wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “addon”
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 “addon”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 283 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 474 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051)
wp.org #1 2 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 3 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #3 4 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #4 5 
Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528)
wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Addon Elements for Elementor (formerly Elementor Addon Elements) 80K+ · 4.8★ (172)
wp.org #7 ↑4 1 too high 9 
Qi Addons For Elementor 200K+ · 4.8★ (205)
wp.org #9 ↑1 10 
Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284)
wp.org #10 ↓2 11 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 Product Addons for Woocommerce – Product Options with Custom Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (474)
wp.org #16 ↑4 4 too low 13 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 2 too high 14 
LocoAI – Auto Translate for Loco Translate 70K+ · 4.9★ (642)
wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 
Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83)
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 
Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder (UABB) 20K+ · 5.0★ (332)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 
Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284)
wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 
Post Grid Addon for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (76)
wp.org #15 ↑4 3 too high 19 PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓3 7 too high 20 
Exclusive Addons for Elementor 50K+ · 4.7★ (47)
wp.org #17 ↑4 3 too high 21 
Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓8 1 too high 23 
Extensive VC Addons for WPBakery Page Builder 4K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
aThemes Addons for Elementor – Widgets & Elementor Addons 7K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.