wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “form limit”
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 limit”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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
User Posts Limit shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. 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 ↑1 2 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489)
wp.org #3 ↓2 4 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #4 5 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too low 6 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #8 ↓3 1 too low 8 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #7 ↑5 1 too high 9 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #10 ↓3 1 too low 10 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #15 ↑8 5 too low 11 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #16 5 too low 12 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #12 ↓2 1 too high 14 
Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft – WordPress Anti-Bot and Security Plugin for Login and Forms 4K+ · 4.6★ (37)
wp.org #9 ↑12 5 too high 15 
Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too low 16 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375)
wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 
Contact Form by BestWebSoft – Advanced WP Contact Form Builder for WordPress 30K+ · 4.0★ (292)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #18 ↓1 19 
LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48)
wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 User Posts Limit 3K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 
Subscribe Forms – Beautiful Email Forms, Embedded Newsletter Forms & MailChimp Form 2K+ · 4.7★ (60)
wp.org #20 1 too high 22 
VS Contact Form 6K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓6 2 too high 24 
Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #22 2 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.