wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bulk deactivate”
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 “bulk deactivate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
Discount Rules for WooCommerce – Disco | Dynamic Pricing, Conditions, Bulk, Bundle, BOGO shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Media Library Assistant places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 202 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #1 2 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #2 3 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510)
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202)
wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 
Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91)
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
Bulk Page Generator – LPagery 3K+ · 5.0★ (31)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830)
wp.org #14 ↓2 4 too low 11 
Kraken.io Image Optimizer – Compress, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Resize & Bulk Optimize 10K+ · 4.5★ (119)
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 
Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475)
wp.org #17 ↑4 5 too low 13 
WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↓1 7 too high 14 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 
Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69)
wp.org #15 ↓1 16 
Yoast Duplicate Post 3M+ · 4.7★ (538)
wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too low 17 
Discount Rules and Dynamic Pricing for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (248)
wp.org #21 ↑3 4 too low 18 
ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #23 ↓5 4 too low 20 
License Manager for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (147)
wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Discount Rules for WooCommerce – Disco | Dynamic Pricing, Conditions, Bulk, Bundle, BOGO 5K+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 B Bulk-Select Featured Image 100+ · 3.1★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 
Ultimate Watermark – Image Watermark, Image Protection & Bulk Watermarking 1K+ · 3.3★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 
Bulk Edit YOAST SEO fields in Spreadsheet 1K+ · 2.6★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓3 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.