wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “contact forms”
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 forms”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 3 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
Constant Contact Forms shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.6★ average from 107 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1387 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.
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
wp.org #1 2 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #2 3 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #3 4 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #4 5 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑3 3 too low 10 
Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87)
wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↑1 12 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387)
wp.org #24 ↓14 12 too low 13 
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124)
wp.org #17 ↑3 4 too low 14 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↑1 8 too high 19 
Custom Contact Forms 6K+ · 3.5★ (171)
wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too high 20 Constant Contact Forms 20K+ · 2.6★ (107)
wp.org #8 ↓3 12 too high 21 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↑2 22 
Gutena Forms – Contact Form, Survey Form, Feedback Form, Booking Form, and Custom Form Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 23 
LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 24 
WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓7 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.