wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “personality”

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 “personality”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Quizably – Quiz Maker, Personality Quiz & Survey Builder shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 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 #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 1387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) 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

Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #10 5 too low 6

HD Quiz 6K+ · 4.9★ (145) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8

Quiz Cat – WordPress Quiz Plugin 4K+ · 4.7★ (35) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9

Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 4 too high 10

Quiz Maker, Poll Maker & Survey Maker by Opinion Stage 6K+ · 4.4★ (277) wp.org #12 2 too low 11

GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) heavy footprint wp.org #11 12

Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint wp.org #17 5 too low 13

Watu Quiz 3K+ · 4.7★ (137) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14

Product Tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (69) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 1 too high 15

MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #16 1 too low 16

ARI Stream Quiz – WordPress Quizzes Builder 1K+ · 4.9★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 4 too low 17

Quizably – Quiz Maker, Personality Quiz & Survey Builder 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓1 13 too high 18

Woorise – Forms, Quizzes & Giveaways 1K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Gridable 4K+ · 2.9★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #15 4 too high 20

Yoga Schedule Momoyoga 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 6 too high 21

Loginfy – Custom Login Page Customizer 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22

SurveyX Builder – Survey, Poll, Quiz & Feedback Form 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #24 2 too low 23

Aimogen – AI Content Writer, Chatbot, Editor and AI Automation for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24

Classic Blog Grid 3K+ · 3.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 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.