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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cache id”

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 “cache id”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Pantheon Advanced Page Cache shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ 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

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1488 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #2 3 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #3 4 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #4 5 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #5 6 Cache Enabler 100K+ · 4.3★ (139) wp.org #6 7 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #18 ↓2 11 too low 8 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #23 ↓1 15 too low 9 atec Cache APCu 3K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #9 10 Comet Cache 20K+ · 4.4★ (108) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Cache Warmer 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Content No Cache | Serve uncached partial content even when you add it to a page that is fully cached. 200+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 WPGraphQL Smart Cache 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 too high 18 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 The Cache Purger 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Clear All Cache for WP Super Cache 6K+ · 3.1★ (11) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Remove Social ID for WP 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 ABCode Cache Warmer 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Ajax loader + Cache 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Pantheon Advanced Page Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.