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

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 pdf”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

PDF Forms Filler for WPForms shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 7 too low 2

PDF for WPForms + Drag and Drop Template Builder 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

File Upload Types by WPForms 40K+ · 4.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↑1 4

File Upload For WPForms – Filenzo 1K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too low 6

PDF Builder for WPForms 800+ · 4.0★ (8) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #2 4 too high 7

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too low 8

Views for WPForms – Display & Edit WPForms Entries on your site frontend 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #18 9 too low 10

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11

Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13

Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #20 ↑4 6 too low 15

E2Pdf – Export Pdf Tool for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (59) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too high 16

PDF Importer for WPForms 300+ · 4.3★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #6 10 too high 17

Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 7 too low 18

PDF Forms Filler for WPForms 600+ · 2.6★ (5) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 ↓1 14 too high 19

Easy Invoice – Invoice Generator, PDF Quotes & Payments 600+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too high 20

Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Page Builder for WPForms – Display your WPForms entries in any page 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #12 9 too high 22

Entry Manager for WPForms – Save Form Entries to Database & Export 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑2 11 too high 23

Embed PDF for WPForms 40+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24

PDF Generator Add-on for WPForms 90+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 3 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.