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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “5.4”

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 “5.4”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

WP Favicon Remover shows at wp.org #4 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Favorites places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 133 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 wp.org
1 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #1 2 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #2 3 WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Disable Emails 30K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Hyyan Integration for WooCommerce and Polylang 8K+ · 4.7★ (124) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #7 8 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Favorites 10K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 AI WP Writer – SEO content generator, chatGPT, Gemini, Claude 3K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #10 11 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 AxiaChat AI – Free AI Chatbot (Answers Customers Automatically) 500+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 WP Favicon Remover 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Disable Block Editor FullScreen mode 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 FreePay for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 J jQuery Image Lazy Load WP 700+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 LATW AI Translation for WPML 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Limb AI Chatbot 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 ats privacy policy 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Divi Product Carousel 200+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 PDF Forms Filler for WPForms 600+ · 2.6★ (5) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 AI Auto Alt Text Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 In3 On-site Messaging plug-in for WooCommerce 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 AutoPost AI 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.