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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “404 to 301”

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 “404 to 301”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Custom 404 Pro shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 22 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #1 2 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #2 3 Redirect 404 to Homepage 60K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #3 4 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #5 6 301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #8 9 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 WP 404 Auto Redirect to Similar Post 30K+ · 4.9★ (113) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #20 ↑2 4 too low 17 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 Redirect 404 Error Page to Homepage or Custom Page with Logs 10K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Advanced 301 and 302 Redirect 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Groups 404 Redirect 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Redirect 404 to parent 60+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 PRyC WP: 404 to Homepage 301 redirect 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Post Redirection – 301, 404 Redirects 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Advanced Redirect Manager 301 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.