wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “certified comments”
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 “certified comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
WP Connectr: Power Automate integration shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ 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
Paytium: Mollie payment forms & donations places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 64 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #1 2 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #2 3 
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88)
wp.org #3 4 
Clean Login 5K+ · 4.7★ (144)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager 10K+ · 4.7★ (369)
wp.org #8 3 too low 6 
EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Vuukle – Comments, Reactions, Quizzes, Share Bar & Ad Revenue 200+ · 4.1★ (35)
wp.org #4 3 too high 8 
Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492)
wp.org #12 4 too low 9 
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ · 4.3★ (311)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 
Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80)
wp.org #10 11 
Mailjet Email Marketing 10K+ · 3.2★ (45)
wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Paytium: Mollie payment forms & donations 2K+ · 4.5★ (64)
wp.org #17 5 too low 13 
Intagrate Lite 4K+ · 4.1★ (27)
wp.org #14 1 too low 14 
Fast eBay Listings 400+ · 4.5★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #15 1 too low 15 
Conekta Payment Gateway 2K+ · 3.5★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #7 8 too high 16 
wp-greet 50+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #19 3 too low 17 
Clinked Client Portal 70+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #16 2 too high 19 
Novalnet Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 
KosTeams Payments for Yandex Pay and Yandex Split for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #20 21 
QRAuth – Passwordless & Social Login 30+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WP Connectr: Power Automate integration 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #13 9 too high 23 
AdSimple Cookie Consent Banner 700+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #18 5 too high 24 
Novalnet Payment Gateway for Easy Digital Downloads 20+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 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.