wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “achieves”
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 “achieves”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Speculative Loading shows at wp.org #5 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #1 2 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) low rating, top placement
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (518)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #8 ↑10 2 too low 7 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #10 ↑3 2 too low 9 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #12 ↑5 3 too low 10 
Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612)
wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #5 6 too high 12 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #6 6 too high 13 
Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453)
wp.org #16 ↓7 3 too low 14 
Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97)
wp.org #14 ↓6 15 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (398)
wp.org #20 ↑3 5 too low 16 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 
Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61)
wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 
Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33)
wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 
FluentBoards – Project Management, Task Management, Goal Tracking, Kanban Board, and, Team Collaboration 6K+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 
Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 
Borderless – Addons and Templates for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 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.