wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “contain”
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 “contain”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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
Very Simple Google Maps shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 1472 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333)
wp.org #1 ↑1 2 
TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667)
wp.org #2 ↑1 3 
PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865)
wp.org #3 ↑1 4 
Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199)
wp.org #5 ↓4 6 
XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154)
wp.org #7 8 
Redirection 100K+ · 5.0★ (419)
wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 
WPS Bidouille 9K+ · 4.9★ (54)
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 
WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131)
wp.org #10 11 WP Armour – Honeypot Anti Spam 400K+ · 5.0★ (1472)
wp.org #17 ↑4 6 too low 12 
Real Media Library: Media Library Folder & File Manager 100K+ · 4.8★ (297)
wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 
Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97)
wp.org #12 ↓3 1 too high 14 
Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525)
wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 
XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85)
wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 
Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470)
wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94)
wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Very Simple Google Maps 3K+ · 4.5★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑2 9 too high 19 
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157)
wp.org #16 ↑4 3 too high 20 
Advanced Queries 10K+ · 4.9★ (40)
wp.org #21 ↓3 1 too low 21 
WPCore Plugin Manager 9K+ · 4.8★ (32)
wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 
VS Knowledge Base 300+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #24 2 too low 23 
Ads.txt Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 24 T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓2 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.