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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “formidable forms”

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 “formidable forms”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

Formidable Forms Signature Online Contract Automation shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #1 2 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too high 4 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #18 ↓1 11 too low 8 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #8 ↑3 9 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #10 ↓3 1 too low 10 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #11 ↓5 1 too low 11 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #17 ↑6 6 too low 12 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #12 ↑4 13 WP Zoho for Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable and Ninja Forms – CRM, Bigin 3K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Integration for Mailchimp and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 8K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 ↑2 5 too low 16 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↓1 11 too high 17 Integration for Salesforce and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Smart phone field for Gravity Forms 5K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 GSheetConnector – Formidable Forms Google Sheets Connector, Export Entries to Spreadsheet 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑2 12 too high 20 Formidable Forms Signature Online Contract Automation 200+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑2 14 too high 21 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 WPSyncSheets For Gravity Forms – Connect Gravity Forms to Google Sheets 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Forms Bridge – Infinite integrations 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Formidable Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.