wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “email forms widget”
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 forms widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 6 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
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging shows at wp.org #11 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 90K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 292 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. 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 ↑2 3 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #3 4 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #6 ↑1 7 
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 8 
Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244)
wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701)
wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too low 10 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94)
wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #15 ↑4 16 
Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too high 18 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 
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 #18 1 too high 20 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57)
wp.org #21 ↑1 22 
Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39)
wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 
WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 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.