wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “password 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 “password form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Add Password Field for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #1 2

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #2 3

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #5 6

PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #6 7

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #7 8

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #8 ↑8 9

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #13 ↓3 4 too low 10

User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11

SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #11 ↓2 12

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #24 ↓2 12 too low 13

Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #23 10 too low 14

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #20 ↑2 6 too low 15

MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too high 16

CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18

Frontend Reset Password 10K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #18 ↓1 19

WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer 3K+ · 4.1★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑2 7 too high 20

Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too high 21

Password Policy Manager 6K+ · 4.4★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #15 6 too high 22

SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23 A Add Password Field for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑2 13 too high 24

Customize Private & Protected: Password Form & Prefix 400+ · 4.7★ (3) 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.