Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “azure”, 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.

S

Ranked above its merit

SSO for Entra ID shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 3055 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #1 2 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 SAML Single Sign On – SSO Login 10K+ · 4.9★ (402) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 Microsoft Azure Storage for WordPress 2K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #10 ↓5 2 too low 9 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #16 ↑3 6 too low 11 WP Go Maps – Google Map, OpenStreetMap, Leaflet Map 300K+ · 4.8★ (3055) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 User Sync for Azure AD / Azure B2C 70+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #4 ↑3 9 too high 14 All-in-One Microsoft 365 & Entra ID / Azure AD SSO Login 600+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 Falang multilanguage for WordPress 1K+ · 5.0★ (113) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 WPO365 | MICROSOFT 365 GRAPH MAILER 10K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Backup, Restore and Migrate your sites with XCloner 10K+ · 4.2★ (129) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 S SSO for Entra ID 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 PowerBI Embed Reports 500+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 MultiLine Files for Contact Form 7 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Auto Alt Text 4K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 Kognetiks Chatbot 500+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 HHG for TranslatePress 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 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.