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← Rankings

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

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 “browser”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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 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

Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 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 wp.org
1 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 ↓2 3 too low 3 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #8 ↑5 4 too low 5 Speed Up – Browser Caching 700+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #15 ↑3 9 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #16 ↓8 9 too low 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #10 ↓4 1 too low 10 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #21 ↓5 11 too low 11 WP BrowserUpdate 1K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too high 12 Document Viewer – let visitors view files right in the browser 2K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too low 13 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #17 ↓3 4 too low 14 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too low 16 Squeeze – Browser-Based Image Compression & WebP Converter (No API, No Limits) 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 WP Console – WordPress PHP Console powered by PsySH 20K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Browser Tab Title Reminder 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too high 19 Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑8 15 too high 20 Browser Address Bar Color 300+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓2 9 too high 21 W WPG Detect Browser 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓2 12 too high 22 Disable Browser Telephone Format Detection 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 Radio Browser Stations 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 P Page Optimize 200K+ · 3.0★ (5) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.