wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “save 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 “save form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
FormsDB – Save Elementor Forms to Google Sheets & Post Type shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 19 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
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 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #3 4 
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875)
wp.org #4 5 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #7 ↑8 8 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 
Form Vibes – Save Contact Form 7 & Elementor Form Entries to Database 10K+ · 4.9★ (132)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124)
wp.org #12 2 too low 11 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too low 12 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322)
wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 
CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84)
wp.org #13 14 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778)
wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275)
wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 
Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 FormsDB – Save Elementor Forms to Google Sheets & Post Type 20K+ · 4.6★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↑1 9 too high 18 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135)
wp.org #11 ↓3 7 too high 19 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #16 3 too high 20 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 
SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102)
wp.org #23 ↓6 2 too low 22 
Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49)
wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 
Cool FormKit Lite – Advanced Form Builder for Elementor 20K+ · 4.6★ (25)
wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 
Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.