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← Rankings

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

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 mode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 252 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #1 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Maintenance Mode 8K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Jetpack CRM – Clients, Leads, Invoices, Billing, Email Marketing, & Automation 30K+ · 4.3★ (152) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #8 ↑5 3 too low 6 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too low 7 Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 Ultimate Client Dash 2K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #17 ↓2 8 too low 10 Maintenance Redirect 10K+ · 4.9★ (24) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Shop as Client for WooCommerce – Manual, Phone & Email Orders 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Sunshine Photo Cart – Client Photo Gallery & Photo Proofing for Photographers 1K+ · 4.7★ (138) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #16 ↑3 1 too low 16 User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #18 ↑5 2 too low 17 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib 5K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too high 19 Coming soon and Maintenance mode 8K+ · 4.2★ (83) wp.org #22 ↓2 3 too low 20 O OpenID Connect Generic Client 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #20 ↓3 21 Markdown Editor (Formerly Dark Mode) 1K+ · 3.3★ (86) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 AEO God Mode – AI Search Visibility 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 CookieBoxs – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 14 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.