wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “colour”
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 “colour”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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
Card Elements for WPBakery shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117)
wp.org #1 ↑2 2 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #2 3 
WP-PageNavi 400K+ · 4.7★ (149)
wp.org #3 ↓2 4 
Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) heavy footprint
wp.org #6 2 too low 5 
Contact Form by Supsystic – Drag & Drop Form Builder with Templates & Form Statistics 6K+ · 4.7★ (92)
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Age Gate 40K+ · 4.6★ (64)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
Responsive Menu – Mobile Menu & Hamburger Menu Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (574)
wp.org #9 ↓5 2 too low 8 
Simple Floating Menu 10K+ · 5.0★ (38)
wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 
FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92)
wp.org #8 1 too high 10 
Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162)
wp.org #12 2 too low 11 
WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178)
wp.org #11 ↓4 12 
Product Filter for WooCommerce by WBW 50K+ · 4.8★ (325)
wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too low 13 
Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 
GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205)
wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too high 15 
Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497)
wp.org #21 6 too low 16 
WP Server Health Stats 9K+ · 4.8★ (110)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 
Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51)
wp.org #22 ↓3 5 too low 18 
UiChemy – Convert Figma, Prompts and AI Builds to Elementor, Gutenberg and Bricks 8K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↓4 2 too high 19 
WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 
Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72)
wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 
WooSwipe WooCommerce Gallery 3K+ · 4.5★ (39) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 
Donation Thermometer 2K+ · 4.4★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓6 3 too high 23 
bSlider – Build Sliders That Bring Your Content to Life 5K+ · 4.0★ (11) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 Card Elements for WPBakery 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 9 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.