wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “drag and drop”
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 “drag and drop”, 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
Drag and Drop File Upload for Elementor Forms shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 1,527 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7,322)
wp.org #1 2 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #2 3 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #3 4 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2,147)
wp.org #7 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 5 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #8 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 6 
Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140)
wp.org #6 7 
Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104)
wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 8 
CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365)
wp.org #9 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 9 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14,389)
wp.org #13 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 10 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808)
wp.org #10 11 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 12 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1,527)
wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 13 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1,005)
wp.org #16 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 14 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89)
wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 15 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #17 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 17 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4,940)
wp.org #21 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 18 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 19 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #19 ↓4 20 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #20 ↓1 21 
Email Customizer for WooCommerce | Drag and Drop Email Templates Builder 9K+ · 4.3★ (44)
wp.org #14 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 7 places above merit 22 
Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81)
wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Drag and Drop File Upload for Elementor Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 24 
Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.