Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “auditor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

E

Ranked above its merit

Ethwebs Role Auditor shows at wp.org #7 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) places #2 on merit, 4.8★ from 84 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Lockdown Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 2 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #10 ↑1 8 too low 3 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 SEO Audit – WP Site Auditor 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Ever Accounting – Accounting & Invoicing Solution for Small Businesses 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 Technical Site Auditor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Mira LLM Optimizer 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 LinkGather 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Who Changed It? – Activity Log & Audit Trail 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑1 8 too low 12 E Ethwebs Role Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 FinderPress Media Auditor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑13 4 too high 14 SERPed.net 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 DMValdez Cron Auditor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too high 16 SEO Auditor Tools 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Tendforge Widget Auditor for Elementor — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 Speed Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 WAP QA Auditor for Elementor — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 MediaRef Cleanup Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Mashlink Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Full Site Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 TrustBeacon Email Delivery Auditor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 StoreOps Auditor for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.