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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “assistant pro”

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 “assistant pro”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Smart Admin Assistant shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1680 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Assistant – Every Day Productivity Apps 4K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 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 #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #13 ↓5 3 too low 11 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #21 ↓2 5 too low 17 Product Enquiry for WooCommerce (Now with AI Assistant) 10K+ · 4.1★ (68) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 AI ChatBot with ChatGPT and Content Generator by AYS 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↑1 10 too high 21 Faktur Pro for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.6★ (32) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Semrush SEO Writing Assistant 8K+ · 2.8★ (25) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 Geeky Bot – AI Chatbot & Sales Assistant for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 Smart Admin Assistant 200+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #12 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.