wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “2”
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 “2”, 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
NodeInfo(2) shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 8708 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440)
wp.org #1 2 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Lightbox 2 20K+ · 4.4★ (89)
wp.org #3 4 
WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184)
wp.org #4 5 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 A ACF Post-2-Post 3K+ · 5.0★ (39)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #11 4 too low 8 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101)
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
miniOrange 2FA – Two Factor Authentication for WordPress (OTP, SMS, Email, Google Authenticator) 10K+ · 4.5★ (385)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #15 4 too low 12 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428)
wp.org #14 15 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #22 7 too low 16 
WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568)
wp.org #18 2 too low 17 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #19 2 too low 18 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ · 4.7★ (64)
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
Weight Based Shipping for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.6★ (83)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 W WP 2-step verification 1K+ · 4.2★ (27)
wp.org #16 6 too high 23 NodeInfo(2) 900+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #9 14 too high 24 
Cyrillic 2 Latin 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.