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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “code flag”

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 “code flag”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

SVG Flags – Country Flag Blocks and Galleries shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 5231 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #1 2 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #6 ↑2 4 too low 3 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too low 5 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #7 ↓2 1 too low 7 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 International Telephone Input With Flags And Dial Codes 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 Post/Page Specific Custom Code 6K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 SVG Flags – Country Flag Blocks and Galleries 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 Phone Validator with Flags for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 Serial Codes Generator and Validator with WooCommerce Support 700+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 WP Dev Flag 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Wawp Country Code & Chat Widget for WooCommerce 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Meow Workflow – AI Agents & No-Code Automation for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.