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

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 list”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Country Access Blocker shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 7520 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 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 iQ Block Country 20K+ · 3.9★ (166) wp.org #3 4 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Contact List – Online Staff Directory & Address Book 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.1★ (128) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 too low 9 Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too low 11 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 too low 13 12 Step Meeting List 900+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #20 ↑2 6 too low 15 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #21 ↓5 3 too low 19 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Stock Quotes List 500+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Advanced Country Blocker 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 Payment Methods by Product & Country for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 Country Access Blocker 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓3 10 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.