wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “form designer”
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 “form designer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
NextXen Designer – Product Customizer for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 3157 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #1 2 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #2 3 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Zakeke Interactive Product Designer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (131)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Ollie Menu Designer 6K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #3 6 too high 10 
User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832)
wp.org #17 7 too low 11 
SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157)
wp.org #20 8 too low 13 
Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #10 3 too high 14 
Checkout Field Editor for WooCommerce – Checkout Manager 20K+ · 4.9★ (165)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #12 3 too high 16 
PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361)
wp.org #22 6 too low 17 
WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821)
wp.org #23 4 too low 20 
Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81)
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 
HIPAA Forms 700+ · 4.3★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #21 22 NextXen Designer – Product Customizer for WooCommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #11 11 too high 23 
PressPrimer Certificate – Certificate Designer & Course Certification for Your LMS 300+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
Survey Form Block 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #14 10 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.