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

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 “sendfox”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

WP Taxonomy Manager shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder places #5 on merit, 5.0★ from 259 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #1 2

Subscribe Forms – Beautiful Email Forms, Embedded Newsletter Forms & MailChimp Form 2K+ · 4.7★ (60) wp.org #2 3

Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 4

WP Fusion Lite – Marketing Automation and CRM Integration for WordPress 4K+ · 5.0★ (69) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5

Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6

MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7

Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8

Hafenstudios Ads – Ad Manager, AdSense & Banner Ads 100+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too high 9

Bit Flows: AI Agent Automation & Integrations for Forms, CRM, eCommerce, Google Sheets, and More 1K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too low 10

Thrive Automator 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑6 4 too high 11

WP SendFox 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12

WP Taxonomy Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #4 8 too high 13

SweepWidget – Giveaway, Contest, Sweepstakes, Competition & Photo Contest Plugin 100+ · 4.3★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14

Optinly – Exit Intent, Newsletter Popups, Gamification & Opt-in Forms 700+ · 4.3★ (16) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15

Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #24 9 too low 16

Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #12 4 too high 17

AS Sendfox Opt-In Integration with Zippy Courses — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18

Easy Email Integration by WPPOOL 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19

Sun Form Builder — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 T TriggerNinja For Contact Form 7 — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 T TriggerNinja – Actions for Elementor Form — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22

PublishPress Cart – eCommerce for Digital Products — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23 T TriggerNinja – Actions for Ninja Forms — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24

GoZen Engage 10+ · 1.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 1 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.