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

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 “aes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot shows at wp.org #5 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 142 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #1 2 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #2 3 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #3 4 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Backup, Restore and Migrate your sites with XCloner 10K+ · 4.2★ (129) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 PDF Ink Lite – Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection 2K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 WP Remote Users Sync 6K+ · 4.9★ (73) wp.org #8 ↑8 1 too low 8 1-Click WordPress Migration Plugin – Backup, Migrate & Clone 400+ · 4.5★ (40) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 License For Envato 9K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 Passwords Manager 70+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Cloud Maestro – WAF Security Suite for Cloudflare 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Extension Info Exporter 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 8 too high 14 Praison AI SEO 1K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 HuxxConnect – REST API Connector for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Wpbingo AI Commander for WooCommerce 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Finachub Mobile Money Checkout for WooCommerce (M-Pesa, Airtel, MTN) 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 Oderland SMTP & Postal Mailer 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Nota Backup & Restore – WordPress Backup, Migration & Clone 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Trinity Backup – Backup, Migrate, Restore, Clone & Schedule Backups 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 WYSIWYG Character Limit for ACF 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 Custom SMTP: Email Deliverability – FREE & Easy-to-use 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Slug Search and Admin Columns 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Pixelavo – Server Side Tracking & Pixel + AI Ads Tools 2K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #17 7 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.