wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “browser information”
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 information”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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
Document Viewer – let visitors view files right in the browser shows at wp.org #12 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 52 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29)
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #3 4 
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 
Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397)
wp.org #8 ↑6 1 too low 8 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 
Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453)
wp.org #7 2 too high 10 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #13 ↑3 2 too low 12 
Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ · 4.9★ (1107)
wp.org #15 3 too low 13 
Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641)
wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #18 4 too low 15 
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758)
wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 
Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620)
wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 Document Viewer – let visitors view files right in the browser 2K+ · 4.7★ (52)
wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18 
MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509)
wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too low 19 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #14 ↓4 5 too high 20 
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ · 3.8★ (135)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35)
wp.org #17 4 too high 22 
Speculative Loading 70K+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓3 23 J JTZL's In-Browser Cache 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #21 2 too high 24 
Radio Browser Stations 20+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓13 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.