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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “chrome app”

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 “chrome app”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Mobile Smart App Banner shows at wp.org #3 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ 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

Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 142 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #5 6 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Hyper PWA – Bringing Modern Progressive Web App Experiences 400+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 WP-Appbox 2K+ · 4.5★ (63) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Add to Home Screen & Progressive Web App 1K+ · 3.7★ (25) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 OneSignal – Web Push Notifications 60K+ · 4.3★ (360) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 AppPresser – Mobile App Framework 900+ · 3.7★ (53) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 10 too high 14 Super Web Share – Native Social Sharing Button 2K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17 AliNext – AliExpress Dropshipping Plugin for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.3★ (53) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Progressify – All-in-One Progressive Web App (PWA) 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 Open Search Document 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Breadcrumb based on URL 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 PWA – Progressive Web App Builder by WPCodeQuill 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 9 too high 24 Browser Theme Color – Address Bar Color & Dark Mode 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 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.