wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multi step ajax form”
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 “multi step ajax form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20.
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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.
Ranked above its merit
Mega Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Multi-Step & Conditional Logic shows at wp.org #11 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14,389)
wp.org #1 2 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808)
wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 3 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (260)
wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 4 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49)
wp.org #2 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 5 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3,224)
wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 6 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 7 
MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432)
wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 8 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #8 9 
Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287)
wp.org #9 10 
Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375)
wp.org #10 11 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1,389)
wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 12 
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 13 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 14 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #18 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 15 
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1,475)
wp.org #21 ↓3 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 16 Mega Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Multi-Step & Conditional Logic 200+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 17 
WCAPF – Ajax Product Filter for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.3★ (44)
wp.org #15 ↑6 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 18 
Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30)
wp.org #17 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 19 
Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25)
wp.org #16 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 20 
NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress 5K+ · 4.1★ (135)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 21 
CP Multi View Events Calendar 900+ · 4.3★ (46)
wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 22 
Dynamic AJAX Product Filters for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 23 
Lead Form Builder & Contact Form 8K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #23 24 
Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.