wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “(tags for the plugin)”
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 “(tags for the plugin)”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20.
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
Dynamic Tags for Elementor shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 700+ 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.
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.
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2,463)
wp.org #1 2 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8,713)
wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 3 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 4 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #4 5 
Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504)
wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 6 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5,232)
wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 7 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 8 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1,281)
wp.org #8 9 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1,445)
wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 10 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4,230)
wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 11 
PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195)
wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 12 
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1,014)
wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 13 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 14 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1,323)
wp.org #14 15 
PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281)
wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 16 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4,133)
wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 17 
Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103)
wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 18 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 19 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 20 
Plugin Notes Plus 9K+ · 5.0★ (62)
wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 21 
Infinity23 (Formerly Tag Manager) – One Plugin That Replaces All The Rest 20K+ · 4.7★ (53)
wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 22 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 23 
Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 24 Dynamic Tags for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 wp.org ranks it 8 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.