Sulu
Sulu ships 2.6 and 3.0 in lockstep, and the 3.0 line still reads like a maintenance branch.
Comparison · Mkt Auto
WPForms vs Joomla
A side-by-side editorial comparison of WPForms and Joomla — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
WPForms vs Joomla: at a glance
What is WPForms?
WPForms fills its feed with tutorials while signposting a v2.0 it has not shipped here.
WPForms publishes on a near-daily tutorial cadence, and the entire visible window is instructional: connecting forms to Make.com and Slack, assembling an applicant tracker out of forms and entries, and separating confirmations from notifications. A retrospective post frames the recent stretch of releases as the road to WPForms v2.0, but the feed carries no release notes for it. What is visible is documentation of existing capability, not new capability.
What is Joomla?
Three release lines in parallel, and changelogs that publish checksums instead of changes
Joomla is running three lines at once: 5.4.x maintenance, 6.1.x stable, and a 6.2 alpha. The GitHub release feed is the only signal captured here and it carries no feature detail — every entry repeats the same template of contributor counts, merged-PR counts, download links and SHA-256 checksums, with user-facing notes deferred to an off-site release page. Volume is the only thing that distinguishes them: 5.4.7 merged 43+ pull requests where the 6.1.2 candidates carry one apiece.
WPForms vs Joomla: editorial side-by-side
WPForms
5.0MKT AUTO
WPForms fills its feed with tutorials while signposting a v2.0 it has not shipped here.
◆ Current state
WPForms publishes on a near-daily tutorial cadence, and the entire visible window is instructional: connecting forms to Make.com and Slack, assembling an applicant tracker out of forms and entries, and separating confirmations from notifications. A retrospective post frames the recent stretch of releases as the road to WPForms v2.0, but the feed carries no release notes for it. What is visible is documentation of existing capability, not new capability.
◆ Where it's heading
The through-line across the tutorials is integration and routing — getting submissions out of WordPress and into the tools where work actually happens. Stacked with the v2.0 retrospective's claim that AI features have been accumulating quietly, the product is being positioned as a data-capture front end for other systems rather than a forms builder alone. The conversion-benchmarks post points the same way, toward measurement of what forms produce.
◆ Prediction
Given the v2.0 framing and the run of integration tutorials, the next substantive post is likely a v2.0 feature tour or another native integration walkthrough. The feed does not carry release notes, so any actual shipping detail will have to come from elsewhere.
Joomla
5.0MKT AUTO
Three release lines in parallel, and changelogs that publish checksums instead of changes
◆ Current state
Joomla is running three lines at once: 5.4.x maintenance, 6.1.x stable, and a 6.2 alpha. The GitHub release feed is the only signal captured here and it carries no feature detail — every entry repeats the same template of contributor counts, merged-PR counts, download links and SHA-256 checksums, with user-facing notes deferred to an off-site release page. Volume is the only thing that distinguishes them: 5.4.7 merged 43+ pull requests where the 6.1.2 candidates carry one apiece.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is a CMS mid-transition, keeping the 5.x line on a heavy maintenance drip while 6.1 stabilises and 6.2 opens in alpha. Every release links a new migration guide and new developer documentation, which suggests the 5-to-6 upgrade path remains the project's central concern. Where the capability surface is heading isn't determinable from this feed — that information simply isn't published in it.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued parallel maintenance on 5.4.x and 6.1.x with 6.2 progressing through further alphas; the entries give no basis for calling what 6.2 will actually contain.
Alternatives to WPForms 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 WPForms or Joomla.
Pimcore
Nearly every release in this window carries security hardening — Pimcore is working through an injection sweep.
Eleventy
The v4 canary line is being renamed Build Awesome while 3.x is kept on pure maintenance.
Hugo
Steady feature-then-patch cadence, with security reports rising because AI tools are finding them
ClickFunnels
Measurement gets granular while the API quietly opens ClickFunnels up to outside agents
n8n
n8n's daily patch train hides the real work: hardening its MCP server into a proper auth resource.
See all WPForms alternatives → · See all Joomla alternatives →
Recent activity from WPForms and Joomla
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoWPFormsHow to Connect WordPress Forms to Make.com
- 3d agoWPFormsHow to Send WordPress Form Entries to a Slack Channel
- 4d agoWPFormsHow to Build an Applicant Tracking System With WordPress Forms
- 8d agoWPFormsForm Confirmations vs. Notifications: What’s the Difference
- 10d agoWPFormsWhat’s a Good Form Conversion Rate? (2026 Benchmarks by Form Type)
- 11d agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.2.0 Alpha 3
- 11d agoWPFormsThe Road to WPForms v2.0: Every Step That Got Us Here
- 23d agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.2
- 23d agoJoomlaJoomla! 5.4.7
- 23d agoJoomlaJoomla! 5.4.6
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.2 Release Candidate 3
- 1mo agoJoomlaJoomla! 6.1.2 Release Candidate 2
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between WPForms and Joomla?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. WPForms and Joomla are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is WPForms better than Joomla?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. WPForms and Joomla are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Mkt Auto products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to WPForms?
Top WPForms alternatives in Mkt Auto are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "WPForms alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/wpforms 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.