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

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 scripts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

Optimize Scripts & Styles shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 60+ 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

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1564 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

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #1 2

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) not PHP-current wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #9 3 too low 7

SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #4 3 too high 8

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #11 3 too low 9

W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #12 3 too low 10

BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #14 3 too low 12

Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ · 4.9★ (1564) not PHP-current wp.org #18 6 too low 13

Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #23 10 too low 14

Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #13 1 too high 15

Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ · 4.7★ (87) wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #15 1 too high 17

Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #21 4 too low 18

SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base wp.org #10 8 too high 19

Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 5 too low 20

WPSpeed – WordPress Speed, Cache & Performance Optimization (Core Web Vitals, PageSpeed 100) 2K+ · 4.9★ (40) wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Optimize Scripts & Styles 60+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #5 17 too high 23

BlockStrap Page Builder – Bootstrap Blocks 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #19 5 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.