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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “competitor tracking”

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 “competitor tracking”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Repoevo – Plugin Analytics, Keyword Tracking & Competitor Monitoring shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10+ 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

GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 683 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #5 6 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Video Gallery – YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP 10K+ · 4.7★ (322) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #20 ↓8 10 too low 11 Search Insights – Privacy-Friendly Search Analytics 3K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #10 ↑3 1 too high 12 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #14 ↓3 2 too low 13 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #21 ↓2 6 too low 16 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 ClickCease Click Fraud Protection 10K+ · 3.0★ (8) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 MAIO – ChatGPT SEO Tracking & AI Search Optimization 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 BeyondSEO – AI SEO to Improve Rankings, Listings & Online Visibility 20K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 PriceOtus Connector for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓4 2 too low 21 Repoevo – Plugin Analytics, Keyword Tracking & Competitor Monitoring 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Hub5050 Ranking and Competitor Tracking 10+ · 3.3★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 EZY.ai – AEO & AI SEO for ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini 100+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.