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

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 “beat”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 10K+ 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

FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout places #5 on merit, 5.0★ from 1028 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #1 2 MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302) wp.org #2 3 Comments Like Dislike 4K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Jetpack VideoPress 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 FunnelKit – Funnel Builder Plugin for WooCommerce Checkout 30K+ · 5.0★ (1028) wp.org #16 11 too low 6 Podcast Player – Your Podcasting Companion 10K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Posts Like Dislike 5K+ · 4.3★ (23) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Reviews Widgets for Google & 45+ platforms by Repuso 1K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #10 11 No Gutenberg? – Choose Where to Use the Block Editor or the Classic Editor 9K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #11 12 BerqWP – All-In-One Optimization for Core Web Vitals, Cache, CDN, Images, CSS & JavaScript 4K+ · 4.3★ (54) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 AI Powered Marketing 50K+ · 2.7★ (29) wp.org #4 ↑1 9 too high 14 F Forget About Shortcode Buttons 20K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Instant Indexing for Google 200K+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress 10K+ · 4.5★ (111) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 wetracked.io for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 Wp Tic-Tac-Toe 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 EasyTest – Simplify A/B Testing 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 WP Heart Throb 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Universally – AI Translation & Multilingual SEO: Translate Your Site into 110+ Languages 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 SEO'n'AI – Image Locator & Find Unused Images 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.