Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “accounts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 6 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

Advanced Accounts for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 70+ 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 Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 ↑9 1 too high 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #7 ↓4 3 too low 5 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #10 ↓4 5 too low 6 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #6 7 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too low 8 SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33) wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 WP Frontend Delete Account 4K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too low 17 WebFacing™ – Email Accounts management for cPanel® 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↓7 9 too high 18 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 W WP Delete User Accounts 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Block User Account 1K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Xendit Payment 3K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Advanced Accounts for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑2 17 too high 23 Custom Fields Account Registration For Woocommerce 700+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 Customize My Account Page 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.