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

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 “conversion”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 6 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

Conversion Tracking for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #1 2

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4

Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5

Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6

Transliterator – Multilingual and Multi-script Text Conversion 3K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #8 ↓3 2 too low 7

Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #19 ↑2 11 too low 9

Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #11 ↓3 2 too low 10

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #15 ↑5 5 too low 11

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓8 3 too low 12

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #21 9 too low 13

WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #6 ↑17 7 too high 14

Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15

Cart Abandonment Recovery for WooCommerce – Recover Lost Sales with Automated Emails 300K+ · 4.8★ (625) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 3 too low 16

Conversion Tracking for WooCommerce 20K+ · 3.0★ (24) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 ↑9 12 too high 17

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too high 18

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑2 8 too high 19

CheckoutWC Lite – Conversion optimized WooCommerce checkout 2K+ · 4.8★ (34) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20

Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #17 ↓11 3 too high 21

Slickstream: Engagement and Conversions 2K+ · 5.0★ (11) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Convertful – Your Ultimate On-Site Conversion Tool 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23

Add Pinterest conversion tags for Pinterest Ads + Site verification 1K+ · 3.3★ (9) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #16 7 too high 24

Fathom Analytics Conversions 400+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.