wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “check mail”
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 mail”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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
Mail Queue shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 1205 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.
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #1 2 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Check & Log Email – Easy Email Testing & Mail logging 90K+ · 4.8★ (292)
wp.org #4 5 
Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108)
wp.org #5 6 
Mail Mint – Email Marketing, Automation & WooCommerce Emails with AI Assistance 4K+ · 4.7★ (125)
wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too low 7 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #11 4 too low 8 
WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66)
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too low 10 
Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87)
wp.org #10 ↓4 11 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #20 9 too low 12 
Preview E-mails for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (85)
wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13 
Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 Mail Queue 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑3 9 too high 16 
YaySMTP – WP Mail SMTP with Email Logs, Tracking & Reports 10K+ · 4.9★ (45)
wp.org #21 ↓2 5 too low 17 
WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39)
wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 
Solid Mail – SMTP email and logging made by SolidWP 60K+ · 4.2★ (52)
wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 
Ultimate WP Mail 700+ · 4.5★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 
F4 Shipping Phone and E-Mail for WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 
Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 2K+ · 4.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 
Shipping Live Rates for Royal Mail for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 
CMS ADMINS Security Check Report 400+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↑4 4 too high 24 
atec SMTP Mail 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
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.