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← Rankings

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

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 rest”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

WooCommerce Legacy REST API shows at wp.org #3 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.5★ average from 29 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #1 2 JWT Authentication for WP REST APIs 10K+ · 4.4★ (74) wp.org #2 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #11 8 too low 4 WP REST Cache 10K+ · 4.9★ (42) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #14 ↑2 9 too low 6 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #13 ↑5 5 too low 9 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 R REST API Log 5K+ · 3.6★ (24) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #24 ↓1 13 too low 12 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 WP API SwaggerUI 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 ↓3 1 too low 16 Custom API for WP 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 SMNTCS Disable REST API User Endpoints 8K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 12 too high 19 WPSSO REST API 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too high 20 REST API Guard 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑3 8 too high 21 SteadFast API 8K+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 WooCommerce Legacy REST API 400K+ · 1.5★ (29) wp.org #3 19 too high 23 REST API Manager For ACF 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 REST API blocks 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.