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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “big five”

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 “big five”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Insights from Google PageSpeed shows at wp.org #9 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 28 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 716 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #1 2 Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #2 3 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #3 4 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Five Star Restaurant Reviews 400+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10 Confetti – Celebration Effects for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (49) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #20 ↓1 8 too low 13 OttoKit: All-in-One Automation Platform 90K+ · 4.9★ (125) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Ecwid by Lightspeed Ecommerce Shopping Cart 20K+ · 4.5★ (228) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Infinite Uploads – Offload, Optimize & Organize Your Media Library 800+ · 4.4★ (20) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 All In One Lightbox – show any media in beautiful popups 3K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 Revision Manager TMC 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 SaveTo Wishlist Lite – WooCommerce Wishlist 500+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Meks Flexible Shortcodes 10K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 PopupRoulette 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 Shop Manager for WooCommerce – AI-Powered Frontend Dashboard & Smart Order, Product & Employee Management 40+ · 5.0★ (3) 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.