wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “drag and drop editor”
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 editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 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.
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 
Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140)
wp.org #2 3 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #6 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 5 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #4 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 6 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14,389)
wp.org #9 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 7 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #7 ↑3 8 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #8 ↑1 9 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2,147)
wp.org #11 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 10 
Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104)
wp.org #5 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 11 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1,056)
wp.org #12 ↓4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 12 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3,224)
wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 13 
CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365)
wp.org #13 ↑1 14 
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 15 
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #14 ↓7 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 16 
Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce – Checkout Manager 20K+ · 4.9★ (165)
wp.org #19 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 17 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808)
wp.org #20 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 18 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1,005)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 19 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89)
wp.org #18 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 20 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #16 ↑6 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 21 
Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81)
wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Drag and Drop File Upload for Elementor Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↑3 wp.org ranks it 12 places above merit 23 
WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓6 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 24 
Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↑1 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.