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

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 “akismet”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 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

Honeypot Anti-Spam shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 3 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too high 6 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #6 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #8 ↑5 1 too low 8 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #7 ↑10 1 too high 9 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Everest Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form, Quiz, Survey & Custom Form Builder with AI 90K+ · 4.9★ (375) wp.org #10 ↑5 11 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #18 ↓7 7 too low 12 WS Form LITE – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (322) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14 Highlight and Share – Unobtrusive and Lightweight Content Sharing 700+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #12 ↑4 3 too high 16 Custom Contact Forms 6K+ · 3.5★ (171) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Honeypot Anti-Spam 10K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #19 ↑5 1 too low 19 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #17 ↑6 2 too high 20 Sense Forms 200+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #15 ↓7 5 too high 21 Cozy Blocks – Website Builder & Business Growth Toolkit | Popups, Lead Forms & Inbox 6K+ · 4.6★ (21) wp.org #21 22 Quick Interest Slider 1K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Protección de datos – RGPD 7K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 WPZOOM Forms – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.