Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “clippings”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Update Login Page Header shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its — 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

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #14 ↓1 11 too low 4 Blockera Site Builder – Responsive Blocks, Block States, and everything Gutenberg is missing 100+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 AdX Ad Inserter – Adsense and Ad Manager Ads 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Album Gallery for Photo & Video 4K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #17 ↓1 11 too low 7 Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) wp.org #19 ↓1 12 too low 8 Posts to PDF – Backend Batch Export 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 5 too high 9 Shif News Ticker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Smart Convert – Currency & Unit Conversion 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 DanhThong Print Design Upload — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 WPMathPub 300+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Editor Insights for Elementor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 RTMKit for Elementor – Modular Addons, Widgets, Templates, Icon Library, GSAP Animations, MCP & Store Ready 40K+ · 2.7★ (16) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Coco Visual Transition — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 what3words Address Field 200+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 7 too low 17 Update Login Page Header — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Plattio Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 WunderPaint – The Dynamic Design and Automation Studio 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 BoldSpan Bento Grid — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 DominoForm – Advanced Contact Form, Polls, Survey & Quiz Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 OmnifyWP eCommerce — Fast Online Store, Digital Downloads & Global Payments — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Creta Testimonial Showcase 3K+ · 1.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.