wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “4.7”

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 “4.7”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Re-Add Text Justify Button shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 284 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #1 2

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 3

Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

WP Last Modified Info 40K+ · 4.9★ (856) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ · 4.7★ (49) wp.org #6 7

WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #12 5 too low 8

Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #14 6 too low 9

Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #13 3 too low 11

Re-add text underline and justify 50K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #10 1 too high 12

Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112) wp.org #17 5 too low 13

LoftLoader 70K+ · 4.5★ (33) wp.org #11 2 too high 14

Re-Add Text Justify Button 20K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #4 10 too high 15 W WP Auto Updater 7K+ · 4.6★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #7 8 too high 16

WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #15 1 too high 17

MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #20 3 too low 18

Modular Custom CSS 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #9 9 too high 19

JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #19 20

Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Antideo Email Validator 700+ · 3.5★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Reply-To for WP_Mail 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Mystery Themes Demo Importer 6K+ · 2.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24

SiteGround Email Marketing 2K+ · 2.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #21 3 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.