wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “access shortcodes”
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 “access shortcodes”, we agree with wp.org 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
Affiliate Area Shortcodes by AffiliateWP shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 27820 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
Access Governance for WordPress (aka AAM) 100K+ · 4.2★ (420)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Groups – Memberships and Access Control 10K+ · 4.8★ (382)
wp.org #6 3 too low 4 
User Access Shortcodes 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 
Restrict User Access – Ultimate Membership & Content Protection 10K+ · 4.3★ (94)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #5 ↑14 1 too high 7 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #9 ↑3 2 too low 8 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820)
wp.org #17 ↑4 7 too low 11 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #15 ↓4 4 too low 12 
PublishPress Permissions: Access Control, Content Permissions, User Access 10K+ · 4.3★ (66)
wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 
Simple Page Access Restriction 6K+ · 4.9★ (32)
wp.org #7 ↓2 6 too high 14 
Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227)
wp.org #14 ↑1 15 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #18 ↓10 3 too low 16 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #23 7 too low 17 
Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033)
wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 
The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265)
wp.org #21 ↑2 3 too low 19 
Events Shortcodes For The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (214)
wp.org #24 ↓6 5 too low 20 
Shortcode Redirect 10K+ · 4.3★ (31)
wp.org #20 21 Affiliate Area Shortcodes by AffiliateWP 2K+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #10 11 too high 22 
Uix Shortcodes 300+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓3 9 too high 23 V View Shortcodes 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 S Simple Membership Form Shortcode 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
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.