wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “choices”
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 “choices”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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
Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Backup Migration places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 1338 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35)
wp.org #1 1 too high 3 
Beaver Builder Page Builder – Drag and Drop Website Builder 100K+ · 4.7★ (394)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601)
wp.org #7 ↑4 3 too low 5 
Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251)
wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338)
wp.org #12 ↓2 6 too low 7 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 4 too low 8 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 
Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 
Image Picker For Gravity Forms 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #3 7 too high 11 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 
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 #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 
Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071)
wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497)
wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too low 15 
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758)
wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 
Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743)
wp.org #18 ↓4 2 too low 17 
Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026)
wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 
Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285)
wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 
Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284)
wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 
Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #5 16 too high 22 
WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 
WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.