wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “simple 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 “simple form”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 6 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
LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 48 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
wp.org #1 2 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #2 3 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #3 4 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973)
wp.org #11 ↑3 3 too low 9 
Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259)
wp.org #9 ↑4 10 
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11 
Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #15 ↑3 3 too low 13 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 
Contact Form Clean and Simple 7K+ · 4.7★ (195)
wp.org #17 3 too low 15 
Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158)
wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too low 16 
Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124)
wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 
Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89)
wp.org #21 ↑3 4 too low 18 
Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92)
wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 
Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
VS Contact Form 6K+ · 4.8★ (50)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓4 7 too high 22 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 S Simple Membership Form Shortcode 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 
Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) heavy footprint thin reviews
wp.org #16 8 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.