wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “form testing”
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 testing”, 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
EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 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
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 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.
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
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 
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875)
wp.org #3 4 
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292)
wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #7 ↑4 8 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #11 ↑5 3 too low 9 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #19 ↑4 10 too low 10 
Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30)
wp.org #8 ↑4 2 too high 11 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #21 10 too low 12 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #23 ↓6 11 too low 13 
Easy Form Builder by WhiteStudio – Drag & Drop Form Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (70)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on 7K+ · 4.2★ (125)
wp.org #13 1 too high 15 
Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63)
wp.org #12 ↓4 3 too high 16 
CheckView – Form & Checkout Testing 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #6 10 too high 17 
Post My CF7 Form 2K+ · 4.8★ (48)
wp.org #18 ↑2 1 too low 18 
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓6 2 too high 19 
PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #15 4 too high 20 
CP Contact Form with PayPal 800+ · 3.8★ (65)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
Newsletter Subscription Form – User Subscriptions Form, Capture Email 1K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too high 22 EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 
Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 
ActiveTrail – Contact Form 7 500+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 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.