wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “email builder”
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 “email builder”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 7 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
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates shows at wp.org #16 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 184 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #2 3 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #3 4 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑6 1 too high 8 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #8 ↓2 9 
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #11 ↑4 2 too low 10 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #10 ↑4 11 
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94)
wp.org #9 2 too high 12 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #12 ↑6 13 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #18 ↓5 5 too low 14 
YayMail – WooCommerce Email Customizer 50K+ · 4.8★ (291)
wp.org #17 ↑6 3 too low 15 
Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142)
wp.org #13 ↓5 2 too high 16 
FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1028)
wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 3 too high 18 
Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓5 3 too high 19 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #21 ↓14 1 too low 21 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 
Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↓11 1 too high 24 
Email Customizer for WooCommerce | Drag and Drop Email Templates Builder 9K+ · 4.3★ (44) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓3 5 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.