Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bonus points”

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 “bonus points”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

Ranked above its merit

RewardsWP – Loyalty Points & Referral Program for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 119 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loyalty Points Rewards and Referral for WooCommerce – WPLoyalty 3K+ · 5.0★ (310) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Bonus for Woo 100+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488) wp.org #8 ↑1 5 too low 4 Gratisfaction- Loyalty, Rewards , Referral, Birthday and Giveaway Program 600+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Football Pool 900+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 too high 8 Smooth Page Scroll Up/Down Buttons 2K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 LoyaltyX – Loyalty Program, Points and Rewards for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #19 ↓3 9 too low 11 Advanced Coupons for WooCommerce – BOGO, Store Credit & WooCommerce Coupons 20K+ · 4.4★ (184) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #23 ↓2 11 too low 13 Social Boost: Giveaways, Instant win and Contests. Grow followers, shares, subscribers, traffic, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 PopupAlly 2K+ · 4.1★ (76) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 RewardsWP – Loyalty Points & Referral Program for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Migrate to WordPress.com 2K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Free Backlinks & Guest Post Exchange – Consolety 40+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 Power Coupons for WooCommerce 30K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20 PointBay – Loyalty Points & Referral Rewards for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 PW Loyalty Points and Rewards for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 WupSales – Reward Points for WooCommerce 20+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too high 23 J JTZL's Bot Maze 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 GameEngine – Gamification, Points, Badges & Leaderboards 30+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.