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← Rankings

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

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 “alexa”, 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

Amazon Pay for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #3 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 27 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 683 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 Head, Footer and Post Injections 200K+ · 4.9★ (735) wp.org #1 2 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 WP-Appbox 2K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #5 6 WP Webhooks – Automate repetitive tasks by creating powerful automation workflows directly within WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #18 ↑1 11 too low 8 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #3 ↓1 5 too high 9 AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress 600+ · 4.5★ (55) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 WP OAuth Server (OAuth Authentication) 3K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 W WP WDFY Integration of Wodify 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 B bodi0`s Bots visits counter 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons 3K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too low 14 Catch Web Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 WP Alexa Flash Briefing 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 EneaCodes FAQ Schema — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 Pylon SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 MyelophOne Core — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 WP Tracklink 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Page Rank Stats for Alexa Google 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 smartEngin Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 W3P SEO – Lightweight SEO, Schema & AI Search Toolkit 90+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 The Voice Designer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 swa-alexa 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.