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

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 “countries”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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

WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway shows at wp.org #3 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 700K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.1★ average from 237 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Store Locator places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 312 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #1 2 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5011) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1483) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 iQ Block Country 20K+ · 3.9★ (166) wp.org #4 ↓2 5 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7507) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.2★ (127) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (301) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (185) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too low 13 Login IP & Country Restriction 8K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 600K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too high 16 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too high 18 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (580) wp.org #14 ↓5 5 too high 20 Payment Methods by Product & Country for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Advanced Country Blocker 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 ↓3 3 too low 22 SVG Flags – Country Flag Blocks and Galleries 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Country Access Blocker 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Product Visibility by Country for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.3★ (4) 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.