Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “check links”

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 “check links”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Events Calendar places #11 on merit, 4.2★ from 2461 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 ↑2 1 too high 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too high 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #22 ↑2 10 too low 13 WP24 Domain Check 4K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 EXMAGE – WordPress Image Links 5K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Easy Affiliate Links 6K+ · 4.2★ (34) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too low 17 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too high 21 Child Theme Check 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Save Post. Check Links. 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.