wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “app for wordpress”
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 “app for wordpress”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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
App for Cloudflare® shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 14 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #1 2 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #2 3 
Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874)
wp.org #5 ↑10 1 too low 5 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 
Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186)
wp.org #6 ↑5 7 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #7 ↓4 8 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 
WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184)
wp.org #8 ↑6 1 too high 10 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint
wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195)
wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too low 12 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13 
WP Popular Posts 100K+ · 4.5★ (249)
wp.org #16 ↓10 3 too low 14 
Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167)
wp.org #17 ↑6 3 too low 15 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑3 3 too low 16 
WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88)
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
Ads.txt & App-ads.txt Manager for WordPress 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 
Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 
WappPress – Convert Site to App Fast – WordPress to Mobile App Builder 1K+ · 3.6★ (39) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too high 22 App for Cloudflare® 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #13 9 too high 23 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 ↓9 2 too high 24 
App Builder – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Flight 500+ · 3.9★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓3 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.