wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “client gallery”

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 “client gallery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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

Pixel Gallery Addons for Elementor shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #1 2

Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) not PHP-current wp.org #4 5

Portfolio Filter Gallery – Photo Gallery 20K+ · 4.8★ (348) wp.org #5 6

Photo Gallery by Supsystic – Image Gallery, Masonry, Albums & Lightbox 20K+ · 4.6★ (498) wp.org #6 7

Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #8 9

Document Gallery 8K+ · 4.8★ (112) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 2 too high 10

Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11

Additional Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (162) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too high 12

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13

Sunshine Photo Cart – Client Photo Gallery & Photo Proofing for Photographers 1K+ · 4.7★ (138) not PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓1 14

Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #17 2 too low 16

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #21 5 too low 17

picu – Online Photo Proofing Gallery 2K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18

Logo Slider WP – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery & Logo Showcase 10K+ · 4.5★ (61) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19

Radius Portfolio – Filterable Grid, Gallery & Slider Portfolio 7K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20

Pixel Gallery Addons for Elementor 4K+ · 4.8★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21

Gallery Box 1K+ · 4.1★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22

ShapedGallery – Photo Gallery, Image Gallery, Video Gallery & Lightbox 1K+ · 4.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓3 1 too low 23

Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo Gallery & YouTube API 1K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24

Picture Gallery – Frontend Uploads & Image Editor 400+ · 3.7★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #20 4 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.