wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “box office”

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 “box office”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 500K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 820 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2

Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #3 4

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #8 ↑5 4 too low 5

My Tickets – Accessible Event Ticketing 600+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6

Simply Schedule Appointments 50K+ · 5.0★ (155) wp.org #9 ↑7 3 too low 7

Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too low 8

WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9

Agile Store Locator 10K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #10 1 too low 10

Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11

MapPress – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap & Leaflet 30K+ · 4.7★ (147) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12

3CX Free Live Chat, Calls & Messaging 100K+ · 4.6★ (820) wp.org #19 ↓2 7 too low 13

OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #17 ↓8 4 too low 14

WP Simple Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.8★ (227) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 M Mammoth .docx converter 20K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 C Commons In A Box 20+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 9 too high 17

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #24 7 too low 18

ICS Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (72) wp.org #20 ↓6 2 too low 19

Document Embedder – let visitors read files without downloading 9K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20

Appointment Bookings for Zoom GoogleMeet and more – Wappointment 1K+ · 4.7★ (50) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21

Colissimo shipping methods for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.7★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓8 6 too high 22

GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 16 too high 23

Ticketor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↑3 8 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.