Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “block based widgets”

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 “block based widgets”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Icon List Block – Add Icon-Based Lists with Custom Styles shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Block Visibility — Conditional Visibility Control for the Block Editor 40K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #7 ↑8 1 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #9 ↑7 10 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too low 12 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 ↓4 3 too low 13 Nexter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder & AI Website Builder 9K+ · 4.8★ (90) wp.org #11 ↑9 2 too high 14 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Events Widgets For Elementor And The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.5★ (108) wp.org #17 ↑4 1 too high 19 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #20 ↓7 1 too low 20 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #21 22 Timeline Block – tell your story with elegant timelines 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 Popup builder with Gamification, Multi-Step Popups, Page-Level Targeting, and WooCommerce Triggers 70K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 Icon List Block – Add Icon-Based Lists with Custom Styles 4K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #14 ↓4 10 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.