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← Rankings

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

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 “agree”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

Automattic For Agencies Client shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1940 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #1 2 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #2 3 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too high 5 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #6 ↓3 7 User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Starter Sites & Templates by Neve 100K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 TermsFeed AutoTerms: Privacy Policy Generator, Cookie Consent, GDPR, CCPA, Terms & Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookies Policy, EULA 70K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 SSL Zen — SSL Certificate Installer & HTTPS Redirects 9K+ · 4.9★ (665) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #18 ↑3 7 too low 12 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too low 13 WP Terms Popup – Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy WordPress Popups 3K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Extendify 500K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Terms and Conditions Popup for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Include Klaviyo for Elementor pro 2K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 Additional Terms Lite for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.6★ (16) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Automattic For Agencies Client 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Gutentools 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 AgreeMe Checkboxes For WooCommerce 500+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 ShareThis Reaction Buttons 600+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 BOX NOW Delivery Croatia + Slovenia 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Flodesk for Elementor Pro 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.