How I Build WordPress Calculators with AI (No Code Required)

I spent three hours creating a wedding cost calculator for a client.

I opened a spreadsheet, recorded the math, then stared at WPForms wondering how to translate my formulas into field IDs.

Unfortunately, I made a mistake twice when calculating the venue. The catering bill broke when I added the number of guests.

Then I discovered something that made me feel a little silly: there are AI form builders that can create the entire calculator from a single sentence.

No spreadsheets, formula debugging, or field ID issues. Just enter what you want and the calculator will appear in less than 5 minutes.

After my research, I found that WPForms and Formidable Forms are the best WordPress tools that allow you to create your AI forms with calculators by simply chatting with them like you would with your favorite chatbot.

In this tutorial I’ll explain exactly how I do it.

Key insights

• I’ll show you how AI creates complete calculator forms from simple text input (no coding or spreadsheets required).
• Two methods – WPForms for foolproof calculators and Formidable Forms for advanced AI logic
• I reveal the exact prompts I used to create a wedding estimate in under 5 minutes
• Tested both tools to find out which AI actually understands calculator formulas (one broke my venue math twice)
• I’ll show you the formula verification trick that detects AI errors before your computer starts running

Additionally, you can use the table of contents below to jump to the exact method you want to read about.

This is how I test Calculator Builder

Why trust IsItWP?

At IsItWP, we’ve been the go-to source for the WordPress community since 2009, helping over 2 million users choose better WordPress tools and plugins.

Unlike review sites that never actually use the products, we maintain active accounts, run real customer sites, and offer ongoing WordPress advice.

I personally tested the AI ​​features of WPForms and Formidable Forms on three different types of calculators before writing this guide.

Method 1: WPForms AI Form Builder (Easier for Beginners)

WPForms is the best form builder for WordPress because it is the easiest way to create forms without touching the code.

With over 6 million active users, WPForms stands out as a top form builder for beginners and small businesses.

The drag-and-drop interface works exactly as you’d expect. You select fields, drop them in the right place, and your form appears.

But here’s what changed everything: WPForms recently added AI form generation. Now the plugin combines its already solid calculator add-on with an AI that understands simple English prompts.

Instead of manually configuring calculation fields and writing formulas, enter whatever you want. The AI ​​creates the entire calculator in seconds.

I tested this with a wedding estimate that would have taken 45 minutes to create manually. The AI ​​version? Done in 4 minutes.

If you need to create forms with AI for other purposes, WPForms can handle that too. But especially for calculators, the combination of AI and the calculation add-on is unsurpassed.

Let me walk you through the entire process of creating a form calculator with WPForms AI.

Step 1: Install WPForms Pro and Calculator addon

First you need WPForms Pro. The free version of WPForms is great, but it won’t work for that.

Specifically, you need this Elite plan because that is the plan that includes the calculation add-on. So, go to the official website of WPForms and purchase the plan.

After purchasing, get your license key from the downloads section of your WPForms account. Then go to your WordPress dashboard.

Once you have installed it in your WordPress dashboard, go to WPForms » Settings and paste your license key. Click the Verify Key button.

Check out this post if you want a step-by-step guide on setting up WPForms.

After you have installed and activated WPForms Pro, install the Calculation add-on. To do this, go to WPForms » Add-onssearch for “Calculations” and click Install add-on Button.

The add-on will install automatically without any configuration required. Now you can create calculators with AI.

Step 2: Create a new form with AI

Go to WPForms » Add new form in your WordPress dashboard.

You’ll see over 2,000 pre-made templates. These templates are great for standard forms. Plus, if you have a design background, you can start from scratch. But we will create a form entirely with AI.

So click on Generate with AI Tab above.

The good thing about WPForms is that if you don’t have the right add-ons installed for your machine, it automatically detects what you need and prompts you to install them.

Click Yes, install, and WPForms takes care of the rest and ensures manual add-on search. However, if you have already installed the add-ons, WPForms will skip this step.

Step 3: Use AI to create your calculator

Once you select “Generate Forms with AI,” the next screen will be the AI ​​Form Builder UI.

Have you noticed that it looks like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini? This is intentional. WPForms designed it to fit in with the AI ​​tools you already know.

This means less learning effort. Just chat with it like you would with any AI assistant.

Additionally, you’ll see preset prompts for common forms below. Things like “restaurant customer satisfaction survey” or “application for a web designer.” These are great for quick starts.

But let’s build something custom from scratch.

I’ll just start. First let me add basic contact fields (name and email). Here is the command prompt I used:

Prompt: “Create a contact form with the following fields: Name (required), Email (required), Phone number (optional), Company name (optional), Subject (required), Message (required, multi-line text), Newsletter subscription checkbox (label: Subscribe to our newsletter), CAPTCHA (to prevent spam submissions). Make sure the form is user-friendly, mobile-responsive and in the Style corresponds to a modern website design.”

