wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “control pages”
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 “control pages”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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
Order Status Control for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 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.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #1 2 
Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126)
wp.org #2 3 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 1 too high 5 
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 
AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) heavy footprint
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 
Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575)
wp.org #7 ↓1 8 
Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005)
wp.org #12 ↑3 4 too low 9 
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699)
wp.org #22 11 too low 12 
Show Pages IDs 10K+ · 5.0★ (103)
wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 
CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49)
wp.org #13 ↓2 14 
Min Max Control – Min Max Quantity & Step Control for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (79) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 ↑4 4 too high 15 
Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #8 7 too high 16 U Update Control 4K+ · 4.4★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #9 7 too high 17 
PublishPress Capabilities: User Role Access Control, Admin Area Permissions 90K+ · 4.7★ (143)
wp.org #24 ↓2 7 too low 18 
Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42)
wp.org #18 19 
Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 
Dynamic Front-End Heartbeat Control 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #23 3 too low 21 
Module Control for Jetpack 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 
Menu Visibility Control 700+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too high 23 
Civic Cookie Control 2K+ · 3.9★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Order Status Control for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current 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.