Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “commission”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

Themify Portfolio Post shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 30K+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #1 2 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #5 ↑4 1 too low 5 Dokan: AI Powered WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace Solution – Build Your Own Amazon, eBay, Etsy 30K+ · 4.6★ (769) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Tutor LMS – eLearning and online course solution 100K+ · 4.4★ (590) wp.org #9 ↓3 2 too low 8 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Coupon Affiliates – Affiliate Plugin for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #7 ↓3 2 too high 10 WC Vendors – WooCommerce Multivendor, WooCommerce Marketplace, Product Vendors 3K+ · 4.5★ (188) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 WCFM Marketplace – Multivendor Marketplace for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (449) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 Affiliates for WooCommerce – Affiliate Program, Referral Tracking & Commission Payouts 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #4 ↓1 8 too high 13 Affiliates Manager 8K+ · 4.1★ (61) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too low 15 Affiliates 2K+ · 4.5★ (137) wp.org #20 ↑1 5 too low 16 Goaffpro Affiliate Marketing 4K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #16 ↓2 17 Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 Amazon Link Engine 2K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #22 ↓4 4 too low 19 YITH WooCommerce Affiliates 6K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 FluentAffiliate – Affiliate Program Management Suite, Affiliates Manager 2K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 WCFM Membership – WooCommerce Memberships for Multivendor Marketplace 10K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Affilia – Affiliate Program 500+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Affiliates WooCommerce Light 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Themify Portfolio Post 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 11 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.