wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “html 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 “html form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Kwayy HTML Sitemap shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. 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★ (2144)
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 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #5 ↑2 6 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #6 ↑4 7 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110)
wp.org #9 10 
Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135)
wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #19 7 too low 13 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 
Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91)
wp.org #17 ↓2 18 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 
Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33)
wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #11 11 too high 23 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49)
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 
WP Simple HTML Sitemap 3K+ · 4.9★ (10) 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.