Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 check”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 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

Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1106 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 #4 2 too low 3 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #17 12 too low 6 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #18 ↑1 12 too low 7 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1106) wp.org #22 ↓8 14 too low 9 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too low 10 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #19 ↑2 9 too low 11 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #21 ↓6 9 too low 13 WP BrowserUpdate 1K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #23 ↓5 9 too low 15 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Squeeze – Browser-Based Image Compression & WebP Converter (No API, No Limits) 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Check Pincode For WooCommerce 300+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #12 ↓2 7 too high 20 CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑6 10 too high 21 WProofreader spell & grammar check plugin for WordPress 4K+ · 3.7★ (15) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 W WPG Detect Browser 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Instant Indexing & Check for Google and Bing SEO 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.