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

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 “abandoned”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 6 plugins are 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

ShopMagic Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ 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

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 701 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 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #12 ↑5 7 too low 6 Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too low 7 Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.1★ (85) wp.org #4 ↓2 3 too high 8 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) wp.org #10 ↓3 1 too low 10 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #18 ↑2 7 too low 12 Recarto – Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 SMS Alert – SMS Notifications & OTP Login, COD Verification, Abandoned Cart Recovery 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Brevo – Email, SMS, Web Push, Chat, and more. 100K+ · 4.1★ (284) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Retainful – WooCommerce Abandoned Cart, Newsletters, Email Marketing, Signup Forms and Automation 1K+ · 4.9★ (98) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 MWB HubSpot for WooCommerce – CRM, Abandoned Cart, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation & Analytics 6K+ · 3.8★ (55) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Vendi Abandoned Plugin Check 1K+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 ShopMagic Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 SMS Abandoned Cart Recovery – CartBoss 400+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too high 20 Cart Lift – Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce and EDD 900+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Cancel Abandoned Order 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Live Carts for WooCommerce: Track Active, Abandoned, and Converted Carts & Wishlists in Real Time! 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Freeze | The protection for abandoned websites 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 ELEX WooCommerce Abandoned Cart Recovery with Dynamic Coupons 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.