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

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 users”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Online Active Users 2K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #1 2

Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #2 3

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 4

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5

Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7

Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #9 1 too low 9

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #20 ↓6 11 too low 10

UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

WP Remote Users Sync 6K+ · 4.9★ (73) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 3 too high 12

User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #21 ↓10 9 too low 13

One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #10 3 too high 14

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #24 ↓4 10 too low 15

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓5 3 too low 16

User Frontend – Membership, User Registration, User Profile, User Directory & Content Restriction with Frontend Post Submission 20K+ · 4.1★ (537) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↑7 4 too high 17

New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #16 ↑8 2 too high 19

User Profile Picture 40K+ · 4.6★ (59) wp.org #17 2 too high 20

PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143) wp.org #23 ↓7 3 too low 21

Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑2 15 too high 22

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #22 23

MASS Users Password Reset 500+ · 4.0★ (14) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24

Fullworks Active Users Monitor 30+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↑7 10 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.