Popup Maker is a free WordPress popup builder that lets you create popups, modals, notification bars, and slide-ins with a powerful condition-based targeting system. Instead of showing popups to everyone, you define exactly when and where each popup appears — by page, post type, user role, device type, cookie status, referrer, or any combination of conditions. The plugin uses the standard WordPress editor for popup content, supports custom themes with CSS, and includes triggers like click, scroll depth, exit intent, hover, and timed display. Each popup can have its own close behaviour, cookie expiration, and display frequency. For site owners who want a free, developer-friendly popup solution with complete control over the HTML and conditions, Popup Maker is the most flexible option, competing with OptinMonster and Hustle in the popup space.
The plugin stores popups as a custom post type with condition sets stored as serialized meta data. Popup rendering uses a JavaScript-based approach that loads popups asynchronously to avoid blocking page rendering, with support for CSS animations and responsive breakpoints.
Competitive Features
- Condition targeting — unlimited conditions per popup: page, post type, category, device, user role, cookie, referrer, and more
- Trigger types — click, scroll depth, exit intent, hover, timed, form submission, and inactivity triggers
- Popup themes — customizable themes with background, border, shadow, close button, and overlay settings
- Cookie management — set cookies on popup open, close, or manual action with configurable expiration
- A/B testing — test popup variations with statistical significance (add-on)
- Advanced targeting — geo-location, search engine, and visitor segmentation (add-on)
- Form integration — embed any WordPress form inside popups with automatic trigger support
Key Features
- Popup editor — standard WordPress block editor for popup content with full HTML and shortcode support
- Theme editor — visual theme builder with custom CSS, colors, font sizes, and responsive breakpoints
- Condition system — show or hide popups based on URL, referrer, cookie, device, user role, or custom PHP conditions
- Trigger system — click-based (element, class, ID), auto-open after delay, scroll past point, exit intent, hover
- Size and positioning — fixed, auto, or percentage sizing with top, bottom, center, or corner positioning
- Animation effects — slide, fade, scale, combo, and rotation animations for entrance and exit
- Extensions — 20+ free and premium extensions for analytics, advanced targeting, and integrations
Comparison with Competitors
Popup Maker vs OptinMonster
| Aspect | Popup Maker | OptinMonster |
|---|---|---|
| Condition targeting | Extensive | Extensive |
| Exit intent | Yes | Yes |
| A/B testing | Add-on | Built-in |
| Display types | Popup, modal, bar, slide-in | Popup, slide-in, bar, fullscreen, wheel |
| Email integrations | Via form plugins | 20+ built-in |
Bottom line: OptinMonster has more built-in email integrations and gamified popup options. Popup Maker is more developer-friendly with full HTML control and a more generous free version that includes unlimited popups and conditions.
Popup Maker vs Hustle
| Aspect | Popup Maker | Hustle |
|---|---|---|
| Condition targeting | Extensive | Good |
| Exit intent | Yes | Yes |
| Social sharing | No | Yes |
| Email integration | Via form plugins | Built-in (MailChimp, etc.) |
| A/B testing | Add-on | Pro |
Bottom line: Hustle has built-in email marketing integration and social sharing features. Popup Maker has more advanced condition targeting and a larger extension ecosystem for custom requirements.
Recommended Stack: Popup Maker handles popup creation and targeting. For email capture, embed Fluent Forms Pro inside popups to collect leads directly into your email marketing system.
Official Changelog
Version 1.25.0
Release Date: September 10, 2026
- Security: Hardened subscriber submissions and administration against stored cross-site scripting, including cleanup of legacy subscriber names.
- Security: Hardened object-search label handling across admin and API paths with additional validation and escaping safeguards.
- Added: Complete Brizy support for building Popup Maker popups, including visual editing, frontend styling, and interactive elements.
- Added: Complete Bricks support for building Popup Maker popups, including editor previews, frontend styling, and interactive elements.
- Added: Complete Divi support for building Popup Maker popups, including Visual Builder editing, frontend styling, and interactive modules.
- Added: Complete Elementor support for building Popup Maker popups, including editor previews, frontend styling, and interactive widgets.
- Added: Complete SiteOrigin Page Builder support for building Popup Maker popups, including its Live Editor and properly styled frontend layouts.
- Added: Complete Visual Composer support for building Popup Maker popups, including visual editing, frontend styling, and interactive elements.
Version 1.24.0
Release Date: August 3, 2026
- Security: Security and resilience hardening based on continuous AI scanning.
- Security: Hardened Subscribers page pagination URL escaping to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS).
- Added: The free Popup Maker Debug Tools Chrome extension for testing and troubleshooting popups, even while logged out of WordPress.
- Added: An “Open Popup” click action to the Beaver Builder Button module, so you can open any popup on click without writing custom code.
- Improved: Reorganized the Popup Maker admin menu into clearer creation, audience, performance, and administration groups.
- Improved: Calls to Action management with instant-opening editors, loading placeholders, draft-first creation, and more reliable saving and sorting.
- Improved: Compatibility with popular post duplication plugins so cloned popups start with fresh analytics stats.
- Fixed: Corrected the plural of “Call to Action” to “Calls to Action” across the admin.
Version 1.23.0
Release Date: June 28, 2026
- Security: Tightened the permission checks required and improved validation for Pro activation.
- Security: Additional hardening based on continuous AI scanning.
- Added: A “Preview Popup” option to the block editor’s Preview menu, matching the classic editor.
- Added: A “Disable URL tracking parameters” privacy setting. When enabled, popup links no longer get ?pid= appended.
- Improved: The popup editor now remembers the last-open settings tab per popup instead of sharing a single tab across all popups.
- Fixed: The “Preview” button in the classic editor not opening popups, a regression introduced in 1.22.0.
- Fixed: Missing styles for Popup Maker blocks on the front end in some installs.
- Fixed: The “Disable popup open tracking” privacy setting now disables link tracking parameters and click beacon tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Popup Maker really free?
Yes. The core plugin is free and includes unlimited popups, all trigger types, conditions, themes, and cookie management. Premium extensions for analytics, A/B testing, and advanced targeting are available as add-ons.
Can I show popups based on exit intent?
Yes. Popup Maker includes an exit intent trigger that detects when the visitor’s mouse moves toward the browser close button or address bar, showing a popup before they leave.
How do conditions work in Popup Maker?
Each popup can have multiple conditions using AND/OR logic. You can show a popup on specific pages, for certain user roles, on particular devices, or based on cookie status. Conditions can be combined for precise targeting.
Can I embed a form inside a popup?
Yes. Popup Maker supports shortcodes, HTML, and blocks inside popup content. You can embed any WordPress form — Gravity Forms, WPForms, Fluent Forms, or Contact Form 7 — directly inside the popup.
Does Popup Maker support cookie-based frequency control?
Yes. You can set cookies when a user opens, closes, or clicks a popup, then control future display based on cookie expiration. This prevents popups from showing too frequently to the same visitor.
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