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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cf7”

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 “cf7”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 7 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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

CF7 Invisible reCAPTCHA shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #1 2 CF7 to Webhook 30K+ · 5.0★ (53) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too low 5 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 CF7 Mate – Contact Form 7 Styler, Multi-Step Forms & Conditional Logic 20K+ · 3.9★ (46) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too high 7 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #20 ↓1 13 too low 8 D DS CF7 Math Captcha 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Multi Step for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #9 ↓4 3 too high 13 Post My CF7 Form 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 CF7 Invisible reCAPTCHA 6K+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 CF7 Views – Complete Entry Management for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18 ACF Field For CF7 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Images Optimize and Upload CF7 700+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #19 ↑2 20 WOW Styler for CF7 – Visual Styler for Contact Form 7 Forms 3K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too high 21 Connect CF7 to HubSpot – Contact Form 7 CRM Integration 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓12 1 too low 22 CF7 Submissions – Securely Store Contact Form 7 Data and Attachments, Reply to the Sender and more 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too high 23 Integration for MailPoet and CF7 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 EP Exporter for Contact Form 7 (CF7) 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.