Let me tell you why FAQ plugins will make your life easier…
If you’re running any kind of business, you probably get a lot of questions from your customers. And while you’ll certainly get the occasional oddball question, I’m willing to bet that you mostly get asked the same questions repeatedly. As a freelancer, I experience this firsthand when clients inquire about my services.
Rather than wasting both you and your customer’s time answering those questions ad nauseam, you can create one unified FAQ page. I mean, that’s what the acronym means! Frequently Asked Questions.
Your customers are happy because they can quickly find answers to their questions without needing to send an email. You’re happy because you spend less time responding to emails and have more fun.
But you’ll need the right tool to create an effective FAQ page on WordPress. And that’s what this post is about. Keep reading to learn about the best WordPress FAQ plugins, as well as some third-party FAQ tools that integrate well with WordPress.
What Should You Look for in a WordPress FAQ Plugin?
Before I show you the plugins, I want to give you some criteria to consider when making your final choice. For whatever FAQ plugin or external tool you choose, you’ll want to consider these questions:
- How easy is it to add new questions? FAQ pages evolve, so your solution needs to be able to handle additions.
- Is it easy to organize/categorize questions? You may need to divide your FAQ by different topics.
- Does it have a good user interface? Your readers need to be able to quickly find answers.
- Does the plugin create a standalone FAQ page or can you add it to an existing page via shortcode?
- Does it have the right integrations? You may need it to play nice with a specific plugin, like WooCommerce.
What Are the Best Free FAQ Plugins for WordPress?
There are several free FAQ plugins available for WordPress. And while they might not offer as much functionality as the premium plugins I’ll discuss in the next section, they’re perfectly suitable for most uses.
Ultimate FAQ
Ultimate FAQ sports an array of features that belie its free price tag.
You can create unlimited questions and organize them by category and tag. If categorization isn’t enough, visitors can also search your FAQ via an AJAX search form.
You have a great deal of flexibility with where you insert your FAQ. Ultimate FAQ gives you a shortcode that you can place in either a standalone page or part of another page. This shortcode can include all or just FAQs from a specific category.
Ultimate FAQ also has full WooCommerce integration, so add a FAQ tab to WooCommerce product pages. In the free version, this FAQ is the same for all products. In the $30 Pro version, you can add unique FAQs for each product.
And finally, Ultimate FAQ has one unique feature that may or may not pique your interest:
You can quickly export your FAQs to a PDF to create a downloadable user manual.
How to Use Ultimate FAQ:
You’ll have a new FAQ section once you install and activate Ultimate FAQ. Adding new questions, categories, or tags is simple:
Ultimate FAQ uses custom post types, so you’ll add questions using the standard WordPress Editor:
To display your FAQ, you just need to place the [ultimate-faqs] shortcode where you want your FAQ to appear.
WP responsive FAQ
WP responsive FAQ is another popular free option. Like Ultimate FAQ, it allows you to create unlimited questions and divide them into categories.
Adding new questions and categories is easy, thanks to a new custom post type in your WordPress dashboard.
Adding FAQs anywhere on your WordPress site is even easier thanks to shortcodes. Again, as with Ultimate FAQ, you can add all or only questions from a specific category.
WP responsive FAQ does offer WooCommerce support…but only in the $9 Pro Version. If you want a completely free WooCommerce product FAQ tab, you should go with the Ultimate FAQ.
How to Use WP responsive FAQ:
WP Responsive FAQ functions similarly to Ultimate FAQ. You’ll get a new FAQ menu option where you can manage your questions and categories:
You can add questions via a custom post type:
And then you can showcase your FAQ with the [sp_faq] shortcode.
FAQ Responsive
The last free option that I’ll discuss is FAQ Responsive. FAQ Responsive lets you add unlimited questions.
Thanks to a drag-and-drop FAQ builder, ordering these questions is simple. This allows you to add new questions at a later date.
You can also divvy up your questions by category or color scheme, making sorting easy.
You have plenty of options for adding your FAQs anywhere in WordPress—FAQ Responsive comes with shortcodes and a dedicated widget.
