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

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 “country”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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 #7 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 7 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 7507 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.2★ (127) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 iQ Block Country 20K+ · 3.9★ (166) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5011) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Login IP & Country Restriction 8K+ · 4.6★ (52) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1483) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Country State City Dropdown CF7 5K+ · 4.9★ (30) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1717) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7507) wp.org #20 ↓1 11 too low 10 Country & Phone Field Contact Form 7 40K+ · 4.5★ (41) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (301) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Country Based Restrictions for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (52) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Country Code For Elementor Form Telephone Field 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #7 ↓1 7 too high 15 P Product Country Restrictions for WooCommerce – Country Catalogs 200+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 Advanced Country Blocker 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (580) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Country Access Blocker 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Payment Methods by Product & Country for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Product Visibility by Country for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Lead info with country for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Country and State Selection Addon for Gravity Forms 900+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 SVG Flags – Country Flag Blocks and Galleries 2K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Softech Country Phone Validator 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.