best blog posts without being pushy.

The best part is that the analytics dashboard shows exactly which popups bring in your most valuable subscribers.

My take: OptinMonster makes sense for established businesses that can afford the higher price. The advanced targeting and professional results justify the cost if you’re serious about growing your email list across multiple websites.

Check out my detailed OptinMonster review here.

Pricing: Starts at $84/year.

2. Thrive Leads ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Maximum WordPress design freedom | Best for: WordPress-only users wanting control | Pricing: $99/year or $299/year for full suite

What really drew me to Thrive Leads is that you get way more control over how your popups look without paying monthly fees like other tools.

But unlike OptinMonster, it works only with WordPress, but that’s actually a good thing.

For starters, setting up email capture is pretty simple. You build everything right inside WordPress using its drag-and-drop editor.

Thrive Leads can automatically send your lead magnets to new subscribers, but it can’t send regular newsletters. You’ll still need an email marketing service for that.

But the good part is you can connect to over 40 email services like Constant Contact, Drip, Active Campaign, ConvertKit, and many more.

This ensures no jumping between different websites or dashboards.

Here’s what makes Thrive Leads special for capturing emails.

As mentioned, it comes with an easy-to-use drag and drop builder, which allows you to design your popups to look exactly how you want them.

I’m talking complete control over colors, fonts, and layouts without knowing any code.

Its smart forms let people choose what they’re interested in before subscribing, so your email list gets better quality subscribers.

With A/B capabilities, you can test different versions of your popups to see which ones work better.

Plus, there are no limits on how many popups you can create or how many people can see them. The best part is returning visitors can see different popups based on what they did before.

Apart from email capture, Thrive Leads can automatically send your lead magnets to new subscribers without you doing anything. You can also lock your best content so people have to subscribe to see it.

My take: Thrive Leads is perfect if you only use WordPress and want to save money long-term. The one-time yearly payment and unlimited features make it a smart choice for small businesses and bloggers.

Check out my latest Thrive Leads review here.

Pricing: Starts at $99/year or $299/year for the full Thrive Suite

3. Bloom ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Elegant email capture for content creators | Best for: Divi theme users | Pricing: $89/year Elegant Themes membership (no standalone option)

I discovered Bloom while using the Divi theme on my SEO agency website.

Bloom isn’t sold separately – you get it as part of an Elegant Themes membership, which also includes the popular Divi theme and other plugins.

This makes it a great deal if you’re already in their ecosystem, like me.

Bloom focuses purely on capturing emails and doesn’t include newsletter sending features. You’ll need your email service to handle the actual campaigns.

Like with our top 2 WordPress newsletter popup tools, Bloom also connects to 16 major email services like GetResponse. The connections work through a simple API setup that takes just a few minutes.

But the integration is so smooth that subscribers appear in your lists instantly.

I love how the email capture setup happens right in your WordPress dashboard. You pick from six different popup types like lightbox popups, fly-ins, and inline forms.

After you build your subscriber popup, you can set up when it appears with an easy to use smart trigger.

You can set popups to appear based on time delays, scroll percentage, or when someone finishes reading a post.

The locked content feature works great for premium resources where people need to subscribe first. This allows you to get subscribers who are actually interested in what you are offering.

Plus, the built-in split testing lets you try different popup designs to see which ones get more signups. The statistics dashboard shows real-time tracking so you know exactly how each popup performs.

The best part is that you can create unlimited forms and target them to specific pages or posts.

My take: Bloom works best if you’re already using Divi or planning to get Elegant Themes membership. The design fits perfectly with Divi sites, and the annual membership gives you access to their entire toolkit.

Check out my Bloom review here.

Pricing: Starts at $89/year Elegant Themes membership (no standalone option)

4. Elementor Pro ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Professional popups within page builder | Best for: Elementor users Pricing: Starting at $60/year (free version excludes popups)

First, for complete transparency, Elementor‘s popup only works with their paid plans.

When I moved my SEO agency site from Divi to Elementor Pro, I started using Elementor’s popup feature because I was already paying for their page builder anyway.

But I quickly noticed that since I was using the Elementor page builder, adding popups felt natural and seamless. This is because creating email capture popups happens inside the same drag and drop editor you use for pages.

Plus, you access the popup builder through Templates, then design everything with the same widgets you know. The Elementor template library includes over 100 professionally designed popups that you can customize completely.

After you build the popups you can collect the emails with Elementor Pro directly. But, if you want to add them to your Newsletter campaigns, Elementor Pro connects to 11 email services you can use.

