wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “connection”
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 “connection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 2 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
Preserve MainWP Connection shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ 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
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #3 4 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #8 4 too low 5 
Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179)
wp.org #5 ↓1 6 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #6 7 
WPS Limit Login 100K+ · 4.9★ (83)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 
WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #11 ↓4 12 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too low 13 
Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502)
wp.org #16 3 too low 14 P Posts 2 Posts 9K+ · 4.8★ (101)
wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #14 1 too high 16 
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 
SureMail – SMTP and Email Logs Plugin with Amazon SES, Postmark, and Other Providers 200K+ · 4.7★ (25)
wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 
GSheetConnector – CF7 Google Sheets Connector & Save CF7 Entries to Database 40K+ · 4.4★ (129) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
RabbitLoader 1K+ · 4.5★ (67) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Preserve MainWP Connection 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #4 ↑1 16 too high 21 
Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 ↓6 2 too low 22 
WooCommerce Tax (formerly WooCommerce Shipping & Tax) 500K+ · 2.0★ (105) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 23 
WP Global Site Tag 7K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 
Wine Club Connection 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 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.