Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “cookiebot”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 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

WP Consent API shows at wp.org #6 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP EasyCart: Shopping Cart and eCommerce Store places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 206 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #1 2 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #2 3 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 WP EasyCart: Shopping Cart and eCommerce Store 3K+ · 4.5★ (206) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Display Eventbrite Events 2K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Tracking and Consent Manager – WP Full Picture 3K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #12 ↓1 13 Disable Media Permalink by Hardweb.it 800+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 WP Consent API 200K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓1 7 too high 16 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too low 17 UniPixel: Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, Google & Microsoft Server-Side Tracking for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 TrackSure Cloud – Server-Side Tracking, Meta CAPI & GA4 for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 CAPI Suite: Meta Pixel, Pinterest & TikTok for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Usercentrics Privacy Policy Generator 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 My Agile Pixel® – Self-Hosted Server-Side Tracking for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 TranslateRocket – Free Multilingual Translation, Unlimited Languages 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Advanced Pixel for Barion 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 24 ClickTrail – UTM, Click ID & Ad Tracking (with Consent) 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.