{"id":23,"date":"2026-07-12T23:47:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T18:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jnkplugins.com\/blog\/entryvault-vs-flamingo\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T11:51:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T06:21:03","slug":"entryvault-vs-flamingo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jnkplugins.com\/blog\/entryvault-vs-flamingo\/","title":{"rendered":"Flamingo vs EntryVault: Which Saves Contact Form 7 Submissions Better? (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contact Form 7 is one of the most-installed plugins in WordPress history, and it has a quirk that surprises almost everyone the first time they hit it: by default, it stores nothing<\/strong>. A visitor fills out your form, CF7 fires off an email notification, and that’s it. No record in wp-admin, no database entry, no backup. If that email bounces, lands in spam, or you simply delete it by accident, the lead is gone for good.<\/p>\n

So the real question isn’t “does CF7 save submissions” \u2014 it doesn’t \u2014 but “what’s the best way to store Contact Form 7 submissions<\/strong>?” There are two popular answers: Flamingo<\/strong>, the free official add-on written by CF7’s own author, and EntryVault<\/a><\/strong>, a form-entry manager that captures CF7 plus ten other builders. This article compares them honestly so you can pick the one that fits how you actually work.<\/p>\n

TL;DR \u2014 the short verdict<\/h2>\n

If you only<\/em> use Contact Form 7 and all you need is a simple, reliable place to read past messages, install Flamingo<\/strong>. It’s free, featherweight, made by the same developer, and it does that one job well. There’s no reason to over-engineer a solved problem.<\/p>\n

If you run more than one<\/em> form plugin, or you want to actually work<\/em> your leads \u2014 assign them, tag them, move them through stages, reply and track \u2014 then EntryVault<\/strong> is the better fit. It’s less “message archive” and more “lightweight CRM for form submissions,” and its free tier already covers a lot of ground.<\/p>\n

Comparison at a glance<\/h2>\n

Flamingo is free and open-source. EntryVault pricing reflects what’s listed on our own site as of July 2026<\/strong> and may change \u2014 always confirm on the pricing page before you buy.<\/p>\n

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How we compared:<\/strong> in July 2026 we ran Flamingo 2.6.3<\/strong> and EntryVault 1.2.0<\/strong> together on a WordPress 7.0 \/ PHP 8.4 site with Contact Form 7 6.1.6, sent the same real test submissions through the form, and checked both plugins’ screens side by side \u2014 the screenshots below come from that install. That run is also how we can say first-hand that the two coexist without conflict.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Dimension<\/th>\nFlamingo<\/th>\nEntryVault<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Price<\/td>\nFree (open source)<\/td>\nFree core; Pro from $79\/yr or $319 lifetime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Form builders supported<\/td>\nContact Form 7 (plus a few CF7-family sources)<\/td>\n11 builders, including CF7, in one unified inbox<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Where submissions are stored<\/td>\nWordPress “Inbound Messages” list<\/td>\nUnified entry board (Kanban) in wp-admin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tags \/ organization<\/td>\nBasic tagging on messages<\/td>\nTags, notes, search, and filtering<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Owners \/ assignment<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nYes \u2014 assign entries to team members<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pipelines \/ stages<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nYes (multiple pipelines on Pro)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Automations<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nYes (Pro)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Email-reply tracking<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nYes \u2014 IMAP reply sync (Pro)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CSV export<\/td>\nYes (export messages)<\/td>\nYes \u2014 import and export<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Captures even if the email fails<\/td>\nStores the message record independently of delivery<\/td>\nYes \u2014 hooks before-send-mail, so the lead is saved even if notification email fails<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
UI style<\/td>\nMinimal list view<\/td>\nBoard view with submission detail + timeline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Where Flamingo is the right choice<\/h2>\n

Let’s be clear about this, because a lot of comparison articles bury the honest part: Flamingo is genuinely good, and for many sites it’s the correct pick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Flamingo
Flamingo 2.6.3 on our test site \u2014 every CF7 submission we sent, safely captured in the Inbound Messages inbox. Simple, reliable, free.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s written by Takayuki Miyoshi, the same developer behind Contact Form 7, so the integration is about as native as it gets. It’s completely free with no upsell, it’s tiny, and it barely touches your site’s performance. When a CF7 form is submitted, Flamingo quietly files the message into an “Inbound Messages” screen in wp-admin and keeps a simple address book of the people who’ve contacted you. You can add basic tags, and you can export messages to CSV if you need them elsewhere.<\/p>\n

If your situation looks like this:<\/p>\n