wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “contact form 7 entries”
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 “contact form 7 entries”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) shows at wp.org #15 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #2 ↑2 3 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124)
wp.org #6 7 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #3 ↓2 4 too high 8 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #8 9 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too low 10 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #17 ↓6 7 too low 11 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #19 8 too low 12 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑5 4 too high 14 
Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #14 ↑1 15 
Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49)
wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too high 16 
Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↑2 5 too high 17 
Contact Form by BestWebSoft – Advanced WP Contact Form Builder for WordPress 30K+ · 4.0★ (292)
wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #23 5 too low 19 
Controls for Contact Form 7 (Redirects, Analytics & Tracking) 10K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #13 6 too high 20 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #24 ↓6 4 too low 21 
GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓6 7 too high 23 
Contact Form to Chat Apps | Click to Chat to Order – FormyChat 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.