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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cpt limits”

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 “cpt limits”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Dynamic Fields Engine – Custom post types, Custom fields, Meta fields, Taxonomies, Listing builder, Query builder and Relations shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 388 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #1 2 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Custom Post Type WooCommerce Integration – Sell Any CPT with WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Flexy Breadcrumb 10K+ · 4.7★ (20) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Pie Calendar – Events Calendar Made Simple 1K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Comments Extra Fields For Post,Pages and CPT 500+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Autopost for X (formerly Autoshare for Twitter) 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Dynamic Fields Engine – Custom post types, Custom fields, Meta fields, Taxonomies, Listing builder, Query builder and Relations 3K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 CPT Post Title Trimmer 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Events Calendar for GeoDirectory 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.