The AI ​​instantly generates these fields and places them on the form with the correct hierarchy. You can actually use it as is as your website’s contact form.

See how everything was created exactly as desired? Name, email, phone number, company name, subject, message field, newsletter checkbox and CAPTCHA. Everything is there.

But we’re not done yet. Now comes the computer part.

In the same chat I add the calculator logic. Here is my suggestion for a wedding estimate:

Prompt: “Now add a wedding cost estimator with these fields: Number of wedding guests (number field), Venue selection (drop-down list of options: Outdoor Garden $5,000, Ballroom $8,000, Beach $6,000), Catering Level (drop-down list of options: Basic Buffet $50/guest, Premium Plateau $75/guest, Gourmet Experience 100 $/Guest) and a “Total Estimated Wedding Cost” field that calculates: (Number of Guests × Catering Cost per Guest) + Venue Cost.”

The AI ​​adds the calculator fields immediately. Guest Count field, Venue drop-down list with prices, Catering drop-down list with costs per guest, and Calculated Total field.

The best part? All math is configured automatically.

⚠️ Quick note: I’ve broken this down into two prompts for demonstration purposes. You can certainly use a combined prompt to create the entire form at once. This is what it would look like:

Combined prompt:

Create a Wedding Cost Estimator form with the following fields:

Contact Information:
- Wedding Contact Name (required)
- Wedding Contact Email (required)
- Phone Number (optional)

Calculator Fields:
- Wedding Guest Count (number field)
- Venue Selection (dropdown with options: Outdoor Garden $5,000, Ballroom $8,000, Beach $6,000)
- Catering Level (dropdown with options: Basic Buffet $50/guest, Premium Plated $75/guest, Gourmet Experience $100/guest)
- Total Estimated Wedding Cost (calculated field that multiplies guest count by catering level per person and adds venue cost)

Make the form mobile-responsive and user-friendly.

Both approaches work because the AI ​​understands both.

If you’re creating simpler calculators like project estimating quote calculators, the same process applies. Just describe what you need to calculate.

Step 4: Review and customize your AI-generated form

The AI ​​creates your form, but you aren’t stuck with the exact result it generated.

You have two options for making changes:

Option 1: Use another AI prompt to modify the form. For example, type something like “Make the “Phone Number” and “Company Name” fields mandatory and the AI ​​will update them.

If you are happy with the form, just click Use this form.

Option 2: Use the drag and drop builder manually. To do this, click on any field to edit it. Then drag new fields from the left sidebar. You can also delete fields that you don’t need.

Check out my WPForms review to learn how to edit the form using the drag-and-drop builder.

The thing is: the AI ​​gets it right about 90% of the time. The last 10%? Personalize your form to fit your brand. And it takes about 30 seconds.

But there is one crucial step: Always check your calculator’s formula.

To do this, click on the field with the calculator. In my case it is the “Total Estimated Cost of the Wedding” field. Then go to “Field Options” in the left sidebar and select “Field Options.” the advanced Tab.

You should see this Activate calculation Toggle already turned on automatically. Your formula is below. Check it out. Does the math make sense?

In my wedding calculator the formula shows: {field_6} * {field_7} + {field_8}

This means: number of guests (field 6) × catering costs (field 7) + venue costs (field 8).

Perfect. This is exactly the math I asked about.

If you find something is wrong (adding instead of multiplying, for example), fix it here. Click on Cheat sheet Click the button to see which field IDs correspond to which fields.

This formula check detects the errors that would lead to incorrect price estimates that could harm your brand or, worse, cause friction with your customers.

Step 5: Embed your calculator on your website

Your AI calculator is ready. Great! It’s time to add it to your website. All you have to do is click Embed button at the top right of the screen.

A popup will appear with embed options:

• Select Existing Page: Add the calculator to a page you have already created
• Create new page: WPForms creates a new page and adds the calculator automatically

Both work great depending on the situation. However, if you want more control over where the calculator appears, you have two other methods:

Method 1: Use a shortcode. Copy the shortcode shown in the popup and paste it anywhere on your website. Works in posts, pages and widgets.

Method 2: Use WPForms block. Open the page or post editor, add a new block, search for “WPForms” and select your calculator from the drop-down list.

Choose the method that suits your workflow.

That’s it. Your AI-powered calculator is live.

Visitors can now select venue options, enter guest counts, select catering levels and view instant cost calculations. No page reload required.

The entire process from “add new form” to published calculator? Under 10 minutes.

If you create other form types such as multi-page surveys or opt-in forms, WPForms handles them in the same way. The AI ​​adapts to everything you describe.

Now let’s see how to create an AI form with calculators using Formidable Forms.

Method 2: Formidable Forms (Advanced AI Logic and Custom Calculations)

Formidable Forms takes a different approach to AI computers.

