wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “html forms”
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 forms”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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
Crowdsignal Forms shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200K+ 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
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 1388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 #3 1 too low 3 
HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57)
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 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #5 6 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint
wp.org #6 7 
HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #15 ↓4 4 too low 12 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #18 ↑2 6 too low 13 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 
Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too high 15 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 
Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33)
wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too high 19 
Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 
Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 
Mollie Forms 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
WP Simple HTML Sitemap 3K+ · 4.9★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Crowdsignal Forms 200K+ · 5.0★ (3) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #9 15 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.