Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

Usetiful – Digital Adoption Platform shows at wp.org #15 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 100+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Beacon Lead Magnets and Lead Capture 500+ · 4.4★ (28) wp.org #1 2 WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 HuCommerce | Magyar kiegészítések WooCommerce webáruházakhoz 9K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #8 ↓3 4 too low 5 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Help Scout 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Lynbro Cookie Consent 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Veracity Bot Detection Tag for WordPress 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 EUCookieLaw 200+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 GT Link Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 ConvertNow Analytics: Website Stats, Visitor Statistics, AI Traffic and Bot Filtering 70+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Beacon Bookings – Bookings & Rentals for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 VulnDex Beacon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14 Arbling Beacon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Makuruwan Manual Beacon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Code2 Beacon – AI Visibility Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Beacon Events – Events Calendar with Recurring Events & Google Calendar Sync — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 Beacon Campaign Sender — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Beacon Shipping Rates for USPS — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 FetchPriority Featured Image 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 KCITService – AI Site Beacon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Usetiful – Digital Adoption Platform 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Quantely Activity 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.