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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cleanup”

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 “cleanup”, 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

Editor Cleanup For Oxygen: FDP add-on to cleanup the Oxygen editor shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Delete Duplicate Posts places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 153 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #1 2 Database Cleaner: Cleanup, Optimization & Repair 10K+ · 5.0★ (150) wp.org #2 3 Plugins Garbage Collector (Database Cleanup) 10K+ · 4.4★ (92) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #7 ↑3 3 too low 5 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #14 ↓6 8 too low 7 Falcon – Cache, Performance, Security, Cleanup, and Tweaks 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 too low 9 Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions 60K+ · 4.7★ (181) wp.org #21 ↓1 12 too low 10 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #24 ↓1 14 too low 11 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Cleanup Action Scheduler 1K+ · 3.2★ (6) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Q qTranslate X Cleanup and WPML Import 700+ · 3.5★ (26) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 SweepPress: Website Cleanup and Optimization 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too high 16 Cleanup Orphan Images 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 10 too high 17 Editor Cleanup For Elementor: clean up and solve plugin conflicts with the Elementor editor 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓2 8 too high 18 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too high 19 Time-based Revision Cleanup 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓4 4 too low 20 Editor Cleanup For Oxygen: FDP add-on to cleanup the Oxygen editor 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓2 12 too high 21 Editor Cleanup For Flatsome: FDP add-on to clean up the Flatsome UX Builder 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Redirect Cleanup 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Editor Cleanup For Divi Builder: FDP add-on to cleanup the Divi Builder frontend editor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 Feather – Elementor Performance Optimizer | Asset Cleanup, Page Speed & Database Cleanup 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 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.