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

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 “borrow”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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.

Ranked above its merit

Fields ACF & SCF for Elementor and Divi shows at wp.org #5 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 30+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Library Management System 200+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #1 2 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #16 14 too low 3 humm for WooCommerce 60+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Sharing Club 50+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓3 10 too low 5 Doozly Affiliate Box for Amazon 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 ShopBouncer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 AllTerrain Photo Editor – Crop, Resize, Paint & Photo Filters 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Selzee: AI Ad Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 GEO Suite – AI SEO, llms.txt & Schema – Octoplug 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓4 8 too low 10 Fields ACF & SCF for Elementor and Divi 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 IWS Interactive Church Sermon Notes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Vulnity Security 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓4 8 too low 13 Yangra Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Tinh Lai Vay Ngan Hang Tra Gop 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too low 15 Trust.txt Manager 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too high 16 CanItBuy Agent Ready — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Redact — Blackout & Erasure Poetry — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Interest Rate Calculator – Calculator Hub HQ 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓3 5 too high 19 CookiePile – Cookie Consent & Consent Mode v2 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓5 20 LabelGrid Tools 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21 SC-Borrowing Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too high 22 L LendingQ — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓4 23 GhostLabs Serendipity – Masonry & Mosaic Photo Gallery Block — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Unsourced – AI Bot Monitor & AI Search Citation Tracker — · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓4 1 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.