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

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 posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WPSyncSheets For Gravity Forms – Connect Gravity Forms to Google Sheets shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #1 2 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Gravity Forms + Custom Post Types 10K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Gravity Booster – Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms 30K+ · 4.6★ (199) wp.org #4 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 ↑3 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 Connector for Gravity Forms and Google Sheets 3K+ · 4.7★ (66) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #9 ↑4 1 too low 9 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #20 ↑4 10 too low 11 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #22 ↓10 11 too low 12 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #19 ↑4 7 too low 13 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #17 ↓6 4 too low 14 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too low 16 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓4 5 too low 17 Fresh Forms for Gravity 3K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Multi Page Auto Advance for Gravity Forms 2K+ · 4.3★ (20) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 Pods Gravity Forms Add-On 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #8 ↓2 11 too high 20 Signature Add-On for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Power Boost for Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑4 7 too high 23 WPSyncSheets For Gravity Forms – Connect Gravity Forms to Google Sheets 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑7 12 too high 24 Enable Turnstile (Cloudflare) for Gravity Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.