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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “authorization code”

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 “authorization code”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP Global Site Tag shows at wp.org #18 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 7K+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #1 2 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #2 3 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #3 4 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 #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too low 7 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 WP OAuth Server ( Login with WordPress ) 1K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 O OpenID Connect Generic Client 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #17 ↑4 1 too low 17 Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 JWT Authentication for WP REST API 60K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Passwordless Login 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Polski for WooCommerce 60+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #22 ↓5 23 All in One Invite Codes 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too high 24 WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑2 6 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.