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

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 button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 9 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

WOW Styler for CF7 – Visual Styler for Contact Form 7 Forms shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ 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 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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 Mate – Contact Form 7 Styler, Multi-Step Forms & Conditional Logic 20K+ · 3.9★ (46) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Multi Step for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Void Contact Form 7 Widget For Elementor Page Builder 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too low 7 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #24 17 too low 8 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #8 9 Extensions For CF7 (Contact form 7 Database, Conditional Fields and Redirection) 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Request a Quote for WooCommerce – Get a Quote Button 6K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #10 11 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #9 ↑5 2 too high 12 CF7 Invisible reCAPTCHA 6K+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Integration for Mailchimp and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 8K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Post My CF7 Form 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 CF7 Views – Complete Entry Management for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Images Optimize and Upload CF7 700+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Database for Contact Form 7 7K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Message Bridge for Contact Form 7 and Telegram 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 WOW Styler for CF7 – Visual Styler for Contact Form 7 Forms 3K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓3 8 too high 21 AntiSpam for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Integration for MailPoet and CF7 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Conditionally Load CF7 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 too high

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.