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

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 “ask”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20.

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

Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 1K+ 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

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #1 ↑11 2

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 4

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #5 ↓2 6

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7

UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #7 ↓2 8

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10

Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11

Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 900K+ · 4.3★ (1656) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too high 12

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #16 ↑4 4 too low 13

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #14 ↑8 1 too low 14

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16

MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) heavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #23 6 too low 18

Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #22 ↓3 4 too low 19

Stop Spammers Classic 20K+ · 4.4★ (243) wp.org #24 5 too low 20

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #21 ↑3 1 too low 21

Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23

Awesome FAQ – answer questions before customers ask 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓2 19 too high 24

Ask My Content – AI Search Chatbot 20+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 12 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.