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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “background removal”

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 “background removal”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Image Background Remover shows at wp.org #3 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 300+ 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

XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 149 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #1 2 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #2 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 WPC Fly Cart for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (61) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too low 10 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #13 ↑4 3 too low 11 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too low 12 XT Floating Cart for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 MoreConvert Wishlist for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 WPC Smart Compare for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 MultiLine Files for Contact Form 7 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 WPC Smart Wishlist for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 Image Background Remover 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 SEO Media Manager 5K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 Segurium – Free Malware Removal & Auto Cleanup for Hacked Websites, Antivirus Scanner, Vulnerability Alerts 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21 Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #21 22 AI Featured Image 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑1 8 too high 23 PixMagix – WordPress Image Editor 200+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 WordSec – Malware Scanner & Removal, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and 2FA 20+ · 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.