wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lead collection”
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 “lead collection”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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
Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4755 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.
FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 
Icegram Collect – Easy Contact Form, Subscription Form & Lead Collection Plugin for WordPress 2K+ · 4.7★ (30)
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #7 ↑3 3 too low 5 
WPBot – AI ChatBot for Live Support, Lead Generation, WordPress Automation, AI Services 5K+ · 4.7★ (124) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #13 7 too low 7 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 
Lead Form Data Collection to CRM 400+ · 4.0★ (46) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 4 too high 9 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 10 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755)
wp.org #20 10 too low 11 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
Stylish Cost Calculator – Quote Generator, Lead Gen & Price Estimator 1K+ · 4.8★ (175)
wp.org #18 ↓3 6 too low 13 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #24 11 too low 14 
Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
Cozy Blocks – Website Builder & Business Growth Toolkit | Popups, Lead Forms & Inbox 6K+ · 4.6★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #10 5 too high 16 
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↓5 5 too low 17 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 6 too high 18 
Connect Elementor Forms to Google Sheets Addon 700+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓2 10 too high 19 
aBlocks – Gutenberg Blocks, User Dashboard Builder, Popup Builder, Form Builder & Animation Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (26) heavy footprint
wp.org #16 ↑7 3 too high 20 
Contact Form to Chat Apps | Click to Chat to Order – FormyChat 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #3 ↓1 18 too high 22 
Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too high 23 
AI ChatBot for WordPress by AI BotKit – Live in 2 Minutes, No Code 100+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 
AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓5 2 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.