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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “atomic widgets”

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 “atomic widgets”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Atomic Addons – AI Website Builder for Elementor & WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Animation Addons – Elementor Addons, GSAP Animations, Elementor V4 Atomic Widgets & Elementor Templates 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #2 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #3 4 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 5 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Element Pack Addons for Elementor – MCP & AI-Ready Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates, Elementor Addons 100K+ · 4.7★ (284) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 HT Mega Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets & Template Builder 60K+ · 4.1★ (66) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Jeg Kit for Elementor – Powerful Addons for Elementor, Widgets & Templates for WordPress 300K+ · 3.8★ (79) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 GSheetConnector – Elementor Forms Google Sheet Connector to Sync Submissions to Google Sheets 9K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #18 19 DoLogin Security 7K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Repeaterly – ACF Repeater, Flexible Content & Dynamic Tags for Elementor 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Atomic Addons – AI Website Builder for Elementor & WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 Rino's Toolkit for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Dynamic ACF Repeater for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 Advanced Custom CSS for Elementor 200+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #22 2 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.