Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “count clicks”

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 “count clicks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Clicks Manual Payment Gateways for Pakistan shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #1 2 Page View Count 10K+ · 4.0★ (55) wp.org #2 3 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1139) wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too low 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 B bbP topic count 300+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) 10K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1238) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5210) wp.org #21 ↓5 9 too low 13 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #17 ↑2 4 too low 14 Track The Click 7K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #7 ↑1 7 too high 15 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #20 ↑3 5 too low 16 Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 Update Comment Count 30+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Kama Click Counter 800+ · 3.9★ (9) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Contact Form to Chat Apps | Click to Chat to Order – FormyChat 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Clicks Manual Payment Gateways for Pakistan 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓2 13 too high 23 Clicks User Manager — Bulk Delete, Edit Roles, Email & Export WordPress Users 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 WhatsLink Click Tracker 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.