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← Rankings

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

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 “attract”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Meta for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.1★ average from 481 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Quiz Maker by AYS places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 601 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #1 2 Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ · 5.0★ (1875) wp.org #2 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #3 4 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #4 5 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too high 7 Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 TI WooCommerce Wishlist 100K+ · 4.7★ (503) wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too low 9 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too high 14 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (160) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Easy Social Like Box – Popup – Sidebar Widget 6K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too high 16 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 ActivityPub 6K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too high 18 Product Slider, Product Carousel and Product Grid Gallery for WooCommerce – Reno Product Slider (formerly Product Slider for WooCommerce) 20K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Quotes for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (61) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 Meta for WooCommerce 400K+ · 2.1★ (481) wp.org #7 ↓2 13 too high 21 Web Accessibility (formally known as Ally) – WCAG Scanning, Guided Fixes, Usability Widget 500K+ · 2.9★ (162) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Animated Floating Chat Button 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 TrustMate.io – WooCommerce integration 3K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Tamara Checkout 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑3 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.