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

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 “cohort”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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

Recurio – Ultimate Subscription for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content places #12 on merit, 3.1★ from 938 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #1 2 Eventin – Events Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (413) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Creator LMS – WordPress LMS Plugin for Coaches, Cohorts & Course Creators 100+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes 10K+ · 4.8★ (393) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 MooWoodle – WordPress Moodle LMS Integration, Sell Moodle Courses via WooCommerce 800+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Sensei LMS – Online Courses, Quizzes, & Learning 9K+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Edwiser Bridge – WordPress Moodle Integration 4K+ · 4.5★ (82) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Metorik – Reports & Email Automation for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 ProfilePress – Paid Membership, Online Courses (LMS), Ecommerce, User Registration & Login Form, User Profile & Restrict Content 100K+ · 3.1★ (938) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Disable Topics API 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Milo Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce and Recurring Payments 200+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Sublium Subscriptions – Subscriptions for WooCommerce – Recurring Payments, Subscription Plans & Installments 700+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 GD Security Headers 1K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 ConvertNow Analytics: Website Stats, Visitor Statistics, AI Traffic and Bot Filtering 70+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Paytm Payment Gateway 3K+ · 3.1★ (15) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Woopra Analytics Plugin 800+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Amplitude – Analytics, Session Replay, A/B testing and CDP for your website 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Fullmetrix Reporting, Analytics & Marketing for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Sikshya LMS – LMS Course Builder, Online Courses & eLearning 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Recurio – Ultimate Subscription for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #14 10 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.