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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “billable hours”

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 “billable hours”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #1 2 Project Manager – AI Powered Project Management, Task Management, Kanban Board & Time Tracker 5K+ · 3.8★ (187) wp.org #2 3 Ever Accounting – Accounting & Invoicing Solution for Small Businesses 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Easy Invoice – Invoice Generator, PDF Quotes & Payments 600+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Devlapse Time Logging — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Ndizi Project Management 10+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Contentosapp Studio – AI Content Writer & SEO (BYOK) — · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 16 too low 8 GemBooking – Appointment Booking, Booking Calendar & Reservations 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Time Tracker 30+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 CalcularIA Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 TimeGuard – Freelancer Time Log Pro — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 LolaCore for FSE 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 PhilDesigns Clean Invoices — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 LogWatch — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Albertoit Law Office Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Karks CRM — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Velocity Guard for WooCommerce – Fraud Protection, Stop Fake Orders & Card Testing 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Alt Text Pro – AI Alt Text Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 SnippetGrove – AI SEO Metadata — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 KAL-AI – Learning Mentor (LearnDash) | Content Expert (content sites) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Effortless Taiwan Mandarin Helper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 DiagnosticIQ for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Abilities Bridge 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Small Package Quotes – Worldwide Express Edition 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.