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

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 “creative”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Google for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.7★ average from 268 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 361 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too low 2 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #3 ↑6 1 too low 3 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #9 ↑4 4 too low 6 Creative WP Login Page 300+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #2 ↑1 4 too high 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8 Creative Addons for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 200K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Contact Form Generator : Creative form builder for WordPress 700+ · 4.4★ (67) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 500K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #20 ↓3 6 too low 15 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 PowerPack Lite for Beaver Builder 6K+ · 5.0★ (243) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Radius Portfolio – Filterable Grid, Gallery & Slider Portfolio 7K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #15 ↑6 4 too high 20 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #12 ↓4 9 too high 22 Jeg Kit for Elementor – Powerful Addons for Elementor, Widgets & Templates for WordPress 300K+ · 3.8★ (79) wp.org #18 ↓4 4 too high 23 LottieFiles – JSON Based Animation Lottie & Bodymovin for Elementor 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 W WPFrank Companion 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.