Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

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

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 “brand”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 5 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

WPC Brands for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 681 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1318) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Brands for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (76) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4823) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7506) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1432) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1068) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5209) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (681) wp.org #20 ↑2 11 too low 10 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (149) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (835) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4121) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (332) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 20K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #23 ↑2 7 too low 17 My Wp Brand – Hide menu & Hide Plugin 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 YITH WooCommerce Brands Add-On 9K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Premmerce Brands for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Smart Brands for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 WPC Brands for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Brand-A-Bean 10+ · 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.