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

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 “browse”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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

Starter Sites & Templates by Neve shows at wp.org #10 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 77 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #1 2

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 3

Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) heavy footprint wp.org #3 4

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #12 ↓8 3 too low 10

WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #8 ↑4 2 too high 11

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too low 12

3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #14 2 too low 13

Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #16 ↑4 3 too low 14

Starter Sites & Templates by Neve 100K+ · 4.7★ (77) heavy footprint wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15

WP Webhooks – Automate repetitive tasks by creating powerful automation workflows directly within WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16

WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306) wp.org #19 3 too low 17

Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #17 18

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #20 2 too low 19

Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #15 4 too high 20

Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓5 3 too low 21

MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar – Email Subscribe Notification Bar 6K+ · 4.6★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22

WP BrowserUpdate 1K+ · 4.6★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23

AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓11 1 too low 24 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.