The only thing to note is that FAQ Responsive needs dedicated WooCommerce integration. Once again, Ultimate FAQ is your best solution for a free WooCommerce FAQ.
How to Use FAQ Responsive:
FAQ Responsive gives you the same dedicated FAQ tab. But it differs in how you add new questions. It gives you a custom interface:
Once you’ve added your questions, you can easily rearrange them by dragging them around:
Then, FAQ Responsive provides you with the shortcode necessary to add your FAQ to a WordPress page.
I think FAQ Responsive beats out the other free plugins regarding user-friendly creation processes.
What Are the Best Premium FAQ Plugins for WordPress?
If you need your FAQ page to have a little more “oomph,” you may want to consider one of these premium FAQ plugins.
Sugar FAQ
Sugar FAQ has all of the features you get in the free versions above:
- FAQ custom post type that makes adding new questions easy
- Divide FAQs by topic
- Insert FAQs anywhere with shortcodes
But then it ups the ante with this one neat feature:
Front-end forms for user-generated questions.
Yup, users can submit questions via your front-end website. The plugin will then save those questions as pending in your backend. All you need to do is answer them, and you can quickly publish them to your live site for everyone to see.
This is a great way to update your FAQ with the latest questions.
If you think the front-end FAQ submission feature is worth $15, Sugar FAQ is your plugin. If it doesn’t tickle your fancy, then stick with one of the other options.
Also, Sugar FAQ doesn’t support WooCommerce product pages, so search elsewhere if you need that functionality.
FAQPlus
FAQPlus is another premium option with what I think are the best out-of-the-box designs of any plugin on this list.
Beyond the standard features of all the free FAQ plugins, FAQPlus offers many new functionality. You can…
- Animate accordion FAQs with 25+ different animations
- Include Font Awesome icons in your FAQs
- Add images and videos
FAQPlus also includes a handy drag-and-drop builder for re-ordering and organizing your FAQs. And if you’re using the Visual Composer page builder, FAQPlus integrates fully so that you can use Visual Composer to build your FAQ page.
At just $19, I recommend FAQPlus for its combination of helpful features and aesthetic designs.
Are There Any External FAQ Solutions for WordPress?
If you’re not the plugin type, you can also create a FAQ on WordPress using some third-party tools. I made sure that each tool integrates easily with WordPress.
Zendesk
Zendesk is more than just a FAQ solution – it’s a full-on customer support tool. If you need a full solution for supporting your customers or are already using Zendesk, you should know how easy it is to integrate Zendesk with WordPress.
The Zendesk WordPress integration plugin connects the two, making it easy to bring over all of your Zendesk features (including your FAQ/knowledge base).
Zendesk is absolutely overkill if all you want to do is create a simple FAQ. But if you want full-service customer support, please consider it.
Pricing starts at just $5 per agent per month.
SlimFAQ
Compared to Zendesk, SlimFAQ is a much more lightweight third-party solution. It’s focused entirely on questions rather than Zendesk’s broader approach.
So if all it does is FAQs, why should you pick SlimFAQ over one of the plugins above?
This is mainly because of its unique design. Instead of displaying as a separate page, your FAQ is an always-available icon in the lower right of your user’s screen. When clicked, it expands, like in the screenshot above.
Users never need to leave the page to get answers to their questions.
Secondary benefits of using SlimFAQ are a great search feature and an easy FAQ builder. Because SlimFAQ’s builder is not located inside the WordPress dashboard, I think it’s a bit easier to navigate.
SlimFAQ integrates easily with WordPress thanks to a dedicated plugin that handles all of the necessary JavaScript.
SlimFAQ has a free branded plan. After that, prices start at $9 per month.
Wrapping Things Up
These solutions will help you create an FAQ page, but I hit you with several options. So, to help guide your decision, here are my picks…
SlimFAQ’s solution is the coolest way to integrate a FAQ into WordPress. It makes your FAQ very accessible, is easy to use, and has a dedicated WordPress integration plugin.
Of the more standard WordPress plugins, I recommend FAQPlus if you’re willing to pay for a premium plugin or Ultimate FAQ if you want to keep your wallet in your pocket.
If you want full-service customer support, consider going with Zendesk and integrating it with WordPress.
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