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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “lead connector”

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 connector”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

GHL Contact Form 7 Bridge – Send Contact Form 7 leads to GHL CRM shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 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

Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 973 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 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #22 ↓7 17 too low 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #14 ↑3 8 too low 7 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125) wp.org #18 ↑2 10 too low 9 Connector Wizard (formerly LC Wizard) 800+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 GSheetConnector – Elementor Forms Google Sheet Connector to Sync Submissions to Google Sheets 9K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Fluent Forms Connector for MailPoet 1K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 too high 14 Contact Form 7 Connector 5K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 WP Zoho for Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable and Ninja Forms – CRM, Bigin 3K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 GSheetConnector – Gravity Forms Google Sheets Connector – Real-Time Sync 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 FormsDB – Save Elementor Forms to Google Sheets & Post Type 20K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 GHL Gravity Bridge – Send Gravity Forms leads to GHL CRM 600+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #7 ↑1 12 too high 20 Connector for Propstack 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 GHL Contact Form 7 Bridge – Send Contact Form 7 leads to GHL CRM 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 16 too high 22 Lead Generation Form – Form Builder, Contact Form, Survey & Inquiry Forms 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too high 23 Arkwell SEO Connector 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too high 24 MountDev AI MCP Connector for WordPress 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.