Plus, dynamic content integration means you can show WooCommerce products or blog posts right in your popups.

I love how the popup animation system is incredibly smooth. You get professional effects like fade, zoom, and bounce that make popups feel polished instead of annoying.

Apart from that, the trigger options cover everything you need: exit intent, scroll percentage, time delays, and even specific page views.

Plus, for even more completed subscriptions, you can use the multi-step forms. They let you collect more information without overwhelming visitors on the first screen.

My take: Elementor Pro popups make perfect sense if you’re already using this popular site builder for your site. The design consistency and professional animations are worth the upgrade, especially for business websites that need to look polished.

Check out my updated Elementor review here.

Pricing: Starting at $60/year (free version excludes popups)

5. Convert Pro ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Canvas-style popup design | Best for: Visual designers | Pricing: $89/year or $349 lifetime

Convert Pro works like Photoshop or Canva for popups, letting you drag elements anywhere on the screen with pixel-perfect control.

As a result, setting up email capture feels like designing a poster. You drag text boxes, images, and buttons exactly where you want them with snapping guides to keep everything aligned.

Like the other email capture popups in this list, Convert Pro also only focuses on lead capture without built-in newsletter features.

With that said, you’ll still need your email service for sending campaigns. It connects to over 20 email services through their Connects addons.

The connections happen with one-click authentication, so you do not need any coding knowledge.

Convert Pro’s multi-step popups impressed me the most. They let you ask simple questions first, then request email addresses after people are engaged.

On the other hand, the behavioral triggers are really smart since they detect exit intent, scroll depth, time on page, and even which website referred the visitor.

If that’s not enough, video promotion popups let you embed YouTube or Vimeo videos to increase engagement before asking for emails.

Apart from that, Google Analytics 4 integration tracks conversions so you know exactly which popups drive the most valuable subscribers.

My take: Convert Pro is perfect if you love designing and want complete creative control. The lifetime option makes sense for agencies or designers who plan to use it long-term across multiple projects.

Pricing: Starts at $89/year or $349 lifetime

The polite popup approach | Best for: Beginner-friendly capture | Pricing: Free version available, Pro at $49/year

I love recommending PopupAlly to clients who worry about annoying their visitors.

This is because it follows a “polite popup” philosophy using exit technology, putting reader experience first, which means happier visitors and better long-term results.

To set it up, all you have to do is pick a template, customize the colors and text, then copy-paste your email service’s HTML code.

PopupAlly works with any email service that gives you HTML signup forms with no complicated API connections needed. These include MailChimp, ConvertKit, AWeber, you name it.

The HTML approach makes it work with practically every email tool on the planet.

I like how PopupAlly also gives power to your users.

For starters, it has this unique feature called Reader decision, which is a mini survey. It lets visitors choose their content path before you ask for their email, creating better engagement.

Plus, the Smart Subscriber feature remembers people across devices, so your users don’t see the same popup twice, staying more engaged.

To make sure your users are more willing to share their information, you can use the video popup integration. In this case, users watch your video first, then feel more comfortable subscribing.

My take: PopupAlly is perfect for beginners who want something that works without overwhelming their visitors. The free version gives you real functionality to test, and the Pro upgrade adds just enough extra features without getting complicated.

Pricing: Starts at $49/year, and a free version is also available

7. MailOptin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

WordPress email marketing hub | Best for: All-in-one WordPress solution | Pricing: Free version available, Premium from $99/year

I recently discovered MailOptin, but I wish I had learned about it sooner.

MailOptin does something unique on this list. It handles both popup creation and newsletter sending right from your WordPress dashboard. On top of that, it also integrates with 40+ email service providers.

No jumping between different tools or paying multiple subscriptions.

Creating email capture forms happens through the familiar WordPress Customizer with real-time previews. You can make lightbox popups, notification bars, slide-ins, or simple embedded forms.

The built-in newsletter capability automatically turns your blog posts into email campaigns. When you publish a new post, your subscribers get it in their inbox without you doing anything.

It doesn’t stop at blog posts. If you run an eCommerce store, your WooCommerce customers sync automatically to your email lists based on what they purchase.

You can also send one-off newsletters and create email sequences directly from WordPress.

Plus, I also like how simple its exit-intent technology is at catching people right before they leave your site.

My take: MailOptin gives a lot if you want to handle everything within WordPress and without additional newsletter tools. The free version is genuinely useful, and the premium plans cost less than most popup plugins alone.

Pricing: Starts at $99/year and offers a free version also

That’s it for my list of the best WordPress newsletter and email capture popups to get subscribers. But as always, I offer a few extra tools for anyone who does not get what they are looking for.

