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

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 related posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Advanced Related Posts shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #14 ↑4 6 too low 9

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 ↑7 1 too high 11

Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #11 ↓1 12

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #16 ↓2 4 too low 13

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too low 14

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15

Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16

AI Translation For TranslatePress 10K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17

Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓2 18

Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20

Automatic Product Categories for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21

Internal Linking of Related Contents 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 8 too high 22

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.