wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “back up”

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 “back up”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Beam me up Scotty – Back to Top Button shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ 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

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #1 2

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Back In Stock Notifier for WooCommerce | WooCommerce Waitlist Pro 20K+ · 4.7★ (122) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 5

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 6

Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) not PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓3 3 too low 10

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #16 ↑3 5 too low 12

Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #24 ↓10 12 too low 13

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #19 5 too low 15

Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #6 9 too high 16

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17

Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #15 ↑5 2 too high 18

Jetpack VaultPress 10K+ · 3.8★ (72) wp.org #14 ↑4 4 too high 19

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 4 too low 20

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21

Beam me up Scotty – Back to Top Button 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 14 too high 22

MakeITeasy Back To Top 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓2 14 too high 23

Speed up Contact Form 7 300+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24

Instant Back/Forward 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.