Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “account”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 7 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

Customize My Account Page shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 500+ 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.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1511 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33) wp.org #1 2 WP Frontend Delete Account 4K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #2 3 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #11 ↓5 6 too low 6 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #14 ↓5 8 too low 7 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #15 ↓3 8 too low 8 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #20 ↑1 12 too low 9 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #4 ↑10 5 too high 10 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 11 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓5 6 too low 16 Block User Account 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 My Account Page Lite for Divi 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Protect Admin 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Custom Fields Account Registration For Woocommerce 700+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 too high 20 Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Custom Tabs, Login, Registration, 2FA & Design 900+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 WebFacing™ – Email Accounts management for cPanel® 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 Customize My Account Page 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 17 too high 23 Advanced Accounts for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 My Account Menu Builder for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.