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

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 purge”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 5 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

The Cache Purger shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 58 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. 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 ↑1 3 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #9 ↓3 4 too low 6 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #7 ↑4 8 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #4 ↓2 4 too high 9 Cache Enabler 100K+ · 4.3★ (139) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 C Clear Cache for Me 40K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Nginx Cache 8K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Purge Varnish Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Nginx Helper 200K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 The Cache Purger 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 Nginx Cache Purge Preload 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 Hestia Nginx Cache 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 S Server-Side Cache AutoPurge 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 A Automatic Cache Flusher for W3 Total Cache 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Ergonet Cache 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 WSA – Website Accelerator Cache Purge 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.