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

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 “casual”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Pixelavo – Server Side Tracking & Pixel + AI Ads Tools shows at wp.org #16 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpsellWP – Upsell and Related Products Offers for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 149 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No Right Click Images 20K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #1 2 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Protect Uploads 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 M Mesmerize Companion 50K+ · 4.4★ (51) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Ebook Store 700+ · 4.4★ (60) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too low 7 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #5 ↑8 2 too high 8 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 UpsellWP – Upsell and Related Products Offers for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (149) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Slickstream: Engagement and Conversions 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 M Materialis Companion 6K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 AI ChatBot for WooCommerce – WoowBot 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 BtW Importer – Free Blogger/Blogspot Migration 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Right Click Ban – Disable Right Click & Content Copy Protection 400+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Reviewkit – Trustpilot Reviews Widget & Embed 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Jotform – AI Chatbot 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Smart Loan Calculator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 AI + Block Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Sales Counter For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Email Gated Downloads 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Content Forge – AI & non-AI content generator, scheduled AI posts, dummy data for your site 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 UltraPress – AI Assistant, Chatbot & SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Pixelavo – Server Side Tracking & Pixel + AI Ads Tools 2K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 8 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.