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

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 “analysis”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 31 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 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 #4 2 too low 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #6 ↑14 2 too low 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #5 6 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #8 ↑4 1 too low 8 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #9 ↓3 10 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too low 12 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #10 ↓3 2 too high 13 Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150) wp.org #18 ↓4 5 too low 14 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #14 ↓5 15 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #16 ↑3 1 too high 18 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #12 ↑5 7 too high 20 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #22 ↓12 2 too low 21 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #21 22 CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 Log Emails 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓2 4 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.