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

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 “competition”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Shopkeeper Extender shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 7K+ 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

Stylish Price List – Price Table Builder & QR Code Restaurant Menu places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 117 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #1 2 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 SweepWidget – Giveaway, Contest, Sweepstakes, Competition & Photo Contest Plugin 100+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Contest Gallery – Upload & Vote Photos, Media, Sell with PayPal & Stripe 1K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Advanced Product Fields (Product Addons) for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.8★ (284) wp.org #16 ↓12 11 too low 6 MultiVendorX – WooCommerce Multivendor Marketplace AI Powered Solutions 2K+ · 4.8★ (432) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Gratisfaction- Loyalty, Rewards , Referral, Birthday and Giveaway Program 600+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Photo Contest | Competition | Video Contest 200+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 AnWP Football Leagues 700+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12 Stylish Price List – Price Table Builder & QR Code Restaurant Menu 3K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 AI Powered Marketing 50K+ · 2.7★ (29) wp.org #5 ↑2 9 too high 15 WinRocket Raffle and Giveaway Campaigns for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Instant Indexing for Google 200K+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too low 17 Simple Tournament Brackets 300+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #11 ↑8 6 too high 18 Module Control for Jetpack 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too low 19 HelloAsso 4K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #8 ↑7 11 too high 20 Court Reservation – Tennis, Padel & Sports Court Booking 90+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Shopkeeper Extender 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 17 too high 22 The Pack Elementor addon 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 GetPaid Stripe Payments 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓4 8 too high 24 ContentPen 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑6 6 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.