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

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 “appsumo”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 16. 1 plugin is 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.

Buried gem

ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 145 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Reviews Widgets for Google & 45+ platforms by Repuso 1K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #1 2 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #2 3 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Commenter – Website Feedback tool 200+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 ShortPixel Adaptive Images – WebP, AVIF, CDN, Image Optimization 10K+ · 4.8★ (145) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Website Optimization – Plerdy 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 CubeWP Framework 3K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Sensfrx.ai (SFX) – Fraud Prevention for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Sales workflow Addon for EDD and AppSumo — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 RankMeRabbit – Data-Driven AI SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Freequency Booking Widget for TidyCal — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 RankMetric – SERP Rank Tracker for Google Search, Maps, AI Overview & AI Mode 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Recto — Internal Linking & Orphan Pages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 TaxAutomator – Tax Rate Lookup for Woo Commerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Tricot 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Constellation: Smart Tools for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16

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.