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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “edit entry”

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 “edit entry”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Simple Entry Booking for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 40+ 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

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Gravity Forms – Edit Entries 2K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #1 2 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Views for WPForms – Display & Edit WPForms Entries on your site frontend 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 CF7 Views – Complete Entry Management for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Ninja Forms Views – Display & Edit Ninja Forms Submissions on your site frontend 900+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Simple Entry Booking for WooCommerce 40+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↑1 14 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.