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

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 “axios”, we agree with wp.org 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

inPIPE by Seresa shows at wp.org #8 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 287 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #1 2 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #2 3 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #17 14 too low 4 MeetingHub – Appointment Booking & Meeting Scheduling for Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Jitsi 400+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #23 18 too low 6 Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #19 13 too low 7 UK Address Postcode Validation 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Gallery for Google Photos – share your albums right on your site 1K+ · 2.7★ (6) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 WebMax Accessibility for WCAG, Section 508, ADA, EAA Compliance — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 10 Convert to Blocks 2K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 BookWellNow – Appointment Booking 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 WP DevOps Dashboard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Tailwatch – Security, Backups, Monitoring & Management 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 inPIPE by Seresa — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Download Mobile App Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 RealTrace AI – Real Human and AI Traffic Counter — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Bayarcash For Easy Digital Downloads — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 YayMagic Email Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 A AddressZen — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 Trunkrs Same-Day Delivery v2 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Cptify – Custom Post Type, Fields & Layout Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Kelune SMTP – SMTP Mailer, Email Log, Fallback & Delivery Reports — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 IPS Wishlist for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Pop and Convert 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 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.