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← Rankings

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

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 “bricks”, we agree with wp.org 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 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

Mortar for Bricks Builder shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Bricksable for Bricks Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (61) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Bricks Navigator 8K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too low 7 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Max Addons for Bricks Builder 1K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1471) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too high 17 CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #24 ↓7 6 too low 19 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too low 20 Reviso – Client Feedback & Approvals for Bricks, Elementor & Gutenberg 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↑1 13 too high 21 WDesignKit – AI Templates, Widget Builder & MCP Workflow 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Mortar for Bricks Builder 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 Core Framework 10K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #22 ↓4 1 too high 24 Webhook for Bricks Forms 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 14 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.