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

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 persistence”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

RD Station shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Page Builder by SiteOrigin places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 1005 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 700K+ · 4.8★ (798) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (249) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 FunnelKit – Funnel Builder for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1021) wp.org #19 ↓2 14 too low 6 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #21 ↓2 15 too low 7 FormLift for Keap (Legacy) Web Forms 400+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Double Opt-In for Contact Form 7 – Secure, GDPR-Compliant Email Verification 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 FluentBoards – Project Management, Task Management, Goal Tracking, Kanban Board, and, Team Collaboration 6K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #18 ↓2 8 too low 11 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 AWeber – Free Sign Up Form and Landing Page Builder Plugin for Lead Generation and Email Newsletter Growth 9K+ · 2.6★ (25) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Frontend Posting WordPress Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 FormGent – Next-Gen AI Form Builder for WordPress with Multi-Step, Quizzes, Payments & More 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 WDesignKit – AI Templates, Widget Builder & MCP Workflow 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16 Integrate Elementor Form With Mailster 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 AI 50K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 BitFire Security – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Bot Blocker, Login Protection 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 Erdo Image Optimizer: Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF (SEO Audit, Alt Text, Lazy Load) 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 RD Station 20K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 Quarivo Form Shield 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Watchdog Security Lite — Powered by Lumiverse Nexus 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Shulman UTM Attribution for Elementor 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.