8+ Cool jQuery Plugins for WordPress That Are Easy & Powerful

Over the last few years, we have used different jQuery plugins to add all kinds of interactive elements to our websites like contact forms, popups, accordions, and sliders.

After much research, the biggest lesson we learned is that not every jQuery plugin is created equal and each has its own list of pros and cons. In fact, choosing the right plugins can be intimidating since there are so many available options.

In this article, we’ll explain everything we learned from testing the popular jQuery plugins. We’ll also show our list of the best WordPress jQuery plugins to help you choose the right one for your needs.

Our Favorite jQuery-Based WordPress Plugins

If you are in a hurry, then take a quick look at our expert picks to make a decision.

#	Plugins	Best For	Pricing
🥇	WPForms	Building powerful forms	$49.50/yr + Free
🥈	SeedProd	Creating landing pages and themes	$39.50/yr + Free
🥉	All in One SEO	Best SEO plugin	$49.60/yr + Free
4	OptinMonster	Creating popups, floating bars, and banners	$5.97/month
5	Advanced Custom Fields	Additional custom fields	Free
6	SearchWP Modal Search Form	Adding popup search forms	Free
7	Accordion	Adding dropdown accordions	Free
8	Easy FancyBox	Adding lightboxes to media	Free
9	jQuery Updater	Updating jQuery version	Free

What Is a jQuery Plugin, and When Do You Need One?

jQuery is a popular and widely used JavaScript library. It’s used by WordPress to add cool features like popups, sliders, and other interactive website elements without affecting the site’s speed and performance.

In fact, many of the top WordPress plugins and most popular WordPress themes use jQuery for essential functionality. 

People will spend more time on your site when it is more interactive and engaging. The more engaged they are with your website, the more chances you will have to convert them into subscribers or customers.

How We Test And Review jQuery Plugins?

When we were trying to find the best jQuery plugins, we paid attention to these factors:

Ease of Use: We have prioritized plugins that are beginner-friendly and have extensive documentation.

Different Use Cases: We have included jQuery plugins that have different functions like building forms, landing pages, popups, banners, SEO, and more.

Reliability: We have only mentioned the plugins that we have tested ourselves on real websites.

Having said that, let’s show you some of the best plugins using jQuery to add powerful features to your WordPress blog. 

1. WPForms

WPForms is the most beginner-friendly and best contact form plugin on the market with jQuery functionality.

The plugin uses jQuery to reveal conditional form fields, validate form payments, let users pick a time on your form, and more. You can use it for all kinds of forms, including contact forms, email subscription forms, order forms, and more. For more details, see our WPForms review.

WPForms also supports dynamic field population, conditional logic, and advanced form fields. These features make it easy to create smart and interactive forms for your WordPress website.

Pros of WPForms:

• WPForms comes with 1200+ premade templates that you can use to speed up the form-building process. 
• It has a free plan.
• WPForms uses jQuery to add subtle animations and transitions to form elements, for AJAX form submissions, and to store user input temporarily in case of interruptions.
• The plugin uses jQuery to handle file uploads.
• You can also preview your form in real-time when editing it in the WPForms form builder due to jQuery.

Cons of WPForms:

• Some of its features can only be unlocked in the paid plan.

Why we recommend WPForms: WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market that uses jQuery to make the form-building process super easy for you. It uses the JavaScript library extensively to create dynamic form interactions, AJAX submissions, and robust form validation, and it provides an overall smooth user experience.

2. SeedProd

SeedProd is the best WordPress website and theme builder that comes with multiple blocks that let you add interactive elements to your site. Many of these blocks, like animated headlines, use jQuery and jQuery libraries for the effects.

You can easily add these engaging effects and animations to your website with SeedProd’s drag-and-drop builder. For more details, see our complete SeedProd review.

Other notable blocks include accordion dropdowns, countdown timers to improve conversions, and other blocks with unique animations. 

Pros of SeedProd:

• SeedProd uses jQuery for page transitions like fades, slides, and scrolls.
• It ensures that user input in forms is valid and prevents invalid submissions.
• The plugin uses jQuery to ensure that pages are responsive and adapt to different screen sizes and devices.
• jQuery helps the plugin integrate with third-party email marketing services like Constant Contact, Drip, Brevo, and more.

Cons of SeedProd:

• Some of SeedProd’s features can only be unlocked with the pro plan.

Why we recommend SeedProd: It is the best WordPress page builder on the market. It utilizes jQuery to create a seamless drag and drop builder, add dynamic page elements, interactive transitions, conditional logic, and more. If you want to create a visually appealing website using jQuery, then SeedProd is the ultimate choice.

3. All in One SEO

All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market that uses jQuery to dynamically update meta tags, title tags, and other elements on the page content. This ensures that the search engines receive relevant and accurate information.

jQuery even facilitates AIOSEO to create interactive rich snippets for your website, including star ratings, breadcrumb navigation, and product schema. For details, see our AIOSEO review.

Additionally, it also optimizes the plugin’s user interface with interactive elements, animations, and smooth transitions, making it easier for users to configure SEO settings.

