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← Rankings

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

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 “analyse”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Global Site Tag Tracking shows at wp.org #4 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 57 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #1 2 Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Email Marketing by EmailOctopus 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #6 7 Advanced Custom Stock Status 8K+ · 4.2★ (37) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Visualizer – Tables & Charts Manager with Built-in AI Generator 20K+ · 4.4★ (225) wp.org #18 ↓1 10 too low 9 Tag Pilot FREE – Google Tag Manager Integration for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 N Ni WooCommerce Custom Order Status 2K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 True Lazy Analytics 5K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 Textmetrics 400+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 etracker analytics 1K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 Securicheck – Audit et Sécurité WordPress 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 iZooto – Web Push Notifications 900+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 Global Site Tag Tracking 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #4 13 too high 18 Berq Used CSS – Remove Unused CSS Automatically 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Praison AI SEO 1K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 Mediapapa – Your WordPress Media Library Manager & Copilot 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑3 10 too high 21 ShortPixel AI Alt Text Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Moosend Website Connector 1K+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 PHP Vitals 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 24 rapidmail: Newsletter & E-Mail Marketing for WooCommerce 400+ · 2.3★ (3) 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.