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

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 “bloat”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post Views Counter places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1237 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1489) wp.org #8 ↓4 5 too low 4 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #7 ↑2 3 too low 5 Disable Everything 30K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 too high 6 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too high 9 Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #17 ↑3 7 too low 11 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #19 ↑5 7 too low 13 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #12 ↑3 1 too high 14 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too high 17 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #23 ↓6 3 too low 21 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑6 15 too high 22 Liteweight Podcast – run your podcast site without the bloat 400+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Video Popup Block – YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok Lightbox by WPZOOM 10K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑4 6 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.