wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gravity forms import”
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 “gravity forms import”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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
Import entries for Gravity Forms shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 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 #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 
Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #3 ↓2 4 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #13 9 too low 5 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #11 6 too low 6 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87)
wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #19 ↓2 11 too low 9 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #21 ↓1 12 too low 10 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 2 too low 11 
PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361)
wp.org #20 9 too low 12 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 2 too low 13 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too low 15 
WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 
Pods Gravity Forms Add-On 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #5 11 too high 17 
Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Gravity Forms CLI Add-On 20K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #7 11 too high 19 
Power Boost for Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↑2 11 too high 20 
WPSyncSheets For Gravity Forms – Connect Gravity Forms to Google Sheets 200+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #6 14 too high 21 Import entries for Gravity Forms 600+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #4 17 too high 22 G Gravity Forms Keap Feed 100+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 
Add-On for Zoom Registration and Gravity Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
UTM Tracker for Gravity Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #16 8 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.