Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cals”

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 “cals”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 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

Appointment Bookings for Zoom GoogleMeet and more – Wappointment places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 50 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Events Shortcodes For The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (214) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Cal.com 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #12 9 too low 4 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #15 11 too low 5 Spexo Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets, Mega Menu, Popup Builder, Template Kits and Starter Templates for Elementor 6K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Appointment Bookings for Zoom GoogleMeet and more – Wappointment 1K+ · 4.7★ (50) wp.org #22 ↓1 16 too low 7 MusicIDB Events Calendar 80+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #21 ↓1 14 too low 8 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 RPB Chessboard 1K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10 Events Calendar by AddEvent – Embeddable Event Calendar Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 Real Estate Directory – GeoDirectory Add-on 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Medialist 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 P Planyo online reservation system 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 UseStrict’s Calendly Embedder 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Cal ID — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 too high 16 O Oxtilo Fast Cal — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 edu-sharing 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Demfilz Booking Calendar Plus — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Events Calendar for GeoDirectory 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Klamra Paycal for Aspaclaria — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Rug Size Calculator by SmallSpaceGlow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Sóc de Poble. Portal de Pobles Connectats — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Freelance Studio Simple Event Calendar 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.