wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “forminator form”
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 “forminator form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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
PDF for Forminator Forms + Drag and Drop Template Builder shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 200+ 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
wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.5★ from 449 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.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
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 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #6 3 too low 4 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #4 5 
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #10 ↑5 3 too low 8 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387)
wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too low 9 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449)
wp.org #21 10 too low 12 
reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391)
wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 
Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #22 6 too low 17 
wpDataTables integration for Forminator Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑1 15 too high 18 
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 
WPB Popup for Contact Form 7 – Showing Contact Form 7 Popup on Button Click 5K+ · 4.6★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #16 4 too high 21 
Essential Form – The lightest plugin for contact forms, ultra lightweight and no spam 600+ · 4.9★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Contact Form to Chat Apps | Click to Chat to Order – FormyChat 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
GSheetConnector – Forminator Google Sheets Connector, Export Forminator Submissions 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #7 16 too high 24 PDF for Forminator Forms + Drag and Drop Template Builder 200+ · 5.0★ (1) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #5 19 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.