wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “account switch”
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 switch”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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
Custom Fields Account Registration For Woocommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 800+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Temporary Login Without Password places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 1550 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33)
wp.org #1 2 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #4 ↓2 2 too low 3 
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 
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 #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #10 3 too low 8 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #13 5 too low 9 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1550)
wp.org #16 ↓4 6 too low 11 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 
Block User Account 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #2 ↑2 10 too high 13 
WP User Switch 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #3 10 too high 14 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too low 16 
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #19 ↓4 3 too low 17 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #14 3 too high 18 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199)
wp.org #24 ↓7 6 too low 19 
Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111)
wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too low 20 
View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #20 ↓4 21 
Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Custom Fields Account Registration For Woocommerce 800+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #6 16 too high 23 
WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177)
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 
The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 9 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.