Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “submitted”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

Flamingo shows at wp.org #4 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 121 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #1 2 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #2 3 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #3 4 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #13 ↑1 5 too low 9 Flamingo 800K+ · 4.2★ (121) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #6 ↑3 4 too high 11 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #9 ↑2 3 too high 13 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) wp.org #12 ↑7 5 too high 18 WP Webhooks – Automate repetitive tasks by creating powerful automation workflows directly within WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Webheadcoder Multi-Step Forms for Contact Form 7 50K+ · 4.2★ (49) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Database for Contact Form 7 7K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 M Message Filter for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 S SMS Extension for Contact Form 7 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Gutenverse Form – Contact Form Builder, Block Form & Booking Form 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.