wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content delivery”
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 “content delivery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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
MyD Delivery shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 1205 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
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 #1 ↑8 2 
Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (140)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833)
wp.org #3 ↓1 4 
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #6 ↑8 7 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #7 ↑1 8 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1139)
wp.org #8 ↓3 9 
Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 
WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes & Shipping Labels 50K+ · 4.9★ (285)
wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too low 11 
Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (61)
wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too high 12 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205)
wp.org #22 10 too low 13 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #21 ↑2 8 too low 14 
Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133)
wp.org #10 ↑8 4 too high 15 
Chwazi – Delivery & Pickup Scheduling for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (30)
wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410)
wp.org #24 8 too low 17 
Delivery Date Time & Pickup for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.2★ (113)
wp.org #19 ↑3 2 too low 18 
Estimated Delivery for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑5 7 too high 19 
Local Delivery Drivers for WooCommerce 800+ · 4.3★ (18) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 
Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery 500+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑2 2 too high 21 
Product Delivery Date for WooCommerce – Lite 1K+ · 4.1★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too high 22 
WPSSO Schema Shipping Delivery Time for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #23 1 too low 23 MyD Delivery 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↑2 10 too high 24 
MyD Delivery Widgets 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.