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

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 pro”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 6 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 + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simply Schedule Appointments places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 155 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.

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 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #4 5 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too low 9 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #21 ↓2 8 too low 14 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 WP Zendesk for Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable and Ninja Forms 400+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 GSheetConnector – Formidable Forms Google Sheets Connector, Export Entries to Spreadsheet 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Knit Pay Pro – Mercado Pago, CCAvenue, Easebuzz, Thawani 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑2 12 too high 19 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too high 20 Smart Phone Field For WPForms, Contact Form 7, Fluent Forms, Elementor Forms, WooCommerce, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Integration for Keap/infusionsoft and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable, Ninja Forms 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Formidable Forms + Sprout Invoices – Easy Invoice & Estimate Submissions 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Affiliates Formidable 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑3 9 too high 24 File Upload Field for Formidable Forms (lite) 100+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.