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

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 plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 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

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 289 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #1 2

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too low 3

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #3 4

Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.1★ (85) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 2 too high 5

FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1028) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too low 6

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7

BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10

CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11

Booster for WooCommerce – PDF Invoices, Abandoned Cart, Variation Swatches & 100+ Tools 30K+ · 4.6★ (535) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 3 too low 12

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #24 12 too low 13

ShopLentor – All-in-One WooCommerce Growth & Store Enhancement Plugin 80K+ · 4.5★ (278) wp.org #23 ↓6 10 too low 14

SMS Alert – SMS Notifications & OTP Login, COD Verification, Abandoned Cart Recovery 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #15 1 too low 15

Recarto – Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.5★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 6 too high 16

Vendi Abandoned Plugin Check 1K+ · 4.1★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 8 too high 17

MWB HubSpot for WooCommerce – CRM, Abandoned Cart, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation & Analytics 6K+ · 3.8★ (55) wp.org #17 ↑1 18

Retainful – WooCommerce Abandoned Cart, Newsletters, Email Marketing, Signup Forms and Automation 1K+ · 4.9★ (98) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19

SMS Abandoned Cart Recovery – CartBoss 400+ · 4.9★ (29) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 ↑2 20

ShopMagic Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 14 too high 21

Outdated Plugin Notifier 400+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22

Cart Lift – Abandoned Cart Recovery for WooCommerce and EDD 900+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #16 6 too high 23

Cancel Abandoned Order 1K+ · 4.8★ (16) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

Live Carts for WooCommerce: Track Active, Abandoned, and Converted Carts & Wishlists in Real Time! 900+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑1 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.