Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 vote”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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

Rate Star Review Vote – AJAX Reviews, Votes, Star Ratings shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 30+ 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

Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 273 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 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #1 2 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #2 3 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #3 4 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #4 5 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #5 6 WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178) wp.org #6 7 TS Poll – Survey, Versus Poll, Image Poll, Video Poll 3K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Democracy Poll 6K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Like Button Rating ♥ LikeBtn 3K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 IdeaPush 700+ · 4.5★ (31) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 AJAX Login and Registration modal popup + inline form 3K+ · 4.7★ (120) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Happy FAQs – FAQ, Product FAQ & Help Center 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 GD Rating System 1K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 FluentCart A New Era of eCommerce – Faster, Lighter, and Simpler 9K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Forumax – AI Powered Advanced Community Forum Plugin 500+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Wishlist 300+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 WP Voting Contest Lite 400+ · 3.1★ (15) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Disable Block Editor FullScreen mode 1K+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Rate Star Review Vote – AJAX Reviews, Votes, Star Ratings 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 SurveyX Builder – Survey, Poll, Quiz & Feedback Form 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Pollify – Feedback Polls, Anonymous Polls, Up/down Voting, NPS Surveys, Export data 50+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Roadmap and Feedback Plugin for WordPress – SimpleBoards 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.