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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “307”

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 “307”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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.

C

Ranked above its merit

Cloak Affiliate Links for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 171 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #1 2 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #2 3 Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419) wp.org #3 4 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #4 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #6 ↑5 1 too low 6 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169) wp.org #14 ↑2 6 too low 9 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #11 ↓4 2 too low 10 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 too low 11 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #20 ↑2 9 too low 12 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Groups 404 Redirect 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 WP Post Redirect 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 C Cloak Affiliate Links for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #10 ↓1 8 too high 19 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too high 20 ShortLinks Pro – Affiliate Links, Link Shortening, Click Tracking & Marketing 100+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Search Atlas SEO – OTTO AI SEO Automation for WordPress 7K+ · 3.3★ (24) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too high 22 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too high 23 PublishPress Shortlinks – The Link Manager for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Digi Eye Redirects 100+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.