wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “forms builder”
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 “forms builder”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Gutena Forms – Contact Form, Survey Form, Feedback Form, Booking Form, and Custom Form Builder shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 11 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 #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. 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 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #2 3 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #5 6 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #6 ↑3 1 too high 8 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint
wp.org #10 11 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #16 ↓5 4 too low 13 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑9 1 too high 14 
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 5 too high 15 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too high 16 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #23 ↓6 7 too low 17 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #17 ↑1 18 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #22 4 too low 19 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Gutena Forms – Contact Form, Survey Form, Feedback Form, Booking Form, and Custom Form Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too high 22 
Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 
WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓4 6 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.