wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “ai powered”
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 “ai powered”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #1 2 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #2 3 
AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874)
wp.org #3 4 
Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #4 ↑4 1 too high 6 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 
Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 
MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 
Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) not PHP-current
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Directorist: AI-Powered Business Directory, Listings & Classified Ads 20K+ · 4.6★ (698) not PHP-current
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #22 11 too low 12 
Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #21 ↑2 8 too low 14 
AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 
Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 
AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↓3 10 too high 18 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓9 5 too low 19 
Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 
MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Hostinger Reach – AI-Powered Email Marketing for WordPress 1M+ · 5.0★ (8) host-installed base thin reviews
wp.org #6 15 too high 22 
AI Powered Marketing 50K+ · 2.7★ (29) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 
AI Agent by SiteGround 1M+ · 1.7★ (98) suspect reviewsclosure riskhost-installed base
wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 
AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #24 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.