wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “front end 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 “front end form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
GDPR Data Request Form shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2145)
wp.org #1 2 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14388)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
Front End PM 4K+ · 4.8★ (220)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #4 5 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913)
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 
UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183)
wp.org #5 2 too high 8 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (260)
wp.org #9 ↑5 10 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #12 ↓2 13 
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too low 14 
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124)
wp.org #14 ↓1 15 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #21 ↓3 5 too low 17 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275)
wp.org #18 ↑5 1 too low 18 
Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (133)
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 GDPR Data Request Form 5K+ · 4.9★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #11 9 too high 21 
Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 
Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30)
wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too high 23 C Contact Form 7: Accessible Defaults 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
WP Login Form 7K+ · 4.6★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 too high Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.