Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “chatbox”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

Olark Live Chat shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Smartsupp – live chat, AI shopping assistant and chatbots 20K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 YayCurrency – WooCommerce Multi-Currency Switcher 7K+ · 4.8★ (114) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 Chatbox Manager 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Group chat for WordPress – Minnit Chat 500+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Chatroll Live Chat 200+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 ProProfs Chat- Live Chat & Chatbot Plugin 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↑3 12 too low 8 CookieBoxs – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too low 9 WPadmin.AI – AI Assistant for WordPress 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too low 10 Chat in Website 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 SmartLink Chatbox 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too high 12 Speechbox Chat — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 Init Chat Engine – Real-Time, Community, Extensible 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Sommelier Chatbox – Wine Recommendation Widget for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too high 15 TalkJS 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Olark Live Chat 1K+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 DirectChat – Floating Chat Button 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 AdamBox — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑2 19 HaiDM Live Community Chat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 TM Chatbot Assistant 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too low 21 چت بات هوش مصنوعی پشتیبان هوشمند آتیرام- Atirame chatbot AI — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too high 22 Chatweb for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 CookPal Reader Engagement — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Webcamconsult 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 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.