wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “carousel gallery”
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 “carousel gallery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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
Catch Gallery shows at wp.org #19 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 16 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434)
wp.org #3 ↑3 4 
FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303)
wp.org #4 ↑5 1 too high 6 
Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581)
wp.org #7 ↑7 1 too low 7 
Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597)
wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too low 8 
SimpLy Gallery 40K+ · 4.8★ (118)
wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too high 9 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132)
wp.org #10 1 too low 10 
Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203)
wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11 
Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146)
wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 
Carousel Slider 30K+ · 4.3★ (160)
wp.org #11 1 too high 13 
Smart Post – Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider Gutenberg Blocks for Blog & News 20K+ · 4.7★ (210)
wp.org #14 ↑3 1 too low 14 
Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162)
wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 
Photo Gallery – GT3 Image Gallery & Gutenberg Block Gallery 10K+ · 4.8★ (147)
wp.org #15 16 
Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Gallery Lightbox 10K+ · 4.7★ (106)
wp.org #17 ↑1 18 
Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (160)
wp.org #18 19 
Product Video Gallery for Woocommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (97)
wp.org #16 3 too high 20 
Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162)
wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 
Ultimate Before After Image Slider & Gallery – BEAF 30K+ · 4.9★ (107)
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too low 22 
Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31)
wp.org #20 ↑3 2 too high 23 Catch Gallery 10K+ · 4.0★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too high 24 
MetaSlider Gallery – Image Gallery, Lightbox Galleries, Video Galleries 10K+ · 4.4★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.