wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “create form”
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 “create form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. 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★ (2144)
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 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #6 ↑12 2 too low 5 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108)
wp.org #5 ↑2 6 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #9 ↓4 3 too low 7 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 
Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25)
wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 
MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093)
wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215)
wp.org #21 7 too low 15 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135)
wp.org #10 ↓4 5 too high 16 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #23 ↓6 7 too low 17 
Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38)
wp.org #11 6 too high 18 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #17 ↓5 1 too high 19 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25)
wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49)
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓3 12 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.