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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content discovery”

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 discovery”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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.

Ranked above its merit

AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 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

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too low 4 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 DOOFINDER Search and Discovery for WP & WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.9★ (127) wp.org #7 ↓2 2 too low 6 Specific Content For Mobile – Customize the mobile version without redirections 4K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too low 8 User Registration & Membership – Free & Paid Memberships, Subscriptions, Content Restriction, User Profile, Custom User Registration & Login Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (832) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too high 10 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #15 ↑6 4 too low 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 ↓4 10 too low 13 CM Table Of Contents – Clear navigation for better content discovery 100+ · 3.3★ (9) wp.org #2 ↑1 11 too high 14 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ · 4.3★ (61) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too low 16 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓6 18 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too low 19 AI Discovery Files – llms.txt & AI Visibility 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 16 too high 20 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too high 21 JumpsuitAI – llms.txt + Markdown Endpoints 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 Pinterest for WooCommerce 200K+ · 2.3★ (68) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Conversion Agent Discovery 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too high 24 Bulk Content Toolkit 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓6 1 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.