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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ninja forms addon”

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 “ninja forms addon”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

GSheetConnector – Ninja Forms Google Sheets Connector, Export Form Submissions Instant Sync to Sheets shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 212 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #4 5 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #5 6 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #6 7 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #12 ↑12 5 too low 8 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #9 ↑13 1 too low 9 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #10 11 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #17 ↓5 6 too low 12 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #23 ↓8 11 too low 13 Multi Step for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Ninja Forms Views – Display & Edit Ninja Forms Submissions on your site frontend 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Integration for Mailchimp and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 8K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 Integration for HubSpot and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 5K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #20 ↓4 4 too low 17 WP Duplicate Page 60K+ · 4.2★ (16) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18 Xpro Addons — 150+ Widgets for Elementor 40K+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 aThemes Addons for Elementor – Widgets & Elementor Addons 7K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20 GSheetConnector – Ninja Forms Google Sheets Connector, Export Form Submissions Instant Sync to Sheets 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Ninja Forms Signature Contract Add-On 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓3 8 too high 22 Popup addon for Ninja Forms 900+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓4 7 too high 23 Email Addon for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too high 24 Security Ninja For MainWP 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓4 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.