wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “completely”
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 “completely”, 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
Login Lockdown & Protection shows at wp.org #13 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 61 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 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.
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #1 2 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #4 5 
Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current
wp.org #5 6 
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735)
wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #7 1 too high 9 
Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220)
wp.org #18 8 too low 11 
Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59)
wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 
SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356)
wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 
SiteGround Migrator 80K+ · 4.3★ (403)
wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too low 14 
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #19 ↓4 5 too low 15 
WP Meteor Website Speed Optimization Addon 20K+ · 4.7★ (77)
wp.org #12 3 too high 16 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #16 ↓2 17 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915)
wp.org #23 ↓3 6 too low 18 Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #13 5 too high 19 
Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 2 too high 20 
Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↑2 5 too high 21 
reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.6★ (76)
wp.org #24 3 too low 22 
Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 
Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36)
wp.org #22 1 too high 24 
WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327)
wp.org #21 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.