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

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 “act”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 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

CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Job Manager places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 237 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 OoohBoi Steroids for Elementor 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #18 ↓1 7 too low 12 EU AI Act Ready 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 10 too high 13 WP fail2ban – Advanced Security 60K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 14 too high 19 ActivityPub 6K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #17 ↓3 2 too high 20 Free Cookie Notice & Consent Banner for Privacy Compliance (GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO and others) 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform 1K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Albo Pretorio On line 700+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) 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.