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

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 “wpforms”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for WPForms shows at wp.org #8 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 10 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

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #5 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #1 2 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #2 3 Database Addon For WPForms ( wpforms entries ) – WPFormsDB 20K+ · 5.0★ (131) wp.org #3 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 Database for Contact Form 7, WPforms, Elementor forms 60K+ · 4.8★ (124) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 File Upload Types by WPForms 40K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #4 ↑3 3 too high 8 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Views for WPForms – Display & Edit WPForms Entries on your site frontend 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #9 10 File Upload For WPForms – Filenzo 1K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #10 11 Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too low 12 Utimate Kit ( Styler ) for WPForms 20K+ · 4.8★ (114) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16 Integration for HubSpot and Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Ninja Forms 5K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for WPForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 PDF Builder for WPForms 800+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Repeater Fields for WPForms 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 PDF for WPForms + Drag and Drop Template Builder 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Date Time Picker for WPForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 Advanced Datepicker – Restricts Date for WPForms 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 WPSyncSheets For WPForms – Google Sheets Connector for WPForms & Real‑Time Data Export 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.