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← Rankings

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

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 “combine”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Combine Social Photos | Still BE shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 700+ 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

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too low 7 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #15 ↑3 7 too low 9 Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #11 ↓3 2 too low 10 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #18 ↓12 8 too low 11 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too low 13 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 Jetpack Boost – Website Speed, Performance and Critical CSS 200K+ · 4.7★ (612) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) wp.org #23 ↓7 8 too low 16 Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 too high 18 Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 too high 20 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #21 ↓8 1 too low 21 Combine Social Photos | Still BE 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↓2 18 too high 22 WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Merge Menus 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑12 12 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.