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

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 “accelerator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

WSA – Website Accelerator Cache Purge shows at wp.org #3 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #1 2 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #2 3 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 a3 Lazy Load 80K+ · 4.3★ (148) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #5 6 Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Advanced GeoIP Redirect 900+ · 3.6★ (11) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too low 8 Events Slider, Events Carousel, Events Grid, Events Timeline and Events Filter Bar for The Events Calendar – Eventful 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Optimazz – Website Optimization and Speedup 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 WSA – Website Accelerator Cache Purge 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 7 too high 11 Auto Focus Keyword for SEO 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 LCP Accelerator 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 xneelo Helper 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Eventful for Elementor – Events Showcase for The Events Calendar 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Smooth CDN Connector — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Cache Purger for BunnyCDN 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Smooth API Accelerator — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 AT8 Site Accelerator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Smart Speed Cache Accelerator™ — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Acelora Site Accelerator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Auto Blogger – Automated AI Blogging 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 LLM Override 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 AIO Performance Profiler, Monitor, Optimize, Compress & Debug 10+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.