wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “boost”
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 “boost”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Be Boost shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 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.
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231)
wp.org #1 2 
Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612)
wp.org #2 3 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #3 4 
Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514)
wp.org #4 5 
TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #7 1 too low 7 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #5 2 too high 8 
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 
Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303)
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539)
wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (626)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 
Payment Plugins for PayPal WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (127)
wp.org #19 ↑5 3 too low 17 
WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583)
wp.org #15 2 too high 18 
Translate and boost SEO – Automatic AI translation – wpLingua 2K+ · 4.9★ (33)
wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 
Social Boost: Giveaways, Instant win and Contests. Grow followers, shares, subscribers, traffic, referrals, sales and more 100+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237)
wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 
Power Boost for Gravity Forms 500+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 
DiveWP – Boost Site Performance with Clear, Actionable Steps 200+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓2 23 
CM Pop-Up – Create engaging popups to capture attention and boost interaction 8K+ · 3.4★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Be Boost 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.