Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “brightness”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Animatikon – Scroll Animations & Motion Effects shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 40+ 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

ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More places #6 on merit, 3.7★ from 117 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #1 2 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #2 3 DarkLooks – Dark Mode Switcher For WordPress 800+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Darkify – Dark Mode & Night Mode for Website & Admin (Dark Theme Included) 1K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Darklup – Enhanced WordPress Dark Mode, Dark Theme, Night Mode & Accessibility Plugin 1K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 DarkMySite – Advanced Dark Mode Plugin for WordPress 900+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #8 9 Image Editor by Pixo 700+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Sky Addons for Elementor – 160+ Widgets, GSAP Animations, Templates & Theme Builder 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Accessibility Assistant – EAA ADA WCAG AODA 100+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 PixMagix – WordPress Image Editor 200+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 MMWW 200+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 SheetsPilot – AI Spreadsheet Bulk Edit for Posts, WooCommerce Products & SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Wow Elements Addons for Elementor 50+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Random Image Block for Block Editor 100+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #16 17 Wexlab Motion Effects for Elementor 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Animatikon – Scroll Animations & Motion Effects 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Accesly Widget 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Accessibility Assistant – Readabler 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 CanvaMotion for Elementor 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 AccessiWeb Widget 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Kogility Image Editor for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Mawu Dark Mode for the Admin Dashboard, Editor & Website 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.