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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “active edd comment”

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 “active edd comment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

Payment Gateway using Mollie for Easy Digital Downloads shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #1 2 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #2 3 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 WP Webhooks – Automate repetitive tasks by creating powerful automation workflows directly within WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9 Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning 30K+ · 4.8★ (1039) wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #11 ↑2 12 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #12 13 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 NotificationX – FOMO, Live Sales Notification, WooCommerce Sales Popup, GDPR, Social Proof, Announcement Banner & Floating Notification Bar 30K+ · 4.8★ (228) wp.org #14 ↑3 15 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 My Private Site – Make Your Whole Site Private, Force Login & Block Registration Spam 10K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #22 ↓11 3 too low 20 Payment Gateway using Mollie for Easy Digital Downloads 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 La Sentinelle antispam 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Shiprocket 10K+ · 2.7★ (20) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.