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

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 “charities”, we agree with wp.org 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

SKT Donation – Charity and Fundraising Plugin shows at wp.org #3 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ 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

Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Charitable – Donation & Fundraising Platform (Donation Forms, Recurring Donations & Fundraising Campaigns) 10K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Donation Platform for WooCommerce: Fundraising & Donation Management 7K+ · 4.9★ (99) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too low 4 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too low 8 CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #18 ↓4 10 too low 9 SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block 10K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Cool Timeline (Horizontal & Vertical Timeline) 20K+ · 4.7★ (333) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 Doneren met Mollie 4K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Mega Addons For WPBakery Page Builder 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 WhyDonate – FREE Donate button – Crowdfunding – Fundraising 800+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 AidWP – Donation & Payment Forms (Stripe Powered) 800+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Gutentools 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 SKT Donation – Charity and Fundraising Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑1 14 too high 18 Tax Exemption for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 ELEX WooCommerce Name Your Price 500+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Inspiro Starter Sites – 20+ Free Demo Templates for Gutenberg & Elementor 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 FundPress – WordPress Donation Plugin 300+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 SureDonation – Donation Forms, Fundraising Campaigns & Donor Management 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑8 12 too high 23 Order Tip & Donations for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Zita Site Library for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.