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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “zoho and cf7”

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 “zoho and cf7”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Integration of Zoho CRM and Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #4 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 146 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Zoho for Contact Form 7, WPForms, Elementor, Formidable and Ninja Forms – CRM, Bigin 3K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #1 2 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #2 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3,224) wp.org #3 4 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (808) wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 5 HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker 10K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 6 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 7 Lead Form Data Collection to CRM 400+ · 4.0★ (46) wp.org #11 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 8 Accept Stripe Payments Using Contact Form 7 100+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 9 W3SCloud Contact Form 7 to Zoho CRM 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 10 HT Contact Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 11 Integration of Zoho CRM and Contact Form 7 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 7 places above merit 12 MIPL CRM/API Integration for Contact Form 7 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 13 Integration for Zoho Campaigns and CF7 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 14 SendForce Mail SMTP Relay – SMTP and Email API 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 15 R RT Webhook for Contact Form 7 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 16 WALoops OTP Login 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑4 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 17 Attributer: UTM & Lead Source Tracking for WPForms, Gravity Forms, Contact Form 7 & More 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 18 Connect Contact Form 7 to Zoho — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 19 Site2CRM — AI Lead Operations — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 20 Contact Form 7: Zoho Leads integration 40+ · 2.3★ (6) wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 21 I inoday-Web-to-Lead-Zoho 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 22 C Campaigns Integrator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 23 W3SCloud Contact Form 7 to Bigin 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 24 Contact Form 7 ZohoCampaigns Extension 10+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.