wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cli”
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 “cli”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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
Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone shows at wp.org #14 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 600K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 135 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Reset places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 1014 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #4 1 too low 4 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179)
wp.org #6 ↓1 7 
Gravity Forms CLI Add-On 20K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #2 5 too high 8 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842)
wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑4 13 
Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #8 5 too high 14 
Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406)
wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too low 15 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #9 ↑3 6 too high 16 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #21 ↑3 5 too low 17 
All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676)
wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too low 18 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195)
wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too low 19 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 4 too high 20 
CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236)
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135)
wp.org #14 ↑6 7 too high 22 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #24 ↓7 1 too low 24 
PNG to JPG 10K+ · 4.7★ (40)
wp.org #22 2 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.