wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “web forms”

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 “web forms”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

Web Directory plugin Free – AI powered shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 20 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

LiteSpeed Cache places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2778 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #1 2

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #2 3

Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) heavy footprint wp.org #3 4

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 ↑3 5

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #6 ↑4 1 too low 6

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #9 ↓4 3 too low 7

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #8 ↑13 1 too low 8

Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9

MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10

SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #21 ↓4 10 too low 12

hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #15 ↓9 3 too low 13

Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 2 too high 14

Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #14 ↑1 15

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #19 4 too low 16

Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 4 too high 17

OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 1 too low 18

Web Directory plugin Free – AI powered 300+ · 4.1★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19

Mailmunch Forms for Mailchimp 10K+ · 4.6★ (372) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20

FormLift for Keap (Legacy) Web Forms 300+ · 4.6★ (12) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21

HIPAA Forms 800+ · 4.3★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑4 1 too high 22

Zoho Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder for Websites – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Order Forms & More 10K+ · 2.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23

WP-FormAssembly 2K+ · 4.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24

Multilingual Forms for Fluent Forms with WPML 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.