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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “core update”

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 “core update”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Jupiter X Core shows at wp.org #12 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.9★ average from 9 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 #8 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #8 ↑3 5 too low 4 Core Rollback 20K+ · 4.7★ (16) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too high 5 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Core Framework 10K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Disable All WordPress Updates 20K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #19 ↓1 11 too low 9 Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #11 ↓3 2 too low 10 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 WP Downgrade | Specific Core Version 100K+ · 4.8★ (169) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Disable WordPress Update Notifications and auto-update Email Notifications 10K+ · 4.2★ (19) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WP Updates Notifier 20K+ · 4.2★ (35) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Disable Updates for WordPress Core, Plugins and Themes 9K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Disable Updates – Updates Manager, Disable Automatic Updates, Disable All Updates 9K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 U Update Control 4K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #24 ↓4 5 too low 20 Load Combined Core Block Assets 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓4 3 too low 21 WP Disables Updates 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Disable Auto Update Emails and Block Updates for Plugins, WP Core, and Themes 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too high 23 Jupiter X Core 70K+ · 1.9★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Hester Core 10K+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.