wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “between”
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 “between”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 7 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
WooCommerce PayPal Payments shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.9★ average from 583 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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.
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #1 2 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #3 4 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
User Switching 200K+ · 4.9★ (238)
wp.org #6 7 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #11 4 too low 8 
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433)
wp.org #14 ↑5 6 too low 9 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537)
wp.org #17 ↓2 7 too low 11 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #20 8 too low 13 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #18 5 too low 14 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #12 2 too high 15 
bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343)
wp.org #15 ↓2 16 
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 8 too high 17 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #21 4 too low 18 
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 ↑3 5 too high 19 
Square Sync for WooCommerce | Comprehensive Data Sync Between Square and WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #7 12 too high 20 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 
Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179)
wp.org #23 ↓2 2 too low 22 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↑1 13 too high 23 
Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63)
wp.org #22 ↓8 1 too high 24 
Google Analytics for WooCommerce 100K+ · 2.8★ (119) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.