wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “copy editors”
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 “copy editors”, 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
Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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.
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #1 2 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #2 ↓1 3 
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint
wp.org #3 4 
Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623)
wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 
Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 
Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821)
wp.org #19 ↓3 10 too low 10 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #13 2 too low 12 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #21 ↓4 9 too low 13 
WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306)
wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 
Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 ↓4 15 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 
Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) heavy footprint
wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too low 17 
WPFront User Role Editor 30K+ · 4.5★ (65)
wp.org #24 ↓5 7 too low 18 
GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) heavy footprint
wp.org #23 ↓5 5 too low 19 
PW WooCommerce Copy Coupon 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 
Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #20 21 
Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑6 5 too high 22 
Click To Copy – Copy Text or Code to Clipboard Instantly 900+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↓1 13 too high 23 
Iconic Copy Text Blocks 400+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too high 24 Live Copy Paste for Elementor – Cross Domain Copy Paste & Page Duplicator 6K+ · 4.3★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #10 ↓1 14 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.