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

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 “coffee”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 2 plugins are 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

Buy Me a Coffee – Membership, Paywall & Fundraiser with Stripe & PayPal shows at wp.org #2 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 90+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 1056 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Show Current Template 100K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #4 2 too low 3

Show Pages IDs 10K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4

Buy Me a Coffee – Button and Widget Plugin 6K+ · 3.8★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #1 3 too high 5

ACF: Better Search 40K+ · 4.9★ (165) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6

SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #12 ↑12 4 too low 9

JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #18 ↑3 9 too low 10

Back To The Top Button 4K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #9 1 too high 11

Simple Divi Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #10 1 too high 12

IndexNow Plugin 100K+ · 3.2★ (47) wp.org #11 1 too high 13

Markup Markdown 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 14

Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 15

Buy Me a Coffee – Membership, Paywall & Fundraiser with Stripe & PayPal 90+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #2 13 too high 16

CoffeeCode – Checkout for Getnet and WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓2 17

QuickWebP – WebP & AVIF Image Optimizer, Compression & SEO for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↑1 5 too low 18

Fast Chat Button 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19

Simple Accessibility Button 900+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20

Mobile Contact Line 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #15 5 too high 21

Bing URL Submissions Plugin 40K+ · 3.3★ (21) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22

Advanced 301 and 302 Redirect 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23

Rename wp-admin login 9K+ · 3.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 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.