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← Rankings

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

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 “cmd”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Addon Elementor Container Link shows at wp.org #11 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 150 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #1 2 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #2 3 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #12 ↓2 4 too low 9 WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 WP Console – WordPress PHP Console powered by PsySH 20K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 Groundhogg — CRM, Newsletters, and Marketing Automation 2K+ · 4.8★ (150) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Bricks Navigator 8K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too low 13 Insert Special Characters 3K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 Acumulus 200+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #20 ↓2 5 too low 16 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Add From Server Lite 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Search & Replace Text in Blocks 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Inline Context – Footnotes, Tooltips & Glossary Notes 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Search and Replace for Block Editor 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 eDarpan: Website Protection 200+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 Fiber Admin 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 AI + Block Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.