How to send Contact Form 7 submissions to WhatsApp

Can Contact Form 7 send submissions to WhatsApp by itself?

No. Contact Form 7 only sends email: the Mail tab sends each submission to you, and Mail (2) can send a second email, such as a reply to the visitor. To get a submission on WhatsApp, something else has to pick it up and pass it on.

People mean two different things by "Contact Form 7 to WhatsApp". One is getting each submission on your own phone as an alert. The other is letting visitors message you on WhatsApp instead of filling in a form, which a click-to-chat button does, and which our guide to website enquiries on WhatsApp covers. This post is about the first.

What are the ways to get Contact Form 7 submissions on WhatsApp?

There are four workable routes. They differ mainly in who sends the WhatsApp message and how much you have to set up with Meta, the company behind WhatsApp.

If all you want is to hear about each enquiry quickly, the first and last rows are the simplest. The middle two are worth the extra work when you also plan to message customers from your own business number, because the set-up with Meta is the same either way. With any of them, the visitor still sees Contact Form 7's usual thank-you message.

Can the visitor send the enquiry to you on WhatsApp?

Yes, with a plugin that opens WhatsApp for the visitor after they press Send. FormyChat, for example, works with Contact Form 7 and redirects visitors to the WhatsApp app on a phone or WhatsApp Web on a computer, with a message built from their answers. It also saves each submission in WordPress as a lead.

The messages cost you nothing, because the visitor sends them from their own account through an ordinary click-to-chat link. The catch is that the visitor has to have WhatsApp and press send a second time. Anyone who closes the tab first leaves you with only the email, so keep Contact Form 7's Mail tab working as well. If those emails already go missing, start with our Contact Form 7 email checklist.

What does sending through the WhatsApp Business API involve?

Your website sends each alert from a business number of its own, through Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Plugins such as WANotifier, which lists Contact Form 7 among the form plugins it supports, handle the WordPress side, and you connect the number to Meta through the plugin maker's account.

Meta sets three rules for this route. A number that is already in use on WhatsApp can't be registered until that account is deleted, so many people use a new number. Outside the 24 hours after someone last messaged your business, only pre-approved template messages can be sent, so each alert is a template written in advance with the form's answers filled in. Since 1 July 2025, Meta has also charged for each template message delivered, by its category and the recipient's country.

WANotifier says it adds no markup to Meta's charges, but at the time of writing it has no free plan, only a 7-day trial [CHECK]. Plugins built on Twilio, such as SocialNotify for Contact Form 7, work the same way with Twilio in the middle. For the wider choice between the free app and the platform, see WhatsApp Business app or API for website enquiries.

Can you use Zapier or Make with Contact Form 7?

Yes, through a webhook, because Contact Form 7 has no built-in Zapier connection. The usual way is the free CF7 to Webhook plugin, which adds a tab to each form's settings where you paste the address your automation gives you.

In Zapier, the step that receives the submission is Webhooks by Zapier, which at the time of writing isn't included on the Free plan [CHECK]. The step that sends it is the WhatsApp Business app's Send Template Message action: a free-form message can only go out within 24 hours of the recipient messaging you, so alerts need a template. Make works the same way with its WhatsApp Business Cloud app, which needs a Meta business portfolio and a registered WhatsApp Business number.

This route suits you if you already run automations and want each enquiry copied to a spreadsheet or CRM at the same time. Each run uses part of your plan's allowance, and when a step fails, the automation's history is usually the only place that tells you. Test it by submitting the form once and checking the fields arrive. Contact Form 7 sends its field names, such as your-name and your-message, so map those into the template, not the labels the visitor sees.

Is it safe to use a tool that sends through WhatsApp Web?

No, it puts your number at risk. Some plugins and services send messages by automating WhatsApp Web, or an unofficial copy of the app, logged in to your own account. WhatsApp's help centre says accounts that send automated or bulk messages can be banned, and that unofficial apps break its terms and can get an account restricted or banned.

If that number is the one your customers already message, losing it would cost far more than the alerts are worth. Stick to the official Business Platform or a service that sends from its own number, and be wary of anything that wants to be added to your account as a linked device.

How to set up the quickest route

A form alert service is the shortest route, because it sends from its own number and you need no Meta account or templates. Formcrier is one: it listens for Contact Form 7 submissions and sends each one to the WhatsApp you already use within seconds.

1. 1

   Add your website

   Sign up, enter your website's address, and copy your script from Sites → Install.

2. 2

   Install it on WordPress

   Paste the script just before </body> on every page, usually in your theme's footer or a header and footer plugin. Or use the Formcrier plugin, which sends from your server: it's waiting for its WordPress.org listing, so email [email protected] for a copy.

   HTML Copy

   <script src="https://cdn.formcrier.com/v1/formcrier.js" data-key="pk_live_…" async></script>

3. 3

   Switch on your form

   Open a page that has the form. It appears under Sites → Forms, switched off. Switch on each form you want alerts for.

4. 4

   Connect your WhatsApp

   Go to Alert destinations → Add destination, choose WhatsApp and scan the QR code with your phone's camera. WhatsApp opens with a short message ready to send. Press send.

5. 5

   Send a test

   Fill in the form yourself. The alert arrives within a few seconds, with a View submission link that shows every field.

Formcrier waits for Contact Form 7 to accept the message, so a submission that fails the form's own checks sends nothing, and it still alerts you when your site's own email fails. It's free for 10 alerts a month. The Contact Form 7 page and the WhatsApp page have the details.