The popup plugins below are not specifically built to help you get more email subscribers. Instead, they help build your trust. In turn, this trust can help you get more email subscribers.

TrustPulse

TrustPulse adds social proof to your popups by showing real-time activity like “John from Miami just signed up” or “5 people viewed this page in the last hour.”

This plugin’s main focus is building FOMO, making users feel like they’re not alone, and pushing them to make a purchase with more urgency.

This social proof WordPress tool works alongside any popup plugin you choose, displaying small notifications that appear near your signup forms.

The best part is that you can customize the messages, timing, and positioning to match your site’s design without affecting your popup functionality.

Here is my TrustPulse review to see everything it can do.

UserFeedback

UserFeedback helps you understand why people do or don’t subscribe by adding quick feedback widgets to your site.

You can ask questions like “What made you decide to subscribe?” or “What information were you looking for?” right after someone closes a popup without signing up.

The feedback insights help you improve your popups over time by showing exactly what visitors were thinking.

UserFeedback works with any popup solution and gives you data that most popup plugins can’t provide.

Check out my detailed UserFeedback review here.

How to Make a Popup Form with Popup Maker and WPForms

Sometimes the best solution isn’t a dedicated email capture popup plugin at all. I’ve helped several clients build amazing subscriber capture systems using WPForms and Popup Maker.

This gives you more control and is cost-effective.

When you need complex forms or want ultimate control over every aspect of your popup system, splitting the work between specialized plugins can deliver better results than all-in-one solutions.

In this case, Popup Maker handles showing the popup, while WPForms handles collecting the email.

Once you install both plugins, create your signup form in WPForms. Then embed that form into a Popup Maker popup.

The good thing is you get unlimited popups for free with Popup Maker’s basic version, plus WPForms works with practically every email service.

This makes sense when you need more than simple email capture. Think custom registration forms, event signups, or detailed lead qualification surveys.

These alternative approaches work best when you need more than standard email capture or want to build a comprehensive conversion system instead of just adding a popup to your site.

Picking the right subscription popup plugin to add users to your newsletter doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.

After testing all these tools, I’ve learned that the best choice depends on these simple questions about your situation.

What newsletter optin features do you want?

• Exit-intent technology is one of the best ways to get subscribers on WordPress without being pushy. For this, and other advanced features like geotargeting that actually convert, I recommend OptinMonster and Thrive Leads.

What is your WordPress setup?

• If you’re already using Elementor Pro, their popup builder makes perfect sense since you’re paying for it anyway. Same goes for Divi users with Bloom – you get it included with your membership. But if you’re on a basic WordPress setup, dedicated newsletter popup plugins will give you way more features.

What is your budget and long-term plans?

• The free versions of PopupAlly and MailOptin actually work well for beginners who just want to test email capture. If you have a bigger budget and need advanced features, OptinMonster delivers serious conversion power but costs significantly more. Thrive Leads sits in the sweet spot with one-time yearly payments instead of monthly subscriptions.

What do you want to happen after someone subscribes?

• MailOptin stands out here because it can send newsletters directly from WordPress, potentially replacing your separate email service. Most other plugins just capture emails and send them elsewhere. If you’re already happy with MailChimp or ConvertKit, any popup plugin with good integration will work fine.

The biggest mistake I see is choosing based on hype instead of simplicity.

Remember, a basic email popup that you actually set up and use right away beats an advanced one that sits inactive because it’s too complicated.

Well done! You are now armed with the right tools to help you create popups to grow your email list. If anything is unclear, check out the commonly asked questions below.

FAQs: Best Newsletter Popup Plugins I Tested and Compared

Absolutely yes, but only if you choose the right one for your situation.

The difference between annoying popups and effective ones comes down to timing and design. Visitors don’t mind popups when they appear at the right moment with genuine value.

You can use a well-thought-out lead magnet like a free guide, discount code, or useful newsletter offer that feels helpful rather than intrusive.

This can transform your website from a visitor destination into a lead generation machine.

Like I always say, the key is starting simple.

Pick a plugin that matches your current WordPress setup and budget. Test it with basic settings first. Once you see results, you can always upgrade to more advanced features or switch to a different tool.

If you are looking for more ways to capture newsletter subscribers, here is an article on the Best WordPress Lead Magnet Plugins.

Apart from that, here are other posts I know you will be interested in reading.

These resources will help you build a complete email marketing system that actually grows your business.

Start with popups, then use these guides to turn those subscribers into loyal customers who can’t wait to hear from you.