wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page builder plugin”
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 “page builder plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 4 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
Bold Page Builder shows at wp.org #11 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 40K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 66 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 681 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #2 3 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 ↑4 1 too high 5 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #5 ↓2 6 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #6 ↓1 7 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #9 10 WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681)
wp.org #15 ↓5 5 too low 11 
Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80)
wp.org #8 ↓4 3 too high 12 
Landing Page Builder – Coming Soon page, Maintenance Mode, Lead Page, WordPress Landing Pages 8K+ · 4.6★ (202)
wp.org #12 ↑1 13 
FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1028)
wp.org #21 8 too low 14 
Duplicate Page 3M+ · 4.8★ (466)
wp.org #13 ↑2 1 too high 15 
Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑8 1 too low 16 
Post and Page Builder by BoldGrid – Visual Drag and Drop Editor 50K+ · 4.7★ (140)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #24 ↓3 7 too low 18 
CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑4 1 too high 19 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66)
wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint
wp.org #20 ↓5 21 
Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 7 too high 22 
Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 500K+ · 4.5★ (81)
wp.org #22 23 
Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓3 24 
BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #19 5 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.