wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “form notifications”
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 notifications”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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
Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 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 #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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★ (2143)
wp.org #1 2 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #2 3 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #3 4 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #4 5 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #6 ↑4 1 too low 6 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387)
wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #11 1 too low 11 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint
wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint
wp.org #23 8 too low 16 
Easy Form Builder by WhiteStudio – Drag & Drop Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too low 17 
Contact Form by BestWebSoft – Advanced WP Contact Form Builder for WordPress 30K+ · 4.0★ (292)
wp.org #22 ↑2 5 too low 18 
Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 20 
Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too high 21 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
RTMForm – Contact Form, Multi-Step Forms & Form Templates for Elementor 30K+ · 4.3★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too high 23 
Contact Form to Chat Apps | Click to Chat to Order – FormyChat 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #9 15 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.