Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “automatic age”

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 “automatic age”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

AC’s Retirement Age Calculator shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ 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

Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels places #5 on merit, 4.6★ from 838 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #6 ↑5 5 too low 2 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 Easy Age Verify 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8 CPS | Age Verification 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too low 12 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too low 13 Books Gallery – Book Showcase, Library & Affiliate Plugin 2K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Popup Maker – Responsive popup, Exit Intent Pop up, Email Optins, Autoresponder & More 7K+ · 4.5★ (144) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #20 ↓5 4 too low 17 Packeta 8K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 AC’s Retirement Age Calculator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↓1 14 too high 19 Age Verification & Identity Verification by Token of Trust 20+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓5 2 too high 20 Easy Actions Scheduler Cleaner 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Milo Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce and Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 AgeOnce Age Verification for WooCommerce 10+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑2 10 too high 23 AgeWallet – Age Verification & Age Estimation for WordPress & WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 XYZ Age Verification — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.