wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “choose custom avatar”
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 “choose custom avatar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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
User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 1,511 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
How this rank is calculated
Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.
A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.
A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.
Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #1 2 
One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41)
wp.org #2 3 
Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401)
wp.org #7 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 4 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1,511)
wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 5 
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1,539)
wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 6 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #11 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 7 
Leira Letter Avatar 6K+ · 4.9★ (28)
wp.org #5 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 8 
ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938)
wp.org #8 ↓1 9 
RegistrationMagic – Custom Registration Forms, User Registration, Payment, and User Login 7K+ · 4.5★ (459)
wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 10 
WP User Avatars 20K+ · 4.5★ (29)
wp.org #6 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 11 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 12 
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114)
wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 13 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #16 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 14 
Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (447)
wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 15 
Advanced User Avatar | Custom Profile Picture Uploader for WordPress, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↑4 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 16 
EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1,844)
wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 17 
GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122)
wp.org #18 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 18 
Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303)
wp.org #22 ↑1 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 19 
WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154)
wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 20 
WPOrLogin – Custom Login, Social Login, CAPTCHA & Security 2K+ · 4.8★ (32)
wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 21 User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 18 places above merit 22 
SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33)
wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 23 
Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 11 places above merit 24 
Real Simple Avatar 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑2 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.