wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “more fields”
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 “more fields”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 7 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
Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #9 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 166 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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.
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
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 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #6 7 
Flexible Checkout Fields for WooCommerce – WooCommerce Checkout Manager 80K+ · 4.7★ (296)
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 
Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287)
wp.org #13 4 too low 10 
Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) heavy footprint
wp.org #8 ↑4 2 too high 11 
Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too high 14 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056)
wp.org #22 ↓4 7 too low 16 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #16 ↓1 17 
Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36)
wp.org #14 3 too high 18 
Flexible Product Fields (WooCommerce Product Addons) – WooCommerce Product Page Editor 10K+ · 4.5★ (106)
wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 
Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too high 20 
Load More Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 
WC Fields Factory 7K+ · 4.3★ (168)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Masks Form Fields 9K+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 
Conditional Fields for Elementor Form – Apply Conditional Logic 10K+ · 4.7★ (32) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 24 
Product Input Fields for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.0★ (17) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.