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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “api discovery”

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 “api discovery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility shows at wp.org #2 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

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 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 DOOFINDER Search and Discovery for WP & WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 JSON API User 1K+ · 3.9★ (21) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #7 8 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Performance Lab 100K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Better Font Awesome 60K+ · 4.5★ (88) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #14 15 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 14 too high 17 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Conversion Agent Discovery 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 AI Provider For DeepSeek 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 WebFinger 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #23 24 Turn Off REST API 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 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.