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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “18 plus”

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 “18 plus”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Hello Plus shows at wp.org #1 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 23 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 158 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #5 4 too low 2 Plus WebP or AVIF 5K+ · 4.6★ (26) wp.org #2 3 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too low 5 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too low 7 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Event Tickets and Registration 90K+ · 3.5★ (236) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Mime Types Plus 10K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #4 ↓1 6 too high 11 Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #24 ↓4 12 too low 13 Shipping Live Rates and Access Points for UPS for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #21 ↑2 8 too low 14 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #14 ↑3 15 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #18 ↑4 3 too low 16 Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 WP Flow Plus 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18 Portugal States (Distritos) for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Filter Plus – WordPress & WooCommerce AJAX Filter Plugin 200+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑2 14 too high 22 BlogDoSEO Disclaimer +18 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑2 14 too high 23 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Hello Plus 70K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #1 23 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.