wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “php 7”
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 “php 7”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Confirm Plus Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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.
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
wp.org #1 2 
Insert PHP Code Snippet 90K+ · 4.9★ (707)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 
DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99)
wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too low 6 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275)
wp.org #8 ↑4 2 too low 7 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49)
wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 
Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166)
wp.org #12 ↓8 4 too low 9 
Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #23 ↓2 13 too low 11 
Contact Form 7 – PayPal & Stripe Add-on 7K+ · 4.2★ (125)
wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 
MultiLine Files for Contact Form 7 9K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 
PHP Compatibility Checker 200K+ · 2.7★ (131)
wp.org #9 4 too high 14 
Multi Step for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.7★ (77)
wp.org #21 7 too low 15 
Easy PHP Settings 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #7 8 too high 16 
Native PHP Sessions 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too high 17 
SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too high 18 
WPB Popup for Contact Form 7 – Showing Contact Form 7 Popup on Button Click 5K+ · 4.6★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 
Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41)
wp.org #19 ↓2 20 
Generate PDF using Contact Form 7 4K+ · 4.7★ (40)
wp.org #18 2 too high 21 
Contact Form 7 GetResponse Extension 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 
Track Geolocation Of Users Using Contact Form 7 800+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 
Captcha by Yandex for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Confirm Plus Contact Form 7 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.