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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “form js”

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 js”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 30 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 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 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 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 4 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #4 5 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #5 6 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #6 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) wp.org #9 10 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #10 11 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 JS Help Desk – AI-Powered Support & Ticketing System 7K+ · 3.7★ (74) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Masks Form Fields 9K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Contact Form to Chat Apps | Click to Chat to Order – FormyChat 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Lead Form Builder & Contact Form 8K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.