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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “register 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 “register form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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

Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 3K+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #1 2 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #2 3 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #3 ↑3 4 Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #4 5 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #5 ↓3 1 too high 7 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too high 8 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Login & Register Customizer – Forms, Popup, Profile & WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.8★ (254) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #10 ↓3 11 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Pie Register – User Registration, Profiles & Content Restriction 1K+ · 4.2★ (222) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) wp.org #13 14 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Contact Form Email 8K+ · 4.3★ (102) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 RTMForm – Contact Form, Multi-Step Forms & Form Templates for Elementor 30K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 WP Register Profile With Shortcode 300+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 JAY Login & Register 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.