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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “calculator maker”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “calculator maker”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

involve.me – Create Surveys, Quizzes, Calculators & Forms as Embedded Widgets or Pop-ups shows at wp.org #7 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms places #7 on merit, 4.4★ from 433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Survey Maker by AYS 5K+ · 4.8★ (79) wp.org #1 2 Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) wp.org #2 3 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Calculator Builder – Create an Online Calculator 1K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 AutomatorWP – No-Code Workflow Automation, Integration & Webhooks Plugin, now with AI 6K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Float menu – awesome floating side menu 30K+ · 4.4★ (41) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ · 4.0★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 involve.me – Create Surveys, Quizzes, Calculators & Forms as Embedded Widgets or Pop-ups 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑6 4 too high 12 Easy Form 100+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Calculator Blocks 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓2 14 BulCommerce 20+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 OutageMath Runtime Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 GeneaCanvas GEDCOM Family Tree 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too high 17 Storelly – Product Options, Price Calculator, B2B Quotes & Visual Product Builder for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 Recipe Master — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 3D Print Showcase – Display 3D Models with Realistic Filaments — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 K Kodlo Price Builder for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 Doohickey's Dev Tools — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Plugixa Recipe – Recipe Cards, Nutrition Facts, Reviews & Schema — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Merchgain – Gross Margin & Profit Reports for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 AP Family Archive – Genealogy Website from GEDCOM — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.