Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “feedback”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Feedback Button – Jotform shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #2 3 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #5 ↑7 1 too high 7 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Strong Testimonials 80K+ · 4.8★ (614) wp.org #18 ↓2 10 too low 9 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Marker.io – Visual Website Feedback 4K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #13 ↓4 3 too low 11 Gutena Forms – Contact Form, Survey Form, Feedback Form, Booking Form, and Custom Form Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #16 ↑4 3 too low 14 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #22 ↓10 8 too low 15 Feedbucket – Website Feedback Tool 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 too high 16 Simple Commenter – Website Feedback tool 200+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Feedback Button – Jotform 600+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 Helpful – Article Feedback Plugin 600+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑3 4 too high 19 SurveyX Builder – Survey, Poll, Quiz & Feedback Form 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too high 20 Testimonial Customer Feedback 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Anyway Feedback 100+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑10 11 too high 22 Business Reviews – build trust with real customer feedback 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 Feedback Company 800+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Voice Feedback – Audio Feedback Form, Voice Recorder & Voice Testimonials 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.