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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “compound interest”

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 “compound interest”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 1 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.

Buried gem

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 1388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Quick Interest Slider 1K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #1 2 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #2 3 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #21 ↓2 18 too low 4 FinCalc Toolkit – Financial Calculators 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Smart Calculators Suite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 FinSpark: Calculator Suite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 S SmartMoney77 Financial Calculators 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 NewsmanApp 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Anacoder Calculators – 20+ Responsive Calculators & Embed Suite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Gutenberg Block Toolkit – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Linusite Loan Application Manager — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑9 3 too high 12 HisabCalc – Loan, Zakat, BMI & Age Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too high 13 Modular Finance Calculators by M92 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 GimmeCalc Embed — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Planafolio Finanzrechner – ETF-Sparplanrechner & Zinseszinsrechner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Advisers Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Ecreate Calculators – Loan, Mortgage, BMI and Business Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 ParcelaShow – Parcelamento sem Juros, Tabela de Parcelas e Preço à Vista for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Hacé Cuentas — Calculadoras — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 Gainly Calculators — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Vareon Calculator Suite Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 I Investment Calculator 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2

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.