Other than that, AIOSEO also has a headline analyzer tool, FAQ block, XML sitemaps, on-page SEO, image SEO, and readability analysis features to help your site rank higher in the search results.

Pros of AIOSEO:

• The plugin uses jQuery to ensure cross-browser compatibility.
• AIOSEO has a free plan.
• jQuery in this plugin is optimized for performance. This ensures that AIOSEO’s JavaScript code doesn’t negatively impact page loading speed.
• jQuery helps AIOSEO adapt to different screen sizes and devices.
• AIOSEO can perform some tasks asynchronously, like loading SEO analysis data or submitting SEO settings without needing to load the page with the help of jQuery.

Cons of AIOSEO:

• Some of AIOSEO’s advanced features are unavailable in the free plan.

Why we recommend AIOSEO: We recommend using this tool because it is the best SEO plugin on the market that can improve your website rankings. It uses jQuery to increase your content quality, add meta tags dynamically, use rich snippets, and more.

4. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is the best lead generation and conversion optimization tool with JQuery functionality that you can use to convert website visitors into customers.

It comes with a jQuery-empowered drag-and-drop builder and numerous premade templates to create popups, floating bars, banners, slide-ins, and so much more. For details, see our OptinMonster review.

For example, you can create an on-click popup form that uses jQuery to quickly load the popup without refreshing the page.

You can also add engaging A/B quiz popups, gamified spin wheels, announcement bars, and more to encourage visitor interaction.

Note: Our founder, Syed, started to use OptinMonster on WPBeginner, and we increased our email subscribers by 600%!

Pros of OptinMonster:

• OptinMonster uses jQuery to add interactive campaign elements like popups triggered by user actions, page load, scroll depth, or mouse movement.
• jQuery facilitates OptinMonster’s integration with different WordPress themes and plugins.
• It lets you create animations for opt-in forms, ensure cross-browser compatibility, responsive design, event handling, and more.
• OptinMonster facilitates AJAX requests with the help of jQuery.

Cons of OptinMonster:

• OptinMonster is premium software.

Why we recommend OptinMonster: It is a super powerful tool that utilizes jQuery to let you create amazing campaigns for your website. If you want to capture email addresses or boost conversions in your online store with the help of popups, then OptinMonster is the best jQuery plugin available.

5. Advanced Custom Fields

Advanced Custom Fields is a free WordPress plugin that lets you add additional custom fields to your website. 

The plugin uses jQuery to let you add custom fields on demand. Plus, it enables you to add custom fields to any area of your site, like posts, users, comments, media, and more. 

Customizing these fields gives you full control over your post and page metadata. This means you can add and show more than the standard date and time, author name, and title. 

For detailed instructions, you can see our tutorial on how to add custom meta boxes in WordPress posts and pages.

Pros of Advanced Custom Fields:

• jQuery allows the plugin to dynamically render custom fields based on user input and field settings.
• It facilitates the plugin’s drag-and-drop interface.
• It enables the plugin to add conditional logic, allowing fields to be displayed or hidden based on specific conditions.
• jQuery adds repeater fields, field validation, and AJAX field loading.

Cons of Advanced Custom Fields:

• The plugin has many complex features that can be difficult to navigate for users.
• Overuse of the plugin can lead to code bloat, especially when creating complex field groups with nested fields and conditional logic.
• It is heavily reliant on jQuery, meaning if jQuery is not properly loaded or updated, then it could affect ACF’s behavior.

Why we recommend Advanced Custom Fields: It is an amazing jQuery plugin that is ideal if you want to add additional custom fields to your website.

6. SearchWP Modal Search Form

SearchWP Modal Search Form is a free WordPress plugin that adds a beautiful popup search box to your website. It works great on its own but gets even better when paired with the SearchWP plugin.

The plugin uses jQuery to create smooth, accessible search forms that pop up when visitors click a search button. You can add these search forms anywhere on your site, like in menus, posts, or sidebars.

What makes this plugin special is how it works with your existing WordPress theme. It automatically matches your website’s style, so you don’t need to worry about complicated design work.

Pros of SearchWP Modal Search Form:

• Easy to add through menus, shortcodes, or blocks
• Fully accessible and mobile-friendly design
• Matches your theme’s styling automatically

Cons of SearchWP Modal Search Form:

• Full search capabilities require the premium SearchWP plugin
• Custom search form templates need some technical knowledge to implement

Why we recommend SearchWP Modal Search Form: It’s a powerful jQuery plugin that makes adding professional search functionality to your WordPress site incredibly easy, while maintaining accessibility and performance.

7. Accordion

Accordion is one of the best WordPress accordion plugins that lets you add dropdown accordions to your posts, pages, template files, and more. This unique dropdown feature uses jQuery to display your hidden content quickly.

Accordions are commonly used to add frequently asked questions sections to your website, but they can be used for any content. 

The plugin uses a responsive design, so your content will look good on any device.

Pros of Accordion:

• The plugin supports Font Awesome icon fonts to add beautiful icon fonts to your accordion tabs.
• It uses jQuery to create collapsible content sections, smooth transitions, and conditional displays.
• Accordion uses the JavaScript library for the asynchronous loading of content sections and responsive behavior.

