Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

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

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 “blog”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Blog Floating Button shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 9K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 612 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 Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #1 2 Blog Designer Pack – Blog, Post Grid, Post Slider, Post Carousel, Category Post, News 30K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7308) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Disable Blog 20K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WP Blog Post Layouts 9K+ · 4.7★ (83) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1432) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2774) wp.org #15 ↑4 7 too low 9 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (114) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 3M+ · 3.7★ (2407) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2044) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2131) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 EleSpare – News, Magazine and Blog Addons for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 B Blog-in-Blog 800+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 Blogmentor – Blog Layouts for Elementor 4K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Simple Blog Card 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 Blog Floating Button 9K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 Eleblog – Elementor Blog And Magazine Addons 1K+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 AI Blog Automator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Classic Blog Grid 4K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 RPS Blog Info 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.