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

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 inbox”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

BitBot – AI Chatbot, Content Generator, Forms & Leads shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 70+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 542 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #3 4 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Cozy Blocks – Website Builder & Business Growth Toolkit | Popups, Lead Forms & Inbox 6K+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Website Pop-up Builder by BDOW! (formerly Sumo): Pop-ups + forms for email opt-ins and lead generation 10K+ · 4.2★ (519) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Tidio – Live Chat & AI Chatbots 70K+ · 4.8★ (395) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Crisp – Live Chat and AI Chatbot 20K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Product Enquiry for WooCommerce (Now with AI Assistant) 10K+ · 4.1★ (68) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Showcase IDX Real Estate Search & Lead Capture 2K+ · 3.8★ (35) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Boei – AI Chatbot, Live Chat & 50+ Channels 900+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 BitBot – AI Chatbot, Content Generator, Forms & Leads 70+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21 Lead Generation Form – Form Builder, Contact Form, Survey & Inquiry Forms 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 AI Chatbot, Live Chat & Lead Generation for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 MWD AI Assistant – Local Lead Generation 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 SheetLink Forms for Google Sheets and Excel 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.