wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “canada”
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 “canada”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
Automated Canada Post – HPOS Supported shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #5 2 too low 4 
Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355)
wp.org #7 ↑8 3 too low 5 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
Canada Post Shipping For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.4★ (34)
wp.org #4 2 too high 7 
CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205)
wp.org #9 ↓2 10 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #10 ↓1 11 
WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237)
wp.org #6 5 too high 12 
Ecwid by Lightspeed Ecommerce Shopping Cart 20K+ · 4.5★ (228)
wp.org #16 4 too low 13 
Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440)
wp.org #23 ↓5 10 too low 14 
Shipping Live rates for Canada Post for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #3 11 too high 15 
Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95)
wp.org #22 ↑2 6 too low 17 
MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65)
wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 
WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51)
wp.org #18 19 
Free Cookie Notice & Consent Banner for Privacy Compliance (GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO and others) 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #13 6 too high 20 U Urvanov Syntax Highlighter 3K+ · 4.5★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑3 21 
ShipStation for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.3★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too high 22 
Termageddon: Cookie Consent & Privacy Compliance 8K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Automated Canada Post – HPOS Supported 20+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 
WC Moneris Payment Gateway 900+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓5 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.