wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cpts”
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 “cpts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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
Duplicate Page and Post shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 70K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 29 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Sticky Menu & Sticky Header places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 763 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.
Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276)
wp.org #1 2 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 
Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 
Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807)
wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
Simple CPT 4K+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews
wp.org #2 4 too high 7 
Remove CPT base 10K+ · 5.0★ (33)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 
WP Sitemap Page 200K+ · 4.8★ (205)
wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 
Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) not PHP-current
wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 90K+ · 4.7★ (763)
wp.org #20 ↓1 10 too low 11 
Meta Box – A Framework for Dynamic Websites 500K+ · 4.8★ (165)
wp.org #14 3 too low 12 
WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593)
wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 
Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #8 6 too high 15 
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176)
wp.org #18 3 too low 16 
Custom Post Type WooCommerce Integration – Sell Any CPT with WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too high 17 
Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) not PHP-current
wp.org #16 1 too high 18 
Hide Page And Post Title 40K+ · 3.6★ (54)
wp.org #12 6 too high 19 
Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 3K+ · 4.8★ (36)
wp.org #17 2 too high 20 
Post to Google My Business (Google Business Profile) 10K+ · 4.9★ (159) not PHP-current
wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Duplicate Page and Post 70K+ · 4.6★ (29) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #13 8 too high 22 
Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 
Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 S Sticky CPT 40+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.