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

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 captcha”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Friendly Captcha for WordPress shows at wp.org #11 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 430 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

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 #3 1 too low 3

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #4 5

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8

WPBruiser Security – No CAPTCHA Anti-Spam & Login Protection 10K+ · 4.6★ (213) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) heavy footprint wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10

Captcha Code 100K+ · 3.9★ (35) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too high 11

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12

Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13

Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #14 ↑8 15

reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17

Friendly Captcha for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 6 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 #12 ↓1 6 too high 19

Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑8 3 too high 20

Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21

LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too high 22 D DS CF7 Math Captcha 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23

Gutena Forms – Contact Form, Survey Form, Feedback Form, Booking Form, and Custom Form Builder 20K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24

Simple Login Captcha 10K+ · 3.9★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.