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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “call us”

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 “call us”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #1 2 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #2 3 All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too low 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 ↑6 1 too low 5 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #3 ↑9 7 too high 11 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Smartarget – Chat Buttons & Engagement Apps 900+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 Chat Widget: Floating Customer Support Button for 30+ Channels, Supporting SMS, Calls, and Chat – Bit Assist 9K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #15 16 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #17 18 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #22 ↓5 3 too low 20 Bolt CTA Button – Floating Call Button for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓2 13 too high 21 WP CTA – Call Now Button, Sticky Button & Call to Action Builder 2K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓2 12 too high 22 Call Now and Chat Buttons 5K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Extendify 500K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 WEN Call To Action 100+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #14 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.