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

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 “bloating”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 1 of the top 20. 3 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #1 2 Delete Expired Transients 4K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #2 3 Bulk Page Generator – LPagery 3K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WeShareAI – AI-Powered Share Buttons (formerly E-MAILiT) 600+ · 4.3★ (65) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 AI Chatbot & Semantic Search: ChatGPT Answers From Your Content 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 Easy Content Manager (ECM) – Custom Post Types, Custom Fields & Content Management 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 7 Unbranded Portal Connector 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 BibleUp 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 BackShift — Backup & Migration 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Pirajki Website Advance Security 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Stax Addons for WooCommerce and Elementor 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Ahmadraza360 Lead Manager 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Post Meta Editor and Cleaner by RotiStudio 10+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 D DominoSlide – Slide & Carousel Maker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 AdFusion – Ad Manager, Monetization & AdSense Tracking 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 Techno Smarter Direct Checkout for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 M Markaevi SEO Assistant — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 EnquiryKit – Product Enquiry & Request Quote by DominoPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 BloomWatcher – Live Server & Site Health Dashboard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 W Webnet Certificate Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 AutoLoad Forge — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 DIY Maintenance 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Lsyavuz Audit & Quality Tracker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Simple SEO by Eighteen26 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.