wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “form tracking”
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 tracking”, 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
Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 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
PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #6 ↓3 2 too low 5 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538)
wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 
Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58)
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑2 10 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387)
wp.org #19 ↓5 9 too low 11 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322)
wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124)
wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 ↓3 6 too high 14 
Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73)
wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too high 15 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #21 5 too low 17 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #20 3 too low 18 
Controls for Contact Form 7 (Redirects, Analytics & Tracking) 10K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #12 6 too high 19 
Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too high 20 
Input Mask For Elementor Form Fields 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓4 3 too low 21 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 E Easy UTM tracking with contact form 7 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 
Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓2 13 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.