wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comment list”

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 “comment list”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP Comment Notification shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 400+ 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

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 1205 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

1 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #1 2

Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #2 3

List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #3 4

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #5 ↓1 6

VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #12 5 too low 8

W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #8 9

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #9 10

Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #22 ↑2 12 too low 11

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #23 ↓2 12 too low 12

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #6 6 too high 13

Comment Reply Email Notification 3K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #11 2 too high 14

Plugins List 700+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #10 4 too high 15

Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Authors List 5K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17

Comments Like Dislike 4K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18

Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #13 5 too high 19

ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too low 20

Comment Approved Notifier Extended 500+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #19 1 too high 21

Comment Blacklist Updater 800+ · 4.8★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #14 7 too high 22

Comments Extra Fields For Post,Pages and CPT 500+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23

Comment Blacklist Manager 500+ · 4.4★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too high 24

WP Comment Notification 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #15 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.