OpenEMM
OpenEMM ships versioned builds on schedule, with no notes on what changed.
Comparison · Mkt Auto
Formidable Forms vs Joomla
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Formidable Forms and Joomla — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Formidable Forms vs Joomla: at a glance
What is Formidable Forms?
Formidable Forms keeps patching its add-on fleet, now fixing a datepicker that silently rewrote saved dates.
Formidable Forms ships through its add-ons rather than the core plugin: in September, Stripe moved off the deprecated handleCardPayment API, conversational forms gained draft save/resume, and the Abandonment add-on added per-field drop-off graphs and completion rates. The latest release, Datepicker Options v3.1.1, fixes inline date fields that changed an entry's saved date as soon as it was opened for editing. Nothing in the window touches the core architecture.
What is Joomla?
Joomla 6.2 enters beta with AI language fallback, XOAuth2, and a revamped TinyMCE — three tracks shipping in parallel.
Joomla is maintaining three active release tracks simultaneously: 5.4.x receives security patches, 6.1.x gets maintenance updates, and 6.2.0 is now in beta. The 6.2 beta cycle has introduced an AI-assisted language fallback chain, a generic XOAuth2 implementation, an Enum form field type, TinyMCE link selector and native readmore, and secure article preview without requiring a frontend login. A path traversal vulnerability in com_templates was patched across both 5.4.8 and 6.1.3 as simultaneous security releases.
Formidable Forms vs Joomla: editorial side-by-side
Formidable Forms
5.0MKT AUTO
Formidable Forms keeps patching its add-on fleet, now fixing a datepicker that silently rewrote saved dates.
◆ Current state
Formidable Forms ships through its add-ons rather than the core plugin: in September, Stripe moved off the deprecated handleCardPayment API, conversational forms gained draft save/resume, and the Abandonment add-on added per-field drop-off graphs and completion rates. The latest release, Datepicker Options v3.1.1, fixes inline date fields that changed an entry's saved date as soon as it was opened for editing. Nothing in the window touches the core architecture.
◆ Where it's heading
The heaviest investment is in multi-step completion: draft support landed in both Conversational Forms and Abandonment in the same week, alongside the analytics that measure drop-off. The datepicker work follows a pattern of moving settings out of Pro and into standalone add-ons, then cleaning up regressions afterwards. Expect the cadence of narrow point releases to continue.
◆ Prediction
More point releases are likely, especially follow-up fixes for the Datepicker add-on now that it owns logic that used to live in Pro. Whether drop-off analytics will reach conversational flows directly isn't clear from the entries so far.
Joomla
6.3MKT AUTO
Joomla 6.2 enters beta with AI language fallback, XOAuth2, and a revamped TinyMCE — three tracks shipping in parallel.
◆ Current state
Joomla is maintaining three active release tracks simultaneously: 5.4.x receives security patches, 6.1.x gets maintenance updates, and 6.2.0 is now in beta. The 6.2 beta cycle has introduced an AI-assisted language fallback chain, a generic XOAuth2 implementation, an Enum form field type, TinyMCE link selector and native readmore, and secure article preview without requiring a frontend login. A path traversal vulnerability in com_templates was patched across both 5.4.8 and 6.1.3 as simultaneous security releases.
◆ Where it's heading
The '6.2 beta' label is doing real work: the release cycle is disciplined, with two betas already out and a feature set that has mostly stabilized. The AI-prefixed items in the changelogs (language fallback chain, login module configuration) suggest a push to make content delivery smarter across multilingual sites — though the scope is narrow so far. The three-track release model is a deliberate trade-off between stability for existing installs and forward development.
◆ Prediction
Joomla 6.2.0 stable should ship within 4-6 weeks given the beta pace. The AI-prefix features will likely expand in 6.3, particularly around content personalization and multilingual workflows. A fourth track (6.2.x security) will open once 6.2.0 ships.
Alternatives to Formidable Forms and Joomla
Other Mkt Auto products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Formidable Forms or Joomla.
SendPortal
SendPortal hasn't tagged a release since July 2020.
Buttondown
Buttondown keeps shipping daily fixes, now for portal sign-in and embedded forms.
n8n
n8n patches how agents resume skill-loaded tools, on both maintained release lines.
Gumloop
Gumloop agents now carry their own secrets and can run fully incognito.
Nutshell
Nutshell adds CallRail call attribution after a quiet September
See all Formidable Forms alternatives → · See all Joomla alternatives →
Recent activity from Formidable Forms and Joomla
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5d agoFormidable FormsDatepicker Options v3.1.1
- 22d agoFormidable FormsForms User Flow v2.1
- 27d agoFormidable FormsConversational Forms v1.3
- 27d agoFormidable FormsStripe Forms v3.2
- 28d agoFormidable FormsAbandonment v1.2
- 1mo agoFormidable FormsWPML Forms v2.0
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla 6.2.0 Beta 2
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla 6.2.0 Beta 1 ⚡
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla! 5.4.8
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.3
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla 6.1.3 Release Candidate 2
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla 5.4.8 Release Candidate 2
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Formidable Forms and Joomla?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Joomla is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Formidable Forms better than Joomla?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Joomla is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Mkt Auto products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Formidable Forms?
Top Formidable Forms alternatives in Mkt Auto are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Formidable Forms alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/formidable-forms for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Joomla?
Top Joomla alternatives in Mkt Auto are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Joomla alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/joomla for the full list with editorial commentary on each.