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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “collect reviews”

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 “collect reviews”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Collect Reviews shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yotpo Product Reviews places #12 on merit, 4.5★ from 192 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #2 ↑3 3 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #3 4 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #4 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials 40K+ · 4.7★ (226) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7 WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8 Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Customer Reviews Collector for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too high 10 Stars Testimonials — Responsive Reviews & Star Ratings 1K+ · 4.8★ (65) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) wp.org #12 ↑2 1 too low 12 Yotpo Product Reviews 2K+ · 4.5★ (192) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Reviews Widgets for Google & 45+ platforms by Repuso 1K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #15 ↑7 16 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #24 ↓4 8 too low 17 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too high 19 Ultimate Reviews 400+ · 4.1★ (60) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Collect Reviews 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↑1 15 too high 21 WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 CDI – Collect and Deliver Interface for Woocommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Merchant Center Reviews for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.