wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “submission”
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 “submission”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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
Zhanzhangb Indexing Submission for Baidu shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #7 ↓3 4 too low 4 
Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397)
wp.org #8 4 too low 5 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too low 7 
Easy Post Submission – Frontend Posting, Guest Publishing & Submit Content for WordPress 4K+ · 4.5★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #2 5 too high 8 
Frontend Post Submission Manager Lite – Guest Post and Frontend Submission Forms 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too high 9 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑6 1 too high 11 
RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459)
wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 
Bing URL Submissions Plugin 40K+ · 3.3★ (21) heavy footprint thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #4 ↑1 8 too high 13 
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875)
wp.org #24 ↑1 11 too low 14 
GSheetConnector – Elementor Forms Google Sheet Connector to Sync Submissions to Google Sheets 9K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 5 too low 17 
GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
JobBoardWP – Job Board Listings and Submissions 900+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #17 1 too high 19 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Zhanzhangb Indexing Submission for Baidu 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21 
Ninja Forms Views – Display & Edit Ninja Forms Submissions on your site frontend 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 
Duplicate Killer – Prevent Duplicate Form Submissions 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
Attachment Download On Gravity Form Submission 200+ · 5.0★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current 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.