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

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 “cloudways”, 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

Cloudways Site Manager shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 40K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 111 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Cloudways WordPress Migrator 10K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #1 2 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1644) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 BlogVault Backup & Staging 80K+ · 4.6★ (332) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 weForms – Easy Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder For WordPress 10K+ · 4.5★ (111) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 Wishlist for WooCommerce: Multiple Wishlists per Customer 2K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 RevivePress – Keep your Old Content Evergreen 4K+ · 4.6★ (116) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 Ultimate Multisite – WordPress Multisite SaaS & WaaS Platform 90+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 ↑3 2 too high 14 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 The Cache Purger 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Cloudways Site Manager 40K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 ↑1 13 too high 17 WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Anti-Cache Kit 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Optimal State – Advanced Optimization, Performance & Security Suite 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↑2 3 too low 20 Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓2 10 too high 21 Fleet Agent Site Manager – Securely Connects Your Sites to a WPMgr Dashboard 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Trinity Backup – Backup, Migrate, Restore, Clone & Schedule Backups 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 A AZKA Uncache My Cache 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 EmiCache – Faster Elementor, Better PageSpeed 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.