Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “criteria”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

WP Ultimate Review shows at wp.org #5 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 60K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Germanized for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 496 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ReviewX – Multi-Criteria Reviews for WooCommerce with Google Reviews & Schema 6K+ · 4.5★ (85) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Search in Place 3K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 Product Import Export for WooCommerce – CSV Product Importer & Exporter 80K+ · 4.6★ (413) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too low 13 WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) wp.org #5 ↓1 8 too high 14 Restrict – membership, site, content and user access restrictions for WordPress 2K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 Statify – Extended Evaluation 20K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Product Labels For Woocommerce (Sale Badges) 10K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 MOBILOOK — Mobile View & Mobile‑Friendly Test 1K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Restrict for Elementor 900+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20 Advanced H2H for SportsPress 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Absolute Reviews 6K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↑2 1 too high 22 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 Auto Update Post Date 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 CBX Multi Criteria Rating & Review 10+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.