While WPForms focuses on simplicity, Formidable Forms excels at giving you more control over the calculator logic.

The plugin has always been the first choice for advanced forms that require features such as conditional logic, multi-stage forms with calculations at each stage, and forms that connect to external databases.

Recently Formidable added AI features.

But instead of the AI ​​creating the entire calculator for you (like WPForms), Formidable’s AI acts more like a smart field that processes user input and returns calculated recommendations.

I’ll show you how it works.

Step 1: Install Formidable Forms Pro and the AI ​​Addon

Just like with WPForms, you need a pro version of Formidable Forms. The free version does not contain any AI features.

After purchasing, log in to your Formidable Forms account and get your license key.

Then in your WordPress dashboard, install the form plugin like any other. If you encounter any problems, check out my tutorial on installing plugins.

After installation, you need to use the “License Key” you copied earlier to activate it.

To do this, go to Impressive » Global Settings and scroll down to the “License Key” section. Paste your key here and click “Save License”.

Next, activate the AI ​​Forms add-on by going to Formidable » Add-ons and searching for “AI.”

You’ll see that AI forms Add on. Click the toggle switch to activate it.

Check out my Formidable Forms review to learn how to install it properly and set up add-ons if you run into any problems.

That’s it for the setup. Now let’s build a calculator

Step 2: Generate your computing framework with AI

Go to Impressive » shapes and click + Add new Button.

You’ll see the Form Templates screen with dozens of options to choose from. Instead of selecting a template, click Create with AI Top right button.

A popup will appear called “Create a form with AI”.

This is where Formidable differs from WPForms. This AI popup creates the basic form structure (the input fields), but does not yet automatically create the calculation logic. This comes in step 3.

At the top you will see a drop down menu for AI model. Choose between ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo, ChatGPT 4 or Gemini. For better accuracy, I recommend choosing the latest version of the model you prefer.

Then describe your form in the text field and specify exactly which fields you need.

For my mortgage calculator example, I used this prompt:

Prompt: “Create a mortgage calculator form. Ask for loan amount, interest rate and loan term.”

Click Carry on.

This creates the skeleton. The real magic happens in the next step when we add the AI ​​field that does the actual calculation and provides recommendations.

Step 3: Add the AI ​​smart calculation field

Now you are in the form builder. You will see your three fields: loan amount, interest rate and loan term. It’s time to add the AI ​​field that performs calculations and gives personalized answers.

In the left sidebar below Add fieldsclick on AI (it’s in the Advanced Fields section).

After that, the AI ​​field will be added to your form. To continue, click on it to configure the settings.

You will see three main configuration areas:

1. Hide answer (Checkbox): Select this option if you want to hide the AI ​​response box label. Typically you leave this disabled so visitors can see where the calculation appears.

2. Guide prompt: This tells the AI ​​how to behave. Think of it as instructions you would give to a human calculator.

3. AI question: Here you include the user’s form inputs using field IDs.

This is where Formidable gets powerful but slightly technical.

To include user responses in your AI prompt, you must use Field IDs. These look like (100), (101), (102)etc.

How do you find your field IDs?

Click on the three dots (…) button in the bottom right corner of the AI ​​question text area. You will see a dropdown menu with all your form fields and their IDs.

For example:

• The loan amount could be (100)
• The interest rate could be (101)
• The loan term could be (102)

Here is the prompt I used for my mortgage calculator:

Guide prompt:

You are a strict calculator. Do NOT show formulas, math, or algebra. Only show the final monthly payment amount clearly.

AI question:

Calculate the monthly payment for a loan of (100) with an interest rate of (101)% over (102) years. Show the math step-by-step, then give a recommendation on whether this is a good loan amount for the borrower. Format the answer as a bulleted list to make it easier to read.

Substitute (100), (101)And (102) with your actual field IDs.

The AI ​​takes everything the user enters into these fields and calculates the monthly mortgage payment. It also offers individual advice.

Do you see the difference with WPForms? It’s not just numbers that are multiplied. The AI ​​actually thinks about the input and responds with helpful context. However, the downside is that Formidable Forms requires technical understanding.

You can customize the Guide prompt to change how the AI ​​formats its response. For example, if you want bullet points, add them to the prompt.

Should it sound encouraging? Tell the AI ​​to be positive. Would you like to be warned about high interest rates? Specify that.

This flexibility makes Formidable Forms more suitable for advanced calculators such as application forms with ratings or quote generators that need to explain pricing levels.

Step 4: Configure form settings for immediate results

Your calculator works, but there’s one setting that makes it look professional: instant results without page reloads.

To add this, click Settings Click the tab at the top of the form builder, then go to Settings » General.

Finally, scroll down to AJAX Section.

Here make sure that the Load and save the form creation page using AJAX The check box is checked.

