wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “admin plugins”
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 “admin plugins”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard shows at wp.org #14 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 27 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 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.
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #1 2 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #2 3 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8709)
wp.org #3 4 
Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652)
wp.org #4 5 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #5 6 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
Disable Admin Notices – Hide Dashboard Notifications 100K+ · 4.7★ (367)
wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #10 ↑6 11 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323)
wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too high 13 
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #17 ↓7 4 too low 14 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too low 15 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 
GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708)
wp.org #19 ↓7 3 too low 17 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Download Plugins and Themes in ZIP from Dashboard 30K+ · 4.9★ (27)
wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 
View Admin As 9K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #21 ↑3 22 
Controlled Admin Access 10K+ · 4.8★ (45)
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 
Admin Notices Manager 10K+ · 4.9★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #24 1 too low 24 
Admin Bar Editor – Toolbar Customization with User Role based access & Custom menus 3K+ · 4.4★ (24) thin reviews
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.