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

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 “comet”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Clear Cache Everywhere shows at wp.org #5 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ 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.

Buried gem

RevivePress – Keep your Old Content Evergreen places #7 on merit, 4.6★ from 116 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

Comet Cache 20K+ · 4.4★ (108) wp.org #1 2

WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222) wp.org #2 3

Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4

iQ Block Country 20K+ · 3.9★ (166) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5

Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #9 4 too low 6

Content No Cache | Serve uncached partial content even when you add it to a page that is fully cached. 200+ · 5.0★ (18) thin reviews wp.org #10 4 too low 7

RevivePress – Keep your Old Content Evergreen 4K+ · 4.6★ (116) wp.org #18 ↓1 11 too low 8

The Cache Purger 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #3 5 too high 9

Advanced GeoIP Redirect 900+ · 3.6★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10

Fresh Forms for Gravity 3K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Optimazz – Website Optimization and Speedup 30+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too low 12

Clear Cache Everywhere 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #5 ↓1 7 too high 13

Anti-Cache Kit 10+ · 5.0★ (4) heavy footprint thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14

CPW Media Offload for Cloudflare R2 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 15

Amitry Maintenance Mode & Coming Soon 80+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #12 3 too high 16

Comet LevelUp for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #13 3 too high 17

IA SEO Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #11 6 too high 18

Comet AI Says: Product Descriptions — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 3 too high 19

Asset Preloader: preload the assets only on the pages where you need it 50+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 3 too high 20

WP Telegram Chat Widget 100+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21

Flying Comet Games Embed — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22

Themofy Addons for Elementor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Purgify – Clear Cache, Transients & Database 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.