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

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 “automattic”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 6 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

Automattic For Agencies Client shows at wp.org #3 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20K+ 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

Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 851 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 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 3 Jetpack Protect 100K+ · 4.6★ (123) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #5 ↑4 6 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too low 10 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #19 ↑1 9 too low 11 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #20 ↓4 8 too low 13 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Regenerate Thumbnails 1M+ · 4.6★ (396) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15 Automattic For Agencies Client 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 12 too high 16 ActivityPub 6K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #17 ↑4 1 too high 19 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too high 20 Sensei LMS – Online Courses, Quizzes, & Learning 9K+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 ShipStation for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.3★ (13) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #22 ↓4 23 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 24 WooCommerce Payfast Gateway 30K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↑2 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.