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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “affiliate performance”

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 “affiliate performance”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Affilia – Affiliate Program shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #3 ↑6 1 too high 5 Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too low 6 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Easy Affiliate Links 6K+ · 4.2★ (34) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 FluentAffiliate – Affiliate Program Management Suite, Affiliates Manager 2K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Affiliates 2K+ · 4.5★ (137) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Books Gallery – Book Showcase, Library & Affiliate Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17 WC Affiliate – WooCommerce Affiliate Plugin 300+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Affilia – Affiliate Program 500+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Affiliate Link Marker 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 StoreEngine — Complete eCommerce Solution with Memberships, Licensing, Affiliates & More 700+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 YITH WooCommerce Affiliates 6K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 Affiliates for WooCommerce – Affiliate Program, Referral Tracking & Commission Payouts 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 DevDome Affiliate Manager: Amazon Affiliate Plugin for Amazon Associates 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 AnyTrack Affiliate Link Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.