Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “containers”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

P

Ranked above its merit

Page Optimize shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer places #10 on merit, 4.6★ from 405 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #1 2 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #2 3 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #8 ↓4 3 too low 6 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9 Visibility Logic for Elementor 20K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 Carousel Slider Block for Gutenberg 50K+ · 4.8★ (59) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 GTM Kit – Google Tag Manager & GA4 integration 30K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Dynamic Visibility for Elementor 50K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Style Kits for Elementor 10K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21 Responsive Gallery Grid 4K+ · 4.7★ (66) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 P Page Optimize 200K+ · 3.0★ (5) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Shape Dividers Plus for Elementor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 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.