Cons of Accordion:

• It has limited customization options and can sometimes conflict with specific themes.
• Adding a large number of accordion panels using this plugin can impact your website’s speed.
• The plugin does not provide good customer support.

Why we recommend Accordion: We recommend this tool if you want to add FAQs to your website easily. Accordion uses jQuery to create a seamless experience for you with its drag-and-drop builder, smooth transitions, collapsible content sections, and more.

8. Easy FancyBox

Easy FancyBox is a lightweight plugin that uses the jQuery library to add custom lightboxes to any media on your website.

Once you activate the plugin, your images, videos, PDFs, image galleries, and more will be opened in a lightbox window.

It also uses jQuery to create popups on your website to display any HTML element, including forms, text, or media.

Pros of Easy FancyBox:

• The plugin can integrate with NextGEN Gallery.
• It uses jQuery for asynchronous loading of lightbox content.
• Easy FancyBox’s lightboxes and popups adapt to different screen sizes and devices due to jQuery.

Cons of Easy FancyBox:

• It has limited customization options.
• The plugin’s heavy reliance on jQuery can hurt a website’s performance.
• The plugin has not undergone any recent security audits and lacks dedicated support.

Why we recommend Easy FancyBox: If you are looking for a simple jQuery plugin that adds lightboxes to your content, then Easy FancyBox is a great choice.

9. jQuery Updater

jQuery Updater is a free WordPress plugin that updates your site’s jQuery version to the latest stable release. As we covered in our guide on how to upgrade jQuery to the latest version in WordPress, this plugin is particularly useful for sites running older WordPress versions.

The plugin includes jQuery Migrate for backward compatibility and doesn’t replace any core files. This means you can safely deactivate it to return your site to its original state if needed.

Note that if you’re running WordPress 5.6 or later, you likely don’t need this plugin as these versions already include jQuery 3.

Pros of jQuery Updater:

• Simple one-click jQuery update process
• Includes jQuery Migrate for compatibility
• Non-destructive installation (no core files modified)
• Easy to disable if issues occur

Cons of jQuery Updater:

• May cause conflicts with older themes and plugins
• Limited support for JavaScript-related issues
• Not necessary for WordPress 5.6 and newer versions

Why we recommend jQuery Updater: It’s a reliable solution for updating jQuery on older WordPress sites, though most modern WordPress installations won’t need it.

Which Is the Best jQuery Plugin For WordPress?

In our expert opinion, WPForms, AIOSEO, SeedProd, and OptinMonster are the best WordPress jQuery plugins.

This is because the jQuery library used in these plugins is optimized for performance. This ensures that the jQuery code does not bloat the plugin and impact your website speed.

You can use WPForms to create interactive forms with conditional logic, file upload fields, AJAX form submissions, and more.

Similarly, SeedProd is the ideal jQuery plugin to create custom themes and landing pages without using any code.

On the other hand, All in One SEO will use jQuery to improve your website rankings with dynamic meta tags, rich snippets, schema, and more.

However, if you are looking for a plugin that lets you launch amazing campaigns for your site and generate leads, then your go-to solution should be OptinMonster. This software uses jQuery to create interactive popups and banners, helping you convert site visitors into customers.

Frequently Asked Questions About jQuery

Here is a list of some frequently asked questions by our readers:

What is the alternative to jQuery in WordPress?

While jQuery is a popular choice for JavaScript development in WordPress, there are several alternatives that offer better performance, more features, and great support for current web standards.

Some of the alternatives include:

React: A powerful JavaScript library from Meta that focuses on building the UI components of web applications. It is famous for its virtual DOM (Document Object Model) implementation.

Vue.js: A JavaScript framework that offers a reactive approach to building user interfaces. Vue.js is well-suited for creating modular and reusable code.

Svelte: A newer JavaScript framework that takes a more lightweight approach to front-end development. Svelte compiles JavaScript code into highly optimized vanilla JavaScript, which results in improved performance.

Can you replace the default jQuery Script with Google Library?

You can easily replace the default jQuery Script with Google Library. This is recommended if you want to boost your site performance, improve security, and reduce the server load.

For instructions, see our tutorial on how to replace default jQuery Script with Google Library.

What is the difference between jQuery and jQuery plugins?

jQuery is a JavaScript library that simplifies the process of manipulating HTML elements, event handling, animation, and Ajax. On the other hand, jQuery plugins are WordPress plugins that use jQuery to perform functions.

Some popular jQuery plugins include WPForms, OptinMonster, AIOSEO, SeedProd, and more.

Best WordPress Guides for Using jQuery

• How to Add jQuery Tooltips in the WordPress Comment Form
• Best jQuery Tutorials for WordPress Beginners
• How to Add a Smooth Scroll to Top Effect in WordPress Using jQuery
• How to Fade In the Last Sidebar Widget in WordPress Using jQuery
• How to Add a jQuery FAQ Accordion in WordPress
• How to Properly Add JavaScripts and Styles in WordPress

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.