wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “about”
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 “about”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 177 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #5 ↑3 3 too low 3 
Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #4 ↓2 5 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too low 7 
About Author 200+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #1 6 too high 8 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too high 11 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #13 1 too low 13 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #15 16 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #18 ↑3 1 too low 18 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195)
wp.org #19 ↑4 20 F Forget About Shortcode Buttons 20K+ · 4.7★ (69)
wp.org #20 ↓1 21 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #21 ↓3 22 
WP About Author 500+ · 4.5★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 2 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.