Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “consumer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Sezzle Woocommerce Payment shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Review Slider places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 181 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too low 3 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Review Slider 6K+ · 4.8★ (181) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 EU Consumer Rights for WooCommerce – Guarantee Notice, GARAN Label, Withdrawal Button, Right to Repair, Omnibus Price & GPSR 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 too high 8 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #9 ↑4 1 too low 9 FunnelKit Payment Gateway for Stripe WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 MJDD Sidrena Cijena 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Enhanced Ecommerce Google Analytics for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too high 12 WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 ↓3 13 Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #18 ↑6 5 too low 14 TrustedSite 10K+ · 4.2★ (26) wp.org #21 ↑3 7 too low 15 Satispay for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too high 16 MailerLite – WooCommerce integration 30K+ · 2.8★ (64) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Free Cookie Notice & Consent Banner for Privacy Compliance (GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO and others) 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 WPC Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 S SSO for Entra ID 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 B Bitron Right of Withdrawal 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓3 21 Spotrebiteľské práva pre WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too high 22 EU Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 Sezzle Woocommerce Payment 1K+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #10 13 too high 24 Consumer Financing by ChargeAfter 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 7 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.