wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “entries”

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 “entries”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Import entries for Gravity Forms shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2143 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Gravity Forms – Edit Entries 2K+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3

Database Addon For WPForms ( wpforms entries ) – WPFormsDB 20K+ · 5.0★ (131) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4

GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 2 too high 5

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6

GravityExport Lite for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #7 ↑1 8

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 ↑1 9

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 #12 3 too low 10

Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #17 ↓3 7 too low 11

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12

Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #13 ↑6 14

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Views for WPForms – Display & Edit WPForms Entries on your site frontend 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17

Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint wp.org #22 5 too low 18

Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #20 ↑2 2 too low 19

GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 9 too high 20

Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓6 3 too low 21

CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓4 7 too high 22

CF7 Views – Complete Entry Management for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.6★ (17) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

Import entries for Gravity Forms 600+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #6 17 too high 24

Entry Manager for WPForms – Save Form Entries to Database & Export 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.