wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “500”
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 “500”, we and wp.org disagree 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
Better image sizes shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Brizy – Page Builder places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 972 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285)
wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 
Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 
Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) low rating, top placement
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 too high 4 
HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #5 6 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #6 7 
Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Brizy – Page Builder 60K+ · 4.7★ (972)
wp.org #13 5 too low 9 
Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 I iframe 60K+ · 4.4★ (56)
wp.org #7 3 too high 11 
WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138)
wp.org #12 1 too low 12 
Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572)
wp.org #17 5 too low 13 
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588)
wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 
Xpro Addons — 150+ Widgets for Elementor 40K+ · 4.4★ (28)
wp.org #9 5 too high 15 
Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225)
wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 
Knit Pay – Cashfree, Instamojo, Razorpay, PayPal and more 2K+ · 4.9★ (100)
wp.org #16 17 
OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360)
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
PDF Builder for WooCommerce. Create invoices,packing slips and more 2K+ · 4.7★ (145)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
BlockSpare – Gutenberg Blocks, AI Content Generator & Site Builder for news, magazine, blog and business sites 10K+ · 4.8★ (34)
wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 
ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.8★ (145)
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 
Mongoose Page Plugin 10K+ · 4.6★ (64)
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 Better image sizes 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 12 too high 24 
Responsive Addons for Elementor – Free Elementor Addons, Kits and Elementor Templates 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.