This prevents the entire page from reloading every time someone clicks the Calculate button. This means the AI ​​response is immediate and uninterrupted.

This helps users stay on the same page while simply displaying the result below the form. This ensures a cleaner experience.

Second important setting: Scroll back up UPON SUBMISSION Section on the same tab “General Settings”.

Check it out here Do not save entries submitted via this form Is UNCHECKED.

Why is this important?

If it’s a lead generation tool, which is the case with most calculators, you’ll want to save every calculation. This allows you to contact people who have used your mortgage calculator, BMI calculator, wedding estimator or service quoting tool.

These saved entries become your leads. Don’t throw them away by checking this box.

For calculators that are intended solely for visitor self-service without lead capture, you can check this. But most of the time you leave it disabled.

Step 5: Set up actions and view results

Then click on Actions and notifications tab in the left sidebar.

This is where you control what happens after someone submits your calculator form.

By default, Formidable Forms displays a “confirmation” message. You can customize this to say “Calculation Complete” or whatever makes sense for your calculator.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Keep those Show message Option selected
2. Change the message to something relevant like “Here is your mortgage calculation:”
3. Turn on Display the confirmation message form if you want the form to remain visible above the results

This setup works well because visitors see their input alongside the AI’s calculated response and recommendations.

You can also set up email alerts here if you want to receive a notification every time someone uses your calculator. Helpful for tracking leads.

For event registration calculators with payment collection, you would add additional actions here, such as: B. Payment processing or email confirmations.

Step 6: Publish your AI calculator

Your Formidable Forms calculator is ready. Click on Update Click the button at the top right to save everything. Then the “Embed” button next to it.

This will open a popup that allows you to add the AI ​​form to an existing page, a new page, or with a shortcode.

You can choose the method that is most convenient for you. I added it to an existing page. To do this, open any WordPress post or page editor, add a new block and search for “Formidable”.

Select the Impressive shapes Block, then select your calculator form from the drop-down menu.

You’ll see a drop-down menu that says “AI-powered mortgage calculator with…” (or whatever you named your form). Click on it.

Publish your page.

That’s it. Your AI calculator is live.

Users enter the loan amount, interest rate and loan term. Click “Send.” The AI ​​calculates your monthly payment, displays the math and makes personalized recommendations. All without leaving the site.

The entire process from form creation to publication? About 15 minutes.

If you’re building other advanced forms like custom booking systems with availability checking, Formidable Forms gives you the same flexibility with AI support.

Now that you understand how to create AI-powered calculators with WPForms and Formidable Forms, I want to help you choose a calculator that’s right for you.

WPForms vs. Formidable Forms: Which AI Calculator Builder Should You Use?

I tested both tools side by side with three different calculators: a wedding cost calculator, a mortgage calculator, and a service quote generator.

This is what it looks like in practice:

With WPFormsThe AI ​​generates calculator fields with preset formulas. The calculator is purely based on math (number of guests × catering costs + venue).

With impressive shapesadd an “AI field” that takes the user’s input into account and responds with text.

You’ll then receive recommendations like, “Based on your loan amount and interest rate, find your monthly payment here AND here’s why you should consider a shorter loan term.”

For simple calculators or beginner-friendly approaches? WPForms wins through speed.

For advanced calculators who need to explain the math AND give personalized advice? Formidable Forms is unbeatable.

Here is a comparison table to look at both side by side:

In short: Use:

WPForms if:

Impressive shapes when:

• You need AI to explain the math and make recommendations
• You want to have full control over how AI formats answers
• You create calculators that require conditional logic
• For complex workflows you need advanced form functions

Both tools are excellent. Your choice depends on whether you need speed (WPForms) or sophistication (Formidable Forms).

That’s it for this tutorial. If something is unclear, check out the frequently asked questions below.

FAQs: AI-powered calculators in WordPress

Final Verdict: Should You Use AI to Build WordPress Calculators?

Yes, if speed is more important to you than spending hours debugging formulas in spreadsheets.

I used to spend 45 minutes creating calculators manually. Now I spend 5-10 minutes letting the AI ​​do the heavy lifting.

Not only do they save time, but they can also help you create complex lead magnets that would have otherwise required help to create. Calculators work just as well as interactive tests as an engagement tool.

Both outperform manual coding by 90%. Your visitors receive instant calculations while you capture leads automatically. No developer required.

If you’re serious about lead generation and growing your email list, both calculator tools are for you. Choose the one that suits your complexity needs and start building.

Resource Hub: More form creation tutorials

Looking to expand beyond calculators? These tutorials will show you how to create other types of forms that convert visitors into leads:

With these articles, you’ll not only learn how to communicate better with your users, but also capture higher quality leads.

Start creating calculators. Then develop and create conversation forms and surveys to better understand your users.

Is there a tool that can create AI-powered forms better than Formidable Forms and WPForms? Let me know in the comments below.