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

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 “arithmetic”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

BotShield CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #7 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 80+ 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

Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD places #7 on merit, 4.4★ from 57 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #1 2 Calculated Fields Form – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact, Payment, Quote, Quiz & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (973) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Calculation for contact form 7 1K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Ninjalytics: Sales Reports & Order Export for WooCommerce and EDD 6K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too low 8 Prosopo Procaptcha 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Product Option Kit – Product Options & Addons for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑3 1 too low 10 Captcha Ajax 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Makuruwan Arithmetic Human Quiz 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Rapls PDF Image Creator – PDF Thumbnails & Featured Images 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Kianimr Form Arithmetic Challenge for Elementor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 SheetMirror for Google Sheets 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 AISA — AI SEO & GEO Assistant with MCP: Alt Text for Accessibility (WCAG), Meta, Schema, Brand Voice — Your Own API Keys 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 BotShield CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 LazyCaptcha 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Mathlock Guard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 CodeArt Units Converter 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 C Custom Captcha Field for Fluent Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Sityn Enhancer for Bricks Builder 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Ultra Web Hosting Performance Toolkit 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 SecureGate Captcha Lite 